Insulated Line Posts take the pain out of fixing broken batons for Taranaki dairy farmer

Repairing broken posts on her Ōpunake dairy farm has become a quick and easy job for Adrienne Young since she started using Gallagher’s Insulated Inline Posts. 

The durable, low-maintenance permanent electric fence system has helped her replace hundreds of broken fence posts on her 160-hectare dairy farm in Taranaki. And it keeps her stock where they’re meant to be.  

The system includes a fully insulated polyethylene and fibreglass post for low cost, low maintenance, permanent electric fencing for sheep, cattle, deer and horses. It comes with pre-formed wire attachments with snap-on clips. Insulated Line Posts are strong yet flexible on impact, making them safe for stock. 

The fence system on Adrienne’s farm is powered using a Gallagher M6000i Energizer. She monitors it remotely on the Gallagher Ag Devices App using with the system’s Wi-Fi Gateway. 

The farm has been in the Young family for five generations, but sadly Adrienne’s husband Kevin passed away in 2019. 

The coastal property is hard on fence infrastructure and over time the coastal environment has eaten away at wooden batons and fence posts. 

“My family has been on the farm for more than 50 years and over time posts break as they age, or cows rub up against them. I was looking for a solution that was quick and easy to install that I could do myself without a tractor and post rammer,” says Adrienne. 

The farm supplies Fonterra, milking 270 cows at peak, producing about 115,000 kg/MS per season. They also breed all their herd replacements and young stock are kept on both on the home farm and two adjacent runoff blocks that connect to the milking platform.  

“We added a 78-hectare run off block and the fences were a bit of a mess. I went into Farm Source and asked what they had I could install myself. That’s when I discovered the Insulated Inline Posts,” says Adrienne. 

Previously she engaged fencing contractors to do the work at significant cost. Now Adrienne can whip out a broken post, put in an Insulated Line Post and hammer it into place. She fixes on the insulators and reattaches the wires and the fence is ready to go. 

“Fixing broken posts has become a five-minute job and I can do a whole fence line in about 30 minutes,” says Adrienne. 

The system provides for multiple wire heights with pre-formed wire attachment locations and snap-on clips. The hard-wearing plastic means they are built to last the distance and stand up to Taranaki’s harsh coastal environment. 

“They’re so strong. You have to dig them out once they’re in. I could see the system being useful for quickly repairing fences following flooding or other damaging events too,” says Adrienne. 

Check out our fence cost calculator to see how the Insulated Line Post system compares to traditional fencing.