La. He uses them for better control of cattle and pasture management. As good as electric fencing is, though, Moore says there are a few things that can go wrong.
Charged fences can perform poorly in hot, dry weather.
Dry grass and soil are not good conductors of electricity, notes Dennis Gardisser, an ag engineer with the Arkansas Extension Service. Electric fences lose some of their shock value when they're needed most-when cattle are sticking their heads through the fence to munch greener grasses on the other side. Gardisser explains that electric fences work by transferring an electrical field from the fence, through the animal to the ground. If the animal is standing on dry earth, it's hard to get much charge because the ground is such a poor conductor. You can improve fence performance by making sure the system's charger is set up properly, says Gardisser.