Business Central September 2021

78 | MANUFACTURING Buy NZ: Farmgear NZ made machinery in demand Farmgear has stuck to its strength of manufacturing 100% New Zealand made machinery products. T T Sue Russell P almerston North business Farmgear has been in business 30 years, designing and constructing farm machinery. For the first 18 years, their main product was the Maxam mower, which quickly became very popular with farmers who found the benefit of owning one mower that could do all their mowing and topping. Prior to this, farmers often owned several machines to do the various mowing tasks around the farm. In 2009 the company acquired Fencepro and shifted the company from its base in Wellsford to Palmerston North. This added post and pile driving technolo- gies into their product offering which also help spread sales and production across the year. Farmgear Ltd has stuck to its strength of manufacturing 100% New Zealand made products during a time when many other com- panies diversified into importing machinery from other countries. This focus on local manufacturing opened the door to further expansion in 2019 when the opportunity came to purchase the Kinghit- ter brand of post drivers. This brand had been manufactured by Fairbrother industries in Auckland for over 40 years, and was the main competitor to Fen- cepro. In December 2019, (just before Covid hit), the manufacturing plant in Auckland was closed and the production moved to Palmer- ston North. Quite a few staff also made the shift, bring a continuity of experience and product knowledge. Farmgear joined the Buy New Zealand Made campaign in 2020, strengthening their position as a dedicated supporter of locally made products. The acquisition of Kinghitter has helped grow the company exponentially and in- creased growth is now coming from both the New Zealand market and overseas markets. Sales locally are growing by the day, and the production team is working hard to manage the supply chain issues that are prevalent currently. Kinghitter has well established importers and distributors in many countries, especially US and Australia and export sales are ramping up. This can attributed to the strength of the agriculture sector globally, as well as end users finding the benefits of the new Kinghit - ter models developed for their local require- ments. A lot of research and development has gone into manufacturing a New Zealand made post driver that can be shipped in contain- ers, and also transshipped individually after devanning. US trucks are all end-loaded as opposed to side-loading in New Zealand so this was a major complication. The team con- quered this hurdle and consequent shipments have been very successful. Asked about future growth Nick says that is more likely to come from increasing export volumes. “We currently export to the United States and Australia and I think at least in the short term focusing on expanding opportunities in these places will be how we will grow.” Having said that though, when Business Central spoke with Nick, orders from Chile and the UK had been received. Exposure also at this year’s Fieldays event at Mystery Creek, proved to be very worthwhile with the com- pany having a Fencepro site and a separate Kinghitter site. Sales from this event were un- precedented and reinforced the fact that both these brands are the most popular with both farmers and fencing contractor alike. Maxam mowers, and Fencepro and Kinghit- ter post drivers are all sold through a network of farm machinery dealers nationwide, which provides customers with local knowledge and local support when required. Every machine is pre run at the factory and generally delivered to the farm and set up by the farm machinery dealer rep who have an immense knowledge of the workings of each machine. Custom- er satisfaction is paramount to the team at Farmgear, and this shows in their dedication to every detail in the customer’s journey. freephone: 0800towball email: bevan@cranstons.co.nz website www.cranstons.co.nz Proud suppliers to Farmgear NZ made custom components and maker of towballs