Working Ranch Magazine January/February 2025

that’s an improvement BY PEYTON VALENTINE Cross-Fencing Considerations You have options; which works best for you?

roper pasture utilization is an important obstacle to overcome for any operation. It allows for making the most of grazing op portunities and ensures the greatest success of a herd. An ef fective way to overcome that obstacle, depending on your cir cumstances, is cross-fencing. Both permanent, temporary, a hybrid of the two, or virtual options might help make grazing and rota tions of your herd more effective.

Effective watering systems, not spaced too far apart, ensure that cattle can easily forage in a pasture equally, rather than favoring one area within the radius of a water source. Berger points out that “If ranchers can increase water capacity and flow delivery, then they can group cat tle together and sometimes existing fences are all they need.” Before stretching wire or pounding posts, consider taking a serious look at water systems. There are still areas where cross-fencing will enhance forage capacity where water is available.

“In my experience, in western range land, almost always the first limiting factor as far as effective use of range land and pasture is probably water. So water development in my mind always comes before the fence.”

In assessing whether cross-fenc ing in some form might work on an operation, start by looking not down the fence line, but at your watering systems. Nebraska State Extension Educator, Aaron Berger, emphasizes,

LINDSAY MURDOCK, RED ANGUS ASSOC.

22 I JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2025 WORKING RANCH audited readers run 21 million head of beef cattle.