Considerations in choosing a Fence for Small Farms

Fencing is one of those areas on a small farm that everyone has an opinion about.  Many different types, brands and prices of products on the market.  Throughout this article I'll explain what we used to fence our perimeter and what we would have done differently after the fact.  A big factor in building our fence pivoted on initial build cost and what would last the longest with the least amount of upkeep.  Another important consideration is what type of livestock you're wanting to keep at bay.  Initially we intended on raising goats, but that changed as our build progressed. 

We were fortunate to go into this project with prior knowledge from being raised on farms.  For cattle our family farm has predominately five or six strand bob wire perimeters with both ceder and metal T-posts.  On the other side of the family folks use one strand of electric on the interior to separate pasture areas and woven wire on the exterior perimeters. Having been around both types of fencing and having worked with both we made a decision to go with electric fencing.  From an economic standpoint it would cost less initially and getting started with less overhead is always beneficial.

Another consideration in choosing a fence is what type of posts you want to use.  Just like choosing a fence material, the initial cost, durability and work involved  played a big role in our choice.  We chose to use primarily cedar posts and a handful of metal t-posts.  We source most of our cedar posts from the property so they virtually only cost us some time in cutting.  Digging holes for cedar posts is certainly more work on the front end, but having a good sturdy perimeter can allow you options in changing the fencing type in the future.  Nothing wrong with only using metal t-posts in your fence and they are certainly less work installing.  It's also much easier to take up t-posts to change fence boundaries as the needs for your micro farm change.