With grazing finished on the majority of farms at this stage, there are a few jobs that should be carried out to leave things ready for spring time.

1. Pick up all temporary fences, reels and posts

Temporary fences that were used throughout the back end of the year should all be picked up and stored away for the winter.

Battery fencers would be better off in out of the weather for the winter. This is especially true on outfarms where there is a greater risk of theft.

Having all reels picked up and stored in the shed for the winter allows you to know just how many you have on farm and you know where they are when needed in spring.

2. Turn off water

Where stock are now off the land, it may make sense to turn off the water supply to the drinking troughs. This will avoid any unnecessary leaks over the winter months that might not be seen due to you not being on the land.

Where mains water is being used, it will also avoid any unnecessary costs on water usage.

Having a master valve where the water leaves the yard to go out the land is very useful, as you can isolate the field drinkers and easily switch off the water supply if you need to do any work on the line at any stage.

3. Empty drinkers

Emptying drinkers and leaving them upside down is only an option where plastic troughs are used.

Doing this job before winter will reduce the likelihood of drinkers splitting in severe frost and will mean they are filled with fresh clean water when turned on again in spring.

4. Turn off fence

The electric fence should be turned off over the winter months where possible. While some farms will require the fence on for around the yard or in sheds over cattle, the majority will not need the fence to be on.

While there is no major financial saving in turning it off, it should help prolong the lifespan of the fencer.

Where power is still needed over winter, having isolation switches or kill switches on different parts of the farm is very useful if you just need to turn off some areas of the farm.

Over winter, there can be a lot more power lost through earthing on the fence from fallen branches or broken posts. Turning off areas that are not needed can help this.

5. Mend fences

Lastly, there will have been posts knocked over or broken during the course of the year.

Fixing them now during a relatively quiet time on the farm makes more sense than leaving it until spring when you are trying to get stock to grass and are busy with calving or lambing.

Little and often is the best approach to maintenance when it comes to keeping fences in good order.

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