The price of building a permanent fence for livestock has dramatically increased the past few years. To help offset this issue, the Henry County Extension Office provided an in-depth training on temporary and high tensile electric fencing. Both temporary and high tensile fencing are among the most cost-effective options for containing livestock. Both styles have been used for years by farmers in Kentucky.

The Temporary Fencing School was modeled after the multi-day Fencing Schools that the UK Forage Department conducts. It was adapted to suit farmers in this area who have off-farm jobs and prefer afternoon/evening meetings. The class was held on the farm bordering the Henry County Extension Office. The neighboring farmer worked with the ANR Agent to prepare the area for demonstrations. Dr. Chris Teutsch and Jeremy McGill taught the program. The response was extremely positive. There were 24 attendees of various ages and backgrounds. Some had already used this type of fencing before and wanted to learn more, and others had very little experience with it. The class was mostly hands on, with demonstrations on testing for faults in the fence, building a quick offset line, and handling the different reels and posts available. The program continued inside the office with a presentation on electric fencing concepts and building a good ground system. Participants were interactive and asked questions. Months after the program ended one participant commented that they had purchased and implemented temporary fencing because of this program. This program introduced a fencing concept that will help encourage rotational grazing and reduce the cost of fencing, both of which lead to increased farm profitability.