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Why electric fences for cattle work so well...


  • Their short summer hair coat, large body, heavy weight and large hoofs make cattle more sensitive to electric shock.
  • Their height allows "live" wires to be 2 ft or more above the ground. Energy leakage from grass-to-wire contact is thus less than leakage from the lower wires for shorter species.
  • Their frontal eye placement allows them to see low-visibility fences more readily than horses or deer.
  • Their heavy body weight ensures good hoof-to-soil contact.
  • Lower fence wires for predators are very seldom necessary.
  • Most modern cattle breeds, particularly dairy, don't panic when frightened--giving them time to see minimal fences.
Combine these factors and you have an animal that can be controlled by electric fences for just a few cents per foot.

For even better results use...


  • Wide-impedance energizers. They're better than low-impedance units when the soil is dry and the grass is brown.
  • IntelliShock® battery energizers. They sense when a fence is "clean" of weeds and respond by using up to 65% less battery energy per hour, day, week.
  • IntelliTwine, tape and rope. They're more conductive, visible (2 contrasting colors) and durable than conductors found in farm stores.
  • EzeReels™. These have extra capacity to store bulky rope and tape.
  • Insulators built extra-strong, so you can install them and then forget them.

Why some fences disappoint…


An electric fence is a system. It's only as good as its weakest link. All parts (posts, conductor, energizer, ground rods) of the system must be "right."

Probable causes of problems with electric fences:

  • Many "farmstore" solar energizers promise much and deliver little. Their "output" is tiny--and often "zero" unless they are clear of dust and shade.
  • Second-generation low-impedance energizers work fine when the grass is green but disappoint when the soil is dry and the grass is brown.
  • Some polywires and polytape lack adequate visibility, conductivity and/or durability. Regrettably, product labels and cartons rarely address these possibilities.
  • Some posts and insulators are prone to fail. As always, the cheapest is not always the least expensive. Unfortunately, years of price competition by some firms that supply farm stores have resulted in a percentage of products whose "claim to fame" is that they cost less--not that they work well in real-time conditions.
  • Wind-up reels that frustrate or cost too much. A satisfactory reel that's a good value is still unusual in farm stores.

Warning: Temporary, semi-permanent and single-strand HT wire fences are primarily pain barriers. They are not physical barriers. Cattle that are spooked or driven into pain barrier fences can force their way through, under or over them. So do not rely upon them in situations where 1) this circumstance is probable; or 2) the result of escaped animals (onto highways, into crop fields) is more expensive than one can accept.