Farm Fence Types for Cattle, Goats and Field Lines
Farm fence is priced by the foot of wire and the number of posts, so the right choice depends on what the fence has to stop. A line for a few steers and a pen for goats are very different builds.
Woven Wire Field Fence
Field fence is a woven grid of vertical and horizontal wires sold in rolls. It costs a little more than barbed wire, and guides note it isn't a hazard to children or pets the way barbs are.
- Guide price: about $1.50 to $5.90 per linear foot installed, set mostly by the mesh size
- 2 x 4 inch mesh keeps hooves from going through; 6 x 6 inch mesh suits cattle and larger animals
- A heavier, tighter version sold as bull wire runs about $3 to $7 a foot
Barbed Wire
Barbed wire is still the low-cost way to run a long cattle line. HomeGuide puts a livestock barbed fence at $3 to $6 per foot installed, usually 4 to 5 feet tall with four to six strands, and about $2,000 to $2,200 for a one-acre perimeter. Smaller animals need six to eight strands. A well-kept barbed fence can last 20 to 50 years. Keep it away from horses; guides say they cut themselves reaching over it (see Horse Fencing for safer options).
High-Tensile Wire
Smooth high-tensile steel wire is stretched hard between braced end posts. Fixr lists it at about $1.60 to $4.50 per foot installed. It is often electrified: HomeGuide prices an above-ground electric fence at $1.50 to $4.00 a foot, and says three hot wires usually hold cattle and hogs. Most cities don't allow electric fence in residential neighborhoods, so this type is for rural land.
Goat and Small Livestock Fence
Goats test every gap. Welded hog wire with 2 x 4 inch openings at the bottom stops kids and small stock from slipping through, and the same panels work for hogs. Frameless hog wire runs about $6 to $13 per foot installed, and galvanized wire lasts 15 to 25 years. Keeping predators out is a bigger job: HomeGuide says predators and deer can take up to 11 electric strands.
Farm Tube Gates and H-Brace Corners
A wire fence is only as tight as its ends. Corners, gate posts and long straight runs need braced assemblies, usually two posts joined by a horizontal rail with a diagonal brace wire, so the stretched wire can't pull them over. Guides add about $150 to $500 per gate. Wide steel tube gates for a tractor or trailer belong on this page. A motorized gate at the driveway is a different job: see Driveway Gates.
Why Tallahassee homeowners call Tallahassee Expert Fencing
- The call and the form are free
- Your request goes to one contractor, not a list of bidders
- Ask for posts, gates, removal and cleanup priced line by line
- Hold the final payment until the gates swing and latch
Farm Fence Cost per Foot by Wire Type
National installed ranges from Fixr's wire fence guide and HomeGuide's barbed wire guide. Posts, braces, clearing and gates move the final number.
| Wire type | Installed per linear foot |
|---|---|
| Smooth wire | $1.20-$2.50 |
| Woven field wire | $1.50-$5.90 |
| High-tensile steel | $1.60-$4.50 |
| Livestock barbed wire (4-6 strands) | $3.00-$6.00 |
| Bull wire | $3.00-$7.00 |
| Frameless hog wire | $6.00-$13.00 |
Florida Livestock Law and Your Fence Line
Florida's livestock law covers the whole state. It counts horses, cattle, goats, sheep, hogs and mules as livestock, and under s. 588.15 an owner who lets them stray onto a public road through carelessness or negligence is liable for the injury and damage that follows. That makes the road frontage the stretch to build first and check most often.
A few points to settle before the crew arrives:
Wood posts
Posts sit in damp ground for decades. Ask for ground-contact treated posts (the termite and UC4A notes are on Wood Privacy Fences).Utility locate
Every post hole needs one first; see Chain Link Fences for the Sunshine 811 steps.Clearing
Brush and fallen trees along an old line are often priced separately from the fence.Lower-cost look for the front
Some owners put split rail along the road and wire on the back pasture.
See Horse Fencing if the pasture will hold horses.