Choosing the Right Agricultural Fencing
Agricultural fencing is found throughout the UK, to keep animals in their designated fields or keep humans from walking through fields and crops. The type that you require depends on your type of livestock and security concerns, so it’s important to choose the right type of fencing to avoid losing animals.
Post and rail fencing is the most commonly used throughout the UK – it’s incredibly simple to install and can even be installed easily over hilly ground where the fence line might dip. Knee rail fencing is a general boundary and is best for areas where security is not an issue – it’s good for use around car parks and just to mark where one area starts and another ends. Rustic ranch or livestock fencing is recommended for use around animals such as ponies and horses, to create a secure enclosure for them.
Your fencing size will also depend on the animals that you’re trying to enclose – large horses will need a higher boundary since they are more likely to jump over a fence. Sheep typically accept their fencing and do not try to jump over it or dig under, but you will need to ensure that they cannot squeeze out between the rails – smaller breeds such as Shetland sheep are quite well known for this. Goats, however, will climb, jump, and crawl under fencing so you will need to add some stock fencing and perhaps even barbed wire or electric fencing to your post and rail to prevent them from doing this.
Barbed wire is the first port of call for fencing that is frequently tested by animals – in most cases, this will suffice for anything from sheep through to llamas and some goats will be sufficiently deterred. If the fencing is still tested, electric fencing is a last resort and typically the most effective, but also very expensive to install compared to a simple barbed wire across the top.
