Specifically designed for cutting, stripping and bending electric fence wire with minimum damage to wire.

Gallagher, inventor of the livestock electric fence and world-leader in animal management solutions, have adapted their proven portable electric fencing solution to give peace of mind to a new market; expanding on their vision to protect what matters most. This new kit builds on Gallagher’s diverse offering of effective animal control solutions which has recently extended beyond livestock. The new portable Bear Protection Fencing Kit, designed to pair with a range of Gallagher energizers, allows users to easily set up and dismantle the system as needed. This user-friendly, portable approach makes it an essential tool for anyone looking to enhance safety in bear-prone areas. The electric pulse is designed to cause enough discomfort to train the bear not to engage with the fence again, preventing ongoing interactions with the fence line.

Key Features and Benefits

• Comprehensive Protection: Safeguard what matters most (families, food sources, RV or campsite) from bear encounters.
• Ease of Use: Simple setup and takedown process, ensuring that the system can be deployed quickly and efficiently.
• Conflict Reduction: Mitigate unwanted interactions between bears, people, and other bear attractants, promoting coexistence.
• Effective Electric Fencing: Provides a reliable barrier that keeps you safe while allowing you to enjoy the natural environment where bears roam.
  

Learn more here.

For media enquiries contact: 

Amanda Allen 
amanda.allen@gallagher.com
8169559709
Gallagher North America, Kansas City, MO

A fully digitised electric fencing system is saving Canterbury dairy farmers Ben and Allie King time and money, managing their herd and access to their farm all from their mobile phones. 

The couple are 50/50 sharemilking 650 cows on 180 hectares in Rotherham. They installed Gallagher’s M6000i iSeries Energizer, which they use along with Gallagher’s iSeries Fence Monitors. This splits the farm into two fencing zones. The couple and their team use the Gallagher Ag Devices App on their mobile phones to control the entire system. They also all have Gallagher iSeries Energizer Remote and Fault Finder, which makes finding faults quick and easy. 

Since arriving at the farm in June last year, Allie explains that the farm owners have made a considerable investment in the farm’s infrastructure, including fencing. 

“There has been a lot of work going on which has meant fences needed to be moved and wires cut so diggers could do prep work for installing irrigation. Our electric fence system has constantly needed to be turned on and off.” 

“The Gallagher M6000i iSeries Energizer, which pairs with Gallagher’s Ag Devices App on our mobile phones, has been an incredible time saver. 

“If we have a fault that’s 2km from the unit, we can turn it on and off from our phones right on the spot. Or if we need to turn the fence off to let a digger through or shift a fence, we don’t have to travel all the way back to the unit.” 

The couple has split the farm into two zones using the iSeries Fence Monitor. This helps them isolate the farm into two areas and better identify where the faults are. 

“It makes it really easy to see if the fault is on one side of the farm and saves time in finding it.” 

 Ben and Allie employ two full time farm staff and employ casual staff during busy periods like calving. They all have fault finders, which they carry in their pockets. 

“The fault finders are another essential piece of kit. I’m not sure how you’d find faults without it. You’d just be running blind. You just put it on the fence, it tells you the kilovolts and amps running through the fence and then points you in the direction where amps are high,” says Allie.  

“Follow the fence in the direction it points, and you’ll find what’s causing the fault. It’s that simple.” 

With all staff having access to the Gallagher Ag Devices App, each member of the team can see what’s happening with the fencing system at any time by looking at their phones.  

The system also has an amp setting and a voltage setting. If the amps go higher than the setting or the voltage goes lower, it will trigger an alarm and send an alert to their phones. It means Ben, Allie and their team always know exactly what’s happening with their fences and can fix any issues immediately. 

“It’s so much more than a normal fence power unit. It has a digital screen, and you can connect it to your phone using Wi-Fi or with a cellular hot spot to give you total peace of mind,” says Allie. 

The Gallagher M6000i iSeries Energizer unit allows Ben and Allie to see how much power is coming out of the unit and know immediately if there is an issue with their fencing that could risk stock getting out.  

“It’s super handy for things like when you have cows on crops, and you need to know quickly if they break out day or night.” 

Allie says adding the iSeries Fence Monitor and Gateways to the system has also been a game changer. 

“From our phones we can see if there is a problem with the system and we can see what zone it’s in, saving the hassle and time of searching entire fence lines looking for the issue,” says Allie. 

She says they don’t have Wi-Fi available on the farm, so they use a data card to control the system. 

“It’s so simple, you just put the data card in and away you go.” 

“It’s very cool to have something so digitised and automated. When farmers’ days are already busy enough, it gives us with such valuable peace of mind and one less thing to worry about.”

Learn more about the iSeries system here.

Precision herd management using Gallagher’s eShepherd cattle neckbands just got easier with eShepherd now providing coverage wherever your cellular phone works, removing the need for expensive start-up infrastructure with connectivity base stations.

eShepherd is Gallagher’s pioneering virtual fencing solution that uses neckbands to train cattle to remain within a virtual fencing barrier. It allows farmers to move and contain livestock anywhere on their farm, directly from their laptop or phone. Director of eShepherd Sales and Commercialisation, Sharl Liebergreen, says the eShepherd system has traditionally been driven by long-range communication using base stations installed across farms that can communicate over 5km. eShepherd neckbands are now available with built-in cellular connectivity, removing the need to install base stations on your farm. That means each individual neckband connects to your local cellular network, meaning faster and cheaper startup costs for virtual fencing.

The updated neckband variant can now use a global SIM card to connect to a local cellular network, removing the need for base stations and saving farmers the initial infrastructure cost of $5,000 per station. The neckbands use specific bands (referred to as IoT bands) of the local cellular network, which provide enhanced coverage and connectivity, especially in remote or rural areas where traditional cellular services might be less reliable, says Sharl. The bands consistently ensure the reliable transmission of data.

Sharl says Gallagher could see the growth in cellular coverage across New Zealand and Australia with recent developments including SpaceX partnering with local cellular companies to improve rural connectivity and Gallagher saw the opportunity to transform the system and save farmers money – enabling them to get straight into virtual fencing, and not spend time and money on connectivity towers. “By leveraging those cellular networks, we can give farmers more flexibility and save them the cost of installing base stations – which are valued at $5,000 each,” says Sharl.

“Recent virtual fencing research described virtual fencing installation with base stations being a huge barrier to entry – with costs as high as $40,000. Farmers have told us they would rather invest in more neckbands than base stations,” says Sharl. He says the cellular option will also be welcomed by Gallagher’s American and Canadian customers who graze large paddocks, often not side by side or nearby each other, but they do have great cellular coverage. “If the farm has cellular coverage, there is no requirement to invest in base stations. Each eShepherd neckband will connect to the local cellular network. The farmer doesn’t have to do anything. The cost of the cellular connection is managed by Gallagher,” says Sharl.

“With a SIM installed in the neckbands to facilitate the cellular connection, farmers will simply need to turn the neckbands on, fit them onto their animals, and they can start managing and virtually fencing their herds immediately. eShepherd will take care of the rest, including connecting to the cellular network and managing the billing between the network and the neckbands.” says Sharl.With cellular network connectivity, we can immediately deliver new solutions and software updates over the network, directly to the neckband. Ensuring the farmer is working with the latest features with minimal disruption to the daily operations of farmers, says Sharl.

Sharl says the new feature will also be particularly useful for small-scale operators or lifestyle farmers. “With no need for expensive base stations, lifestyle farmers can easily implement virtual fencing on their properties, ensuring the welfare of their livestock without breaking the bank,” says Sharl. “In the case of lifestyle property owners. They often work away from their property but even when they are busy juggling multiple responsibilities, they can still efficiently manage their livestock using eShepherd and cellular connectivity,” says Sharl.

To learn more and sign up for eShepherd virtual fence - click here.

Across 475 hectares of some of New Zealand’s most scenic farmland in mid-Canterbury, a beef farming operation is successfully being run on a tight rotational grazing system, similar to a dairy farm.

A permanent electric fencing solution from Gallagher has been key to making it happen. The property is known as Glenview and is owned by former Anzco Foods founder Sir Graeme Harrison. Sir Graeme’s total farm area in the mid-Canterbury region covers over 2,300 hectares and encompasses properties at Mt Alford, Pudding Hill and Highbank. The most recent addition is Glenview, where the farm has been completely overhauled with a new fencing system from Gallagher. Farm manager Jack Dwyer says the fencing solution allows them to run a sharp rotational grazing system on the Glenview property, like that found on most New Zealand dairy farms.

“It is an intensive operation, so we want to make it pay for itself,” says Jack. “To help us manage our animals effectively, we tore out almost all the fencing and re-fenced more than 60kms of the property using Gallagher’s electric fencing solution, including powering it up with Gallagher energizers.” Each paddock is about eight hectares in size, divided in the middle with a two-wire fence. This allows sheep to go underneath, but cattle to be effectively managed. There are water troughs one quarter and three quarters along the two-wire fence. It means each four-hectare half can be split into four one hectare or eight half hectare grazing strips.

“This set up means we can run short sharp rotational grazing where we get mobs of 40 to 50 cattle doing a 24-day rotation in one eight-hectare paddock if the growth is adequate,” says Jack. As the grazing rotation continues into summer, lambs are brought into the system and replace cattle in some paddocks. Mobs of between 800 and 1,400 lambs follow in the rotation and are given the full eight hectares to graze out.

“It’s been a system of trial and error. We’ve spent the last few years figuring out what works and what doesn’t, but the Gallagher system and gear has been absolutely key to helping us manage feed and maximise animal productivity,” says Jack. “The system also allows us to easily drop out halves of paddocks to be cut for supplementary feed.” A similar fencing set-up has also been recently installed at the Highbank property, which also grows supplementary feed for the rest of the operation.

Across all the farms, the operation runs a total of 2,700 Perrindale ewes, with plans to lift that number to about 4,000 over the next couple of years. They calved 500 Angus cows this season and last season raised 240 Angus steers to Five Star Beef and finished 830 Friesian bulls, and 4000 lambs, with hopes to see those numbers rise in the next few seasons. “It is a complex operation, but our Gallagher fencing solution gives us the peace of mind we need. We can use the technology as much or as little as we want to help us run an efficient and productive farm business.”

Jack and his team use an M10,000i and an M6000i energizer on Glenview, a M10,000i at Pudding Hill and an M10,000i at Mt Alford. They use Gallagher’s Ag Devices App to make sure everything runs smoothly, and stock are kept safe and where they should be. “The Ag Devices App allows us to see when the amps are coming off and you can see what’s normal and what’s not. It will throw up an alarm when there is a fault and if the power falls below a set level. Because the farm is divided into blocks you can use Fence Monitors to isolate and find the faults within 10 minutes, which is crucial for the size of the operation we’re running,” says Jack.

Jack says the Gallagher system also enables them to better manage cattle in the small rotational grazing areas. “When you have large numbers of cattle like we have and are running a tight rotational grazing system, we need to know the mobs stay where we put them. Gallagher’s electric fencing solutions are helping us do that.”

What do you use to enclose four cute and furry Cheetah that can reach land speeds of up to 130km/h and jump up to three metres high in the air? A Gallagher fencing system.

When Hamilton Zoo needed to upgrade its cheetah enclosure to prepare for the arrival of their four young cheetah boys, Radi, Bomani, Manni and Denzel, they decided to use Gallagher products.

Hamilton Zoo Asset Manager, Jesse Golden, says the zoo transferred the boys from Taronga Dubbo Western Plains Zoo, in Australia, but their journey to Hamilton is only one small part of the story. Hamilton Zoo staff worked for nearly 12 months beforehand to create the perfect enclosure for them.

“There was a really detailed design process we went through which involved seeing what has been learned in the past and what other zoos are doing with their cheetah. We also knew we wanted a closer experience for our visitors,” says Jesse.

The boys arrived in Hamilton in early April and have settled in well to their new home. Denzel, Radi and Bomani are brothers, while Manni was born one month earlier at Monarto in South Australia.

“The boys have settled in beautifully. They were happy to be reunited after the flight and there was plenty of purring, yelps, barks and grooming each other,” says Jesse.

Jesse says Hamilton Zoo settled on a Gallagher fencing system as they were confident it could safely contain their four young cheetah, while still offering a great viewing experience for their visitors.

“We added more viewing windows to the enclosure to create a closer experience for visitors, but we also used a black mesh fence which is easier to see through and easier for visitors to take photos through,” says Jesse.

The cheetah fence was installed by Barakat Contractors.

Owner Dale Barakat says about 1km of Gallagher High Conductive Lead Out Wire and Gallagher Double Insulated Cable was used in the project which saw them add three offset electrified wires around the enclosure.

“We used the Gallagher Wood Post Live Tip Offset at the top of the fence, through the middle and at the bottom and Gallagher Double Insulated Cable to set it all up. It’s electrified using a Gallagher MBS800 Multi Powered Energizer,” says Dale.

The job also involved digging a trench around the enclosure and filling it with rock and installing wooden boards to the bottom of the fence and digging them into the ground so the boys can’t dig themselves out of the enclosure.

Right beside the boys’ new home are the Giraffe, Zebra, Goats and Deer, says Jesse.

“The boys are in their enclosure and they can see through to their neighbours. They have been really interested in the Zebra and looking at them a lot.”

Jesse says the new fence looks stunning.

“The boys are very happy in their new environment and we are very happy with the new fence that we know is keeping them safe,” says Jesse.

KANSAS CITY, MO -Producers wanting to fence pastures and valuable fodder crops in the toughest conditions can now reach for a heavy duty solution from Gallagher to get the job done.

After the runaway success of Gallagher’s Ring Top Post range that offered an easier to use, robust and lightweight alternative to traditional pig tail standards, farmers can now go to a heavy-duty option with the Heavy Duty Ring Top Post. The same heavy duty features have also been included in a Heavy Duty Multi Wire Ring Top Post, that will prove popular with livestock producers who are increasingly opting for fall and winter crop grazing.

It is the solution for temporary fencing ground that may be particularly stony or difficult to get a post into for other reasons such as soil type or moisture conditions.

In response to input from customers, the Gallagher design team rolled up their sleeves to work out how to make what was already an effective product even more robust.

Meantime they aimed to retain the light weight needed to deliver the portability a temporary fencing component has to have, as well as the patented head design that eliminates the risk of insulation failure common on standards made using traditional plastic tubing slid over the “pigtail” head.

“We knew we had a product that was very popular, the basic design has proven to be very sound. It involved beefing up the range by adding a Heavy Duty foot and a thicker steel shaft.  Both mean they are much easier to “tread in” and stay in hard or stony ground than previous products on the market,” says Graham Johns, Gallagher product manager for fencing.

A steel shaft and a wider, heavier duty foot grating with dual foot spikes ensure superior ground holding for the new range.  The robust construction makes it much less likely to bend or deform when pushed into the ground, helped by a foot plate capable of withstanding a massive 790 lbs of pressure.

Because they stay so well into the ground does not mean the Heavy Duty Ring Tops are harder to put in, or get out, of that ground.  When it comes time to quickly pack up a temporary fencing project, producers will appreciate the Ring Top’s natural centered top creating a convenient handle for pulling them out of the ground.

Producers seeking the same features of durability also need multiple wires to contain stock, and the new Gallagher range has recognized this need.

The Multi Wire option comes with three insulators per post and the robust, short-proof glass filled insulators snap on easily, and are easily replaced if needed.

Wire heights and spacing allow multiple customized heights, with the flexibility of the Ring Top head for whenever single wire fencing is needed.

“Thanks to input from our valued customers, we believe we have come up with the ultimate stomp proof, tangle proof, wear proof solution to the most demanding of temporary fencing jobs, regardless of stock or crop type,” says Graham.

Karapiro dairy farmer Trent Paterson is mastering his pasture management and getting more from every square meter of grass thanks to the power and reliability of Gallagher’s Lithium Solar Energizer technology. Trent milks 300 Jersey cows once a day, runs 350 deer for velvet, and grows around 100 jersey bulls on his 230-hectare farm in the Waikato. 

The farm's landscape has rolling hills and valleys, presenting plenty of challenges with power and accessibility. About half of the farm is fenced with two or three wire electric fences and the balance is traditionally Deer fencing. Trent also grows 12 Ha of maize silage every year and harvests 80 tonnes of grass silage. “Managing my grazing round length has become key to the business. I don’t break feed the deer but everything else is break fed. I don’t measure pasture by plate meter, but I do look at my residuals and have trained my farm manager to look at residuals too,” says Trent. “For me, that’s the key to growing quality pasture and lots of it!”

Trent uses a Gallagher Lithium Solar Fence Energizer to power up his break fences, solving his issues with power and accessibility and keeping his mobs where he needs them to ensure they efficiently graze every paddock. “Making sure we're getting good power to the back of the farm can be quite difficult at times. Using an off-grid, Lithium Solar Energizer ensures plenty of power on my break fencing without an issue,” says Trent. Managing his pasture efficiently means ensuring mobs are fully eating down their breaks to target residuals. “The feed you leave in a paddock is more important than the new grass you’re shifting your mobs onto. If you’re moving mobs too quickly and they’re not eating the pasture down far enough, the pasture is going to be poor when they come back for the next round because they’ve left too big a residual,” says Trent. 

The length of his rounds change depending on the season. “In the spring you're going into a good period of growth, and you can speed up your rounds. Then coming into late summer when you dry off, you push the round out. Then I use my supplementary feed to fill any gaps,” says Trent. His herd produces an average of 85,000 kgMS milking once a day. “I don't target high per cow production or even high production per hectare. The kind of country we farm on is just not meant for that. However, more effectively managing our pasture and making the most from every square meter with the help of portable fencing and break feeding has definitely helped us boost grass growth,” says Trent.

With the Lithium Solar Energizer range up to 53% lighter than previous lead-acid models with a 300% faster charging and longer lasting battery, it’s more so much more efficient. Its smaller size and the lightweight design makes it easy to transport. The energizer also delivers a consistent 7,000 to 8,000 volts on Trents fencing, in all weather, providing a reliable deterrent for livestock. “The Lithium Solar Energizers pretty much ready to use straight out of the box. After only a few hours sitting in the sun you’ve got incredible battery longevity and reliability, even on cloudy days. It’s an ideal, self-sufficient power solution for us,” says Trent.

Maintaining the integrity of his fences is crucial to preventing mobs breaking over and disrupting his carefully planned round lengths, reliable power on these portable fences are crucial. “The Lithium Solar Energizer keeps my mobs where they need to be and helps me execute my pasture management strategy with ease, making every blade of grass count toward my bottom line” says Trent. 

Gallagher is making off-grid livestock control and precision pasture management easier for New Zealand farmers with the launch of an extended range of Lithium Solar Fence Energizers, delivering more power over longer distances in any weather. In 2021, the company revolutionised electric fencing with the introduction of the world-first Lithium Solar Fence Energizer, the S12 Lithium. Now Gallagher has expanded its range in New Zealand launching an S20 Lithium powering up to 2km, an S30 Lithium – up to 3km, an S60 up to 6km and its most powerful S80 Lithium, which delivers reliable off-grid power to fences up to 8km.

The energizers help achieve precision pasture allocation and adaptive livestock control, allowing farmers to get more out of every square meter of grass. This makes it easier for farmers to allocate the perfect amount of pasture per head of livestock and reliably keep mobs where they need to be for efficient grazing. “As farmers face rising costs and tighter margins, maximising the efficient use of pasture needs to be a priority,” says Gallagher Business Development Manager Mark Maitland. “They need reliable portable electric fencing they know they can trust to do the job and keep their livestock where they need to be even without a direct power source. They want to be able to easily subdivide their paddocks into efficient grazing areas to optimise pasture allocation. That’s where our Lithium Solar energizers can help.”

The powerful solar energizers are up to 53 percent lighter than the previous lead-acid battery models, making them easy to transport around the farm. Lithium batteries can perform at least 300 percent more cycles when compared to lead-acid batteries, providing longer life in a product that runs every day and night. The Lithium Energizers are also far superior to lead-acid batteries which can only discharge about 60 percent of their capacity. Lithium batteries are better at holding their charge and can be depleted to almost zero and still be fully regenerated. “Because you can use a lithium battery’s whole range of capacity, they are far more efficient, and the energizers can be smaller in size. Their portability makes it easier for farmers to manage grazing efficiently, even in hard-to-reach areas,” says Mark. “The Lithium Energizers can also manage many more charge/discharge cycles so they last 7-10 years, as opposed to a conventional battery which typically only lasts three seasons. Switching to Lithium makes sense whichever way you look at it.” This improved battery performance means the three year energizer warranty now also includes the battery – which was not the case on previous lead-acid models. 

Gallagher’s Lithium Energizers use intelligent adaptive voltage technology, using microprocessors to continually monitor the solar energy intake and operate the unit as efficiently as possible. "Smart adaptive electronics are constantly monitoring the solar energy being stored, measuring it against the battery voltage and adjusting the output energy to ensure your fence is powered for as long as possible, even in the absence of sunlight,” says Mark. “This clever technology means farmers can be assured their fences are always running.” Like all Gallagher solutions, farmers had input into the initial product concept. Three hundred farmers around the world told Gallagher how they were using current solar-powered energizers, what worked and any issues they had. “We came up with a number of concepts, which we tested out with a selection of farmers to get their feedback,” says Mark. “We found they liked the compact size and the fact that the energizers mount to a post. It makes the energizer even more reliable by keeping the solar panel clear of grass and out of the water.”

These energizer models also have a dual insulated plastic enclosure, which protects internal circuitry and the Lithium battery from extreme temperatures. “We believe our Lithium Energizer range is a collection of the most powerful, lightweight and reliable off-grid energizers on the market,” says Mark. “This leading-edge technology allows farmers to more efficiently manage their pasture, even in more remote locations and provides peace of mind livestock are always where they should be.”

The quality of a horse farm is often only as good as the fences around it, and the Wilson sisters appreciate that fact more than most.

The sisters Vicki, Kelly and Amanda have had more than their share of horses injured after being caught in fences and gates, and spent many hours tending injured horses and putting the offending fencing right.

But in the past year they have had some welcome relief from the upsetting and stressful encounters between horses and fences, thanks to having their property made far more “horse friendly” using Gallagher Equine Fence systems.

Working with Gallagher and the Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand the sisters have fenced well over two thirds of their Northland property with the Gallagher system that incorporates specially designed Equine Fence Wire, gates, outriggers and now the innovative new Insulated Line Posts.

With a year’s experience having the system in place, Kelly says they have come to realise how stressful and unnecessary horse injuries from fences and gates are when avoided by having a good system in place.

“In the 12 months we have had the system in place we have had no wire cuts or accidents from the fences or gates where we have the Gallagher system in place. But we have had seven on the remaining conventional fences, and one horse had to be retired from riding because of the injury she sustained.”

Other horses have also sustained small wire cuts requiring attention to avoid them becoming infected.

“I think what we have learned is that we now know it is preventable, they are accidents that with the right fencing, you can avoid.”

The sisters are working over coming months to replace the remaining traditional wire fences with Gallagher Equine Wire. The wire has a unique electrified polymer design with wide diameter and smooth coating that reduces the risk of it becoming entangled with a horse’s hoof, leg or head.

This has avoided the injuries Kelly has witnessed where the high tensile wire becomes entangled between the horse’s hoof and shoe, at worst electrocuting the animal.

Similarly, all the gates have been replaced with Gallagher Equimaster Gates, designed to minimise any risk of horses getting their heads or hooves caught in the gate’s railings.

Grid mesh welded to the gate frame eliminates the risk of mesh separating and providing a means for hooves to become caught between it and the frame.

“We have had horses go over gates and get their back legs caught, or get their heads caught between gate railings. We changed the gates over and in the past year have had none of those accidents.”

Kelly is particularly impressed with the newly released Gallagher Insulated Line Posts.

Designed to be easily transported around the farm, and set up with minimum fuss, their adjustability means they can provide a tailor made solution to containing horses, sheep, cattle and deer.

“We found they were extremely easy to set up, the three of us laid out a whole paddock ourselves in only about half an hour. The fact you can move the snap on clips up or down means to you can set up the fence and the wires exactly as you want them to be.”

The sisters have used the fence system to subdivide a larger paddock, and alongside the river bank to keep horses out of the water.

At present the sisters are running a wide variety of horses, ranging from three different breeds of wild horses, the horse Vicki trained and won in the World Championship of Colt Starting event in March, and a number of Olympic standard show jumpers.

Kelly said she has much more peace of mind knowing all are well contained, and less likely than ever to injure themselves around the family property.

“We have come to realise with the fence system just how avoidable some of these injuries are, and we are working hard to remove the last of the old fencing.”