2016 Premier Fence

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Premier first imported netting in
1977 when Stan Potratz (Premier’s
founder) returned to Iowa after
farming for 10 years in England.
The original netting was yellow
and black, 33" tall, 150 ft long, a poor
conductor (compared to our nets now)
and used thin 0.50" diameter posts
(still used in non-Premier nets).
During the past 35 years we’ve talked
daily to netting users about what
they like and dislike about it. We’ve
used netting extensively (2 miles of it
currently) on our 3 small farms—and
have our own likes and dislikes.
As a result we’ve:
• Developed better netting designs.
• Become the world’s leading
educator on the uses and abuses of
electrified netting.
Before netting…
• Sheep could only be grazed in
areas enclosed with woven wire.
With netting they can be grazed
nearly anywhere that folks want to
install the nets.
• Sheep were at the mercy of coyotes
and stray dogs. It was not a matter
of if, but when. Shepherds had to
sleep with one ear open.
With netting we can keep the
coyotes out and our guard dogs
in. (We need both netting and
dogs to stop the local coyotes. The
netting ensures dogs stay in and
the combination of net plus dogs
ensures coyotes stay out.)
• One person could not move more
than 50 head of sheep without a
herding dog.
With netting to make temporary
lanes, one careful person can
A fence that’s changed sheep and goat
husbandry for many producers…
Drivable Posts (DP)…
• For easier identification— drivable
post caps are brown in color (see
at right) instead of black.
• Can be hit hard with
a mallet or dead
blow hammer (photo
at right and p. 102).
Can be tapped with
a steel hammer.
• Can be driven into
hard soil and frozen
soil as well as soft
soil. Pushing is no
longer necessary.
• Only available now for NetPost
19 (0.75" dia). They are larger and
heavier than some netting posts—
but they support the net better.
• Users who have them love them.
• Spikes (SS) have a spike stop for
added support when hammering.
Who needs Drivable Posts?
• Those who find it too difficult to
push single spikes or step double
spikes into the ground.
• Those who install net into dry, hard
soils; frozen soils; or rocky soils.
10 NETTING FAQs
(SS) = Single
Spike Post
(DS) = Double
Spike Post
(DP) = Drivable Post
with a single spike
Netting upgrades
over the years…
Since 1979 we’ve introduced:
• Black/white horizontal strands for
their higher visibility.
• Much higher conductivity. We.
reduced electrical resistance per
1000 ft from 380 to 38 Ω. It essential
for long fences and those that
experience high weed contact.
• Larger, stiffer line posts—0.60"
and 0.75" diameter instead of 0.50".
• Plus nets (with extra posts).
• Designs for specific species.
• Better support spikes.
• Double spikes if you prefer them.
• More secure caps and clips.
• Reliable Pos/Neg designs.
• QuikFence—a suspended netting
that doesn’t rest on the soil.
• FiberTuff posts for corners, curves.
• Drivable netting posts. Can be hit
with a hammer for hard soils.
Spike Stop
helps prevent spike
from being driven
into the post.
Drivable
Netting Posts
Nets with drivable posts…
Netting spike differences…
control and move a reasonably large
flock without a herding dog.
• Using sheep or goats for weed and
brush control by forcing them to
eat a minimal area with specific
vegetation was rarely practical.
Premier’s netting enables goats
and sheep to—
aBrowse brush under power lines.
aEat brush to prevent it from
becoming fuel for wildfires.
aControl invasive species (e.g.
leafy spurge, garlic mustard).
aReclaim acres infested with
multiflora rose and other
brushy/undesirable weeds.
• Flood gaps rarely contained sheep,
goats or guard dogs.
They do now—if the netting is
reset after each flood.
Electrified netting, in its many variations,
has been such an essential tool on our farms
since 1978 that it is difficult to imagine life
without it.
That others share this view is proven by the
demand for it from sheep, goat and poultry
owners across North America. We were the
first to introduce it to the US. We now supply
80% of all netting in use in this country.