JOHN Jennings, of Bairnsdale in Victoria, has spent a lifetime thinking about the best way to farm and handle cattle.
John is the sixth-generation owner of Estella Park, a property once used to breed beef cattle, but now dedicated to stock finishing.
John and his wife, Shirley, work their Angus and Hereford-cross cattle on the 243ha property with help from daughter Leanne and grand-daughter Zoe.
John first saw the benefits of electrifying his cattle fences 20 years ago, when he used an early solar-powered electric fence unit connected to some home-made outrigger hotwires.
His early outriggers were made of a fibreglass shaft inserted into a hole in a post, with a wire acting as a clamp to hold the live wire.
John is a Bairnsdale beef cattle legend who has been involved with the local stockyards management committee for 40 years.
He was one of the leading stockmen who, for 13 years until 1984, drove cattle down from Benambra, Omeo and Ensay on horseback to the rail yards in Bairnsdale, to be delivered to their new owners.
He was made a life member of the Bairnsdale Agricultural Society in 1977 and has served the society in a number of roles, from president to groundsman.
John, 79, has been a member of the Victorian Farmers Federation since he was 20.
He said he had renewed his fences this year to replace some sections that were now 50 years old.
"When I took over (here) 50 years ago, the paddocks were all post and rail," John said.
"I pulled them all down and replaced most with three barbs on top and five Cyclone wires below."
The property's new fences will be pine posts three metres apart, with H-corner assemblies to replace any surviving split-timber posts.
The panels will consist of three barbed wires and five single plain wires, with two wooden droppers between each post.
All the fences will have an outrigger electric wire placed about one metre off the ground.
John said he currently used three five-watt, solar-powered energisers to charge up to 8km of fences.
John said he still used cattle yards with a loading ramp and crush he built 45 years ago.
The yards are built with split redgum and box tree timber combined with recycled steel train tracks.
John and friends made the crush with native timber and created a steel and timber head bale that can be operated by one person.
