Cattle Panels

When you move away from the culture you are used to, you soon discover that many things you take for granted simply don’t exist other places. Even now, years after I moved to Spain, I continue to run into things that make me go “huh, didn’t know that wasn’t a universal thing”. One of those things, the one most recently on my mind, is the humble cattle panel.

For those who don’t know, a cattle panel is a galvanized steel welded semi-rigid fence panel. That “semi-rigid” thing is the magic part. Instead of being floppy rolls like chicken wire, or rigid panels like tubular corral fencing, they are (with a bit of effort) bendable into a variety of forms. They are used for a variety of cool things in addition to their intended use in feedlots. They make excellent arbors, bean trellises, hoop house supports, and tomato cages.

Oh, and they’re dirt cheap. a 16 foot long, 50 inch high panel runs between $25 and $35 depending on where you live in the States. Too bad no one in Spain has ever heard of them.

Fencing here comes in two basic types: cheap wire mesh on a roll, and rigid metal panels called hercules fencing. These things are great! They are sturdy, easy to work with, and last forever. But, you can’t bend them. Indeed, they’re designed specifically not to be bent.

Also, they’re wildly expensive. A single panel is usually 2.5 meters long, 1.5 meter high, and $50, making them almost four times more expensive than a cattle panel.

Maybe I can weld my own?