Working Ranch Magazine January/February 2025

that’s an improvement

DAVID GURR, RED ANGUS ASSOC.

pastures, you know, things like that.” VIRTUAL FENCE ON THE RISE Aside from the more traditional approaches of either permanent or temporary fencing, technology offers producers new opportunities that may fit better in distinct and remote graz ing areas. Bruegger has noted that in Colorado, particularly in the moun tainous Western Slope of the state, virtual fencing has proven effective for some operations. “What I think holds probably the most interesting promise for our part of the world is a virtual fence.” she says, “It’s definitely still an emerging technology, but I don’t think you’re going to run a bunch of electric fences up mountains.” She notes that a group of producers in the central mountainous part of the state have been experimenting with virtual fencing systems and that some have found it to be a great fit for their operations. For rugged terrain, and on public lands where more fence con struction may not be feasible or bene ficial, virtual fencing is a potential way of more closely managing grazing. Virtual fencing can also help with

places, more revolving, impermanent fences can be effective. “If I’ve got pastures that are highly productive, that’s where I’m going to think about using some internal divi sion fence to try to improve harvest efficiency and grazing distribution, and that can be a combination of both permanent internal fence, like a high tensile fence, and then setting up a temporary electric fence,” says Berger. The temporary fence allows for more flexibility and mobility in grazing rota tions and is effective with cattle that are trained to mind electric fences. Looking toward the winter and dor mant seasons, temporary fences can also help graziers more efficiently uti lize stockpiled and dormant forage, by moving cattle through a pasture in smaller chunks, ensuring that the value of the forage is efficiently grazed. Cross fencing can help with cat tle flow as well, so in planning fence installation, focus on working with the movement of cattle “Recognize that cattle often follow a fence, so consider how and where you place a fence.” says Berger, “Cattle typically like to go downhill, so I might hesitate to put a gate at the top of the hill between two

Retta Bruegger, with Colorado State Extension, says, “Cross fencing can be a way to modify cattle distribution, so it can be a powerful tool to get utiliza tion across the landscape and gives you access to more forage. It can also help you modify the timing of grazing.” Infrastructure that enables rota tions that allow for grazing when nutrition is optimal while also rest ing pastures can ensure better utili zation of forage. It can also work to help encourage grazing in areas that cattle typically tend to avoid. TOPOGRAPHY MATTERS Berger suggests that topographic considerations when installing a fence are important. As cattle tend to pre fer to stay in lower areas, often these meadows or canyon bottoms can see overgrazing, while hillsides and other topographic contours see less. Implementing cross fencing along these areas encourages cattle to graze where they otherwise wouldn’t, and allows overgrazed areas to recover properly. In doing so, the productivity of less typically grazed areas increases, along with the more productive pas tures. To improve forage in those

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