6 Best Temporary Fencing Solutions For Rotational Grazing Old Farmers Swear By
Explore 6 time-tested temporary fencing solutions for rotational grazing. Learn what veteran farmers use, from polywire to netting, for optimal pasture health.
Moving a herd of cattle onto a fresh patch of clover is one of the most satisfying parts of managing a small farm. But getting them there, and keeping them there, depends entirely on your fencing. For rotational grazing, that fence can’t be a permanent barrier; it has to be as dynamic as the pasture itself.
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Why Rotational Grazing Needs Flexible Fencing
Rotational grazing is all about control. You’re controlling where your animals eat, for how long, and when the pasture gets to rest and regrow. This intensive management is impossible with fixed, permanent fencing that was designed to mark a boundary line, not to create daily or weekly paddocks.
The goal is to set up, move, and take down fences quickly and with minimal effort. You need a system that a single person can handle, often in just a few minutes. This is where temporary electric fencing shines. It provides a psychological barrier, not a physical one, teaching animals to respect the line with a short, safe shock.
This flexibility is what unlocks the real benefits of rotational grazing. By creating smaller paddocks, you encourage animals to graze more evenly, preventing them from overgrazing their favorite spots and ignoring less palatable plants. It also breaks parasite life cycles and allows for rapid pasture recovery, which means more high-quality forage for your livestock and healthier soil beneath their hooves.
Ultimately, your temporary fencing system is the most important tool you have for pasture management. It’s not just about containment; it’s about choreographing a dance between your animals and your land. The right system makes that dance a simple, repeatable process instead of a frustrating chore.
Premier 1 ElectroNet: The Gold Standard Netting
When you need an instant, goat-proof, chicken-corralling paddock, nothing beats electric netting. Premier 1’s ElectroNet is the system many old-timers turn to for smaller livestock because it combines the posts and the conductors into a single, roll-out package. It’s as close to an "instant fence" as you can get.
The beauty of netting is that it’s both a physical and a psychological barrier. The tight mesh prevents small or stubborn animals from simply pushing through before they even get a shock, which is a common problem with single-strand fences and lambs or kids. Setup is straightforward: unroll the net, step in the built-in posts, connect it to your energizer, and you’re done.
However, netting isn’t without its challenges. It’s heavier and bulkier than a reel of polywire, making it more cumbersome to move long distances. Its biggest weakness is tall, wet grass. The lower horizontal strands can easily get bogged down in vegetation, shorting out the fence and draining your energizer’s power. You absolutely must mow a path for netting or be prepared to move it constantly to keep it hot.
Gallagher SmartFence: All-in-One Post and Wire
The Gallagher SmartFence is an answer to a question many farmers have asked: "Can this be easier?" It’s a brilliantly engineered all-in-one system that combines four strands of polywire, ten posts, and the corner reels into a single, portable unit. You carry it out, string it up, and reel it back in with incredible speed.
This is the system for someone who values time and convenience above all else. Moving a 330-foot fence line can be done in under five minutes, a task that would take significantly longer with separate components. It’s perfect for daily moves or for setting up long, straight cross-fences in a larger field. The pre-set wire height is also handy, providing a good starting point for containing cattle, sheep, or goats.
The tradeoff for this convenience is cost and a lack of customizability. The SmartFence is a significant upfront investment compared to buying components piecemeal. You’re also locked into its specific design—you can’t easily change the wire spacing or use different posts. It’s an excellent, high-performance tool, but it’s a specialized one.
Kencove Polybraid with Pigtail Step-In Posts
If you want a tough, adaptable, and cost-effective system, building your own with components is the way to go. The combination of a quality polybraid and simple pigtail step-in posts is a classic for a reason. It’s the dependable workhorse of rotational grazing systems.
Polybraid is a woven rope with conductive filaments, making it stronger and more durable than the twisted polywire. It’s less prone to stretching and has better conductivity over long distances. Pigtail posts are just steel rods with a plastic insulator loop at the top—simple, lightweight, and nearly indestructible. You can step them into almost any ground with ease.
This approach gives you total control. Need three strands for sheep? No problem. A single, highly-visible line for dairy cows? Easy. You can customize the height, tension, and number of lines for any animal or situation. While it takes more time to set up than an all-in-one system, its repairability and adaptability make it a long-term favorite for farmers who like to tinker and optimize.
Zareba Polytape for High-Visibility Paddocks
Sometimes, the psychological barrier needs a visual boost. That’s where polytape comes in. This flat, ribbon-like fencing is extremely easy for animals to see, making it an excellent choice for training livestock to electric fence for the first time.
Horses, in particular, benefit from polytape. Their instinct is to run through a threat, and a thin, hard-to-see polywire can cause serious injury. The wide profile of a 1.5-inch polytape is an unmissable warning sign. It says, "Don’t even think about touching this." This high visibility makes it a great option for temporary corrals or dividing a pasture where animals might be feeling a little frisky.
The major drawback of polytape is wind. The wide surface that makes it so visible also turns it into a sail. In an open, windy pasture, the tape will whip and flap, causing premature wear and putting a lot of stress on your posts. Over time, the constant motion can break the fine conductive wires within the weave, creating dead spots in your fence.
Gallagher Geared Reel System for Fast Moves
A fence is only as fast as its slowest component, and that component is often the person winding up the wire. A geared reel is a non-negotiable upgrade for anyone serious about rotational grazing. These reels have an internal gearbox, often with a 3:1 ratio, meaning one turn of the handle spins the spool three times.
This simple mechanical advantage transforms the chore of taking down a fence. What used to be a tedious, arm-tiring process becomes a quick and efficient task. You can wind up hundreds of feet of polywire or tape in a fraction of the time it would take with a basic, non-geared reel. This saved time adds up immensely over a grazing season filled with daily or weekly paddock shifts.
While a geared reel costs more than a standard one, it’s an investment that pays for itself in labor and sanity. It encourages you to make more frequent moves because the barrier to doing so is lower. Don’t underestimate the power of a tool that makes a daily chore less dreadful. It’s one of the best quality-of-life improvements you can make to your fencing kit.
Powerfields Polywire: A Simple, Low-Cost Line
Sometimes, you just need a line. Polywire is the most basic, affordable, and lightweight option for creating temporary paddocks. It’s essentially a thin plastic twine with several strands of stainless steel filament twisted into it. It’s cheap, easy to find, and a great place to start.
Polywire is perfect for low-pressure situations. It’s a fantastic choice for strip-grazing cattle that are already well-trained to electric fences or for subdividing a field that already has a secure perimeter fence. Because it’s so light, you can use cheaper, lighter-duty posts and carry enough on a small reel to fence a huge area.
The downsides are visibility and durability. It can be hard for animals to see, and it’s more prone to stretching and breaking than polybraid or tape. It also has higher electrical resistance, meaning the shock won’t be as potent at the far end of a very long fence line. Think of it as the budget option that gets the job done, but might require a bit more maintenance and animal training to be effective.
Powering It All: The Parmak Solar-Pak 6 Fence
Your fancy posts and high-tech wire are useless without a powerful, reliable energizer. For temporary fencing far from an outlet, a solar fencer is the only practical solution, and the Parmak Solar-Pak 6 has been a farm-store staple for decades. It’s a self-contained, American-made unit that just plain works.
A good solar energizer needs to do two things: hit hard and work in all weather. The Parmak delivers a stout shock (rated for 25 miles of fence) that will command respect from your livestock. Its built-in solar panel keeps the 6-volt battery topped off, even on cloudy days, ensuring your fence is hot 24/7. You simply mount it on a T-post, connect your ground and hot wires, and let it do its job.
Skimping on the energizer is the most common and costly mistake a beginner can make. A weak charger teaches animals that the fence is merely an inconvenience, not a hard boundary. Always buy an energizer that is rated for far more fence than you plan to build. This ensures it has enough power to overcome the inevitable resistance from grass and weeds touching the line, keeping your animals exactly where you want them.
The perfect temporary fencing solution is less about finding the single "best" product and more about building a system that works for you. Start with a simple, reliable setup like polybraid on pigtail posts and a solid solar charger. As you get a feel for the rhythm of moving your animals, you’ll discover whether you need the speed of a SmartFence or the security of netting, building a toolkit that makes rotational grazing a profitable and enjoyable part of your farm.
