Break fencing is a grazing management technique that uses temporary fences to control livestock access to pasture, protecting recently grazed areas and managing future grazing.
Break fencing is a specific type of grazing management practice utilized by livestock producers. According to Undersander et al. (2002), it involves the erection of temporary fences.
Understanding Break Fencing
This technique is a crucial part of intensive grazing systems. Instead of allowing animals free range over a large pasture area, temporary fences are set up to "break" or divide the pasture into smaller sections.
The primary goal is to manage how and when livestock graze specific areas, leading to improved pasture health and utilization.
Key Purposes of Break Fencing
Based on the definition provided (Undersander et al. 2002), break fencing serves two main objectives:
- Protecting Grazed Areas (Back Fencing): Temporary fences are used to prevent livestock from re-entering and grazing areas they have just consumed. This is often referred to as back grazing and can harm plant regrowth. By using back fencing, plants are given adequate time to recover before being grazed again.
- Controlling Pasture Supply: Break fences are also used to allocate sections of pasture for future grazing periods. This allows producers to control the amount of forage available to animals at any given time, ensuring efficient use of the available grass and preventing waste.
Practical Application
In practice, break fencing often involves easily movable fencing materials like portable posts, electric fencing wire, and temporary energizers. Producers move the fences regularly, sometimes daily, to shift animals to a new section of pasture while blocking access to the previously grazed area.
This method helps maintain pasture quality, improves nutrient cycling (through more even distribution of manure), and can increase the overall carrying capacity of the land compared to continuous grazing.
