Agricultural Fencing

Historically throughout most of the world,domesticated livestock would roam freely and were fenced out of areas, such as gardens or fields of crops, where they were unwanted. Over time, especially where crop agriculture became dominant and population density of both humans and animals was significant, livestock owners were made to fence their animals in.

The earliest fences were made of available materials, usually stone or wood and these materials are still used for some fences today. In areas where field stones are plentiful, fences have been built up over the years as the stones are removed from fields during tillage and planting of crops. The stones were placed on the field edge to get them out of the way. In time, the piles of stones grew high and wide.

In other areas, fences were constructed of timber. Log fences or split-rail fences were simple fences constructed in newly cleared areas by stacking log rails. Live fences like blackberries thorn bushes or hedges have all been used.

With the invention of wire in the Middle Ages fencing became much less labor intensive to erect. This allowed livestock owners a method to have more control over the movements of their stock. The more recent development of electric fencing (which acts as a psychological fence opposed to traditional physical barrier fence) has greatly improved the stockman’s animal management practices, allowing for more controlled grazing and better pasture management methods generating higher yields, along with decreasing the overall cost of fence construction and maintenance.

Agricultural Electric

Agricultural Wire

Wood, Rail, Log