On farmland a fence is not a visual boundary but a working barrier. Protecting the crop inside a greenhouse from small animals, enclosing a wide field economically and following the ground on a sloping hillside are three different problems, and each asks for a different solution.
Which animal does the aperture stop
As the aperture gets smaller both climbing and the passage of small animals become harder, but more wire goes into the same metre and the cost rises with it. A narrow aperture is chosen around greenhouses and on plots where small animals must be kept out, while a larger aperture serves on wide fields where stopping people and vehicles is enough.
Wire thickness and coating
Thicker wire resists impact and cutting better, and that difference matters around livestock facilities and on lines that see frequent handling. As for coating, PVC is preferred on lines that animals and workers touch because it leaves no sharp wire ends, while uncoated galvanised wire brings the cost per metre down on wide land where simply marking the boundary is enough.
Post choice and sloping ground
On long, level field runs a concrete post asks for no maintenance for years and carries no corrosion worry. On hillsides where the gradient changes often, the flexible structure of woven mesh follows the ground without stepping; the stepping a panel fence would need is not required here, and post spacing is only tightened where the slope steepens.
Checklist before choosing
- Establish whether the thing to be kept out is a small animal or only people and vehicles.
- The slope and change in level of the land set the post spacing and the foundation depth.
- On lines that see frequent handling, thicker wire and PVC coating are the better choice.
- Concrete posts suit long, straight runs; galvanised tube posts are more practical on short, irregular ones.