Profit Tips: Equipment - Fencing organizer

Management-intensive grazing practices usually require moving electric fences regularly. That means keeping a supply of replacement posts and wire at the ready. Mike Jones says storing pigtail posts can quickly become a “tangled up mess.” He solved the problem by designing a storage platform that keeps supplies easily accessible. The unit consists of oak fence boards bolted onto three, 30-inch 4x4s. The racks that hold the posts and wire in place are formed out of 3/8-inch rebar. Jones says the platform holds up to 200 posts and 10 wire reels. “We use electrical cord reels which are not UV stable and become brittle in sunlight,” he says. “But you can buy six or seven of those for the price of one polywire reel, and they are easier to handle.”

Reader tip by Mike Jones, North Carolina

1. Michigan hay buyers should plan purchases early
2. Meat and climate change: How significant is the impact?
3. Zoetis, Texas Tech partner in Salmonella research
4. D.C. Watch: Farm bill progressing
5. Visit New York during the National Angus Conference and Tour
6. Cooking with beef: Beef steak and black bean soft tacos

1. U.S. cattle placements rise in April as feed costs subside
2. Ag markets were mixed to start the new week
3. Insects. They’re what’s for dinner!
4. Schwieterman: Cattle futures end week with sharp losses
5. Boxed beef hits record highs, cattle weak to lower
6. New school lunch beef recipes win approval from kids, foodservice

1. Insects. They’re what’s for dinner!
2. Commentary: Slanting the statistics
3. Tyson selects panel to monitor animal welfare program
4. Buffet concerned about soil and starvation
5. N.M. rancher charged with 43 counts of animal cruelty
6. 2014 Farm Bill: Are we near an agreement?