Business Rural Summer 2021

72 | RURAL SERVICES » Rakaia Engineering Everything is kept well in order in Pannetts Barn (top). porting them to Tasmania, the UK, and the US; and with the silos we sold them all over New Zealand as well as to Australia and Burma. In the first few years working with Westeel we were their biggest export client with the biggest sales outside North America; at the height of it we were employing 100 people,” says Hayden. After the dairy boom REL Group consolidated into post-harvest solutions involving the grain storage, handling and drying side of the business. John’s radar led them to Alvan Blanch grain driers out of the UK which Hayden believes have revolutionized the industry. “It’s technology that’s been around for years but dropped away and now we’ve brought it back,” says Hayden. “The machine can handle any moisture and any product so basically if you can get it through your combine we can dry it. We’ve got deeper, wider beds and we don’t rely on gravity so we can get a gentler more even dry.” German technology from Ambrose Schmelzer is a recent addition, with drive-over underfloor ventila- tion and drying systems for sheds that significantly decrease drying times for seed crops. “We can do it nearly two-thirds or at least half as fast as more traditional approaches, so the farmers can get out and combine the next paddock faster.” The search for off-shore technology and new gaps opening up in the market have led REL Group to expand into the storage of other valuable resources. They’ve starting putting up tanks to store potable water, and others for fire-suppression wa- ter. “Many new buildings now want to store enough water on-site to guarantee they can run their sprin- kler systems in case of a fire,” explains Hayden. “It’s a new market for us, using new equipment and technology being developed in Australia.” The Kuyf family and the other REL Group share- holders clearly share a passion to be at the forefront of the industry, but they also take seriously their role in providing the right technology to help man- age resources people can ill-afford to lose. “Whether it’s drinkable water or grain and seed they’re precious resources,” says Hayden. “They’re people’s livelihoods and things the whole country relies on with the likes of bakers and mills, the dairy industry and so on. If you don’t have good storage your product, or your crop, can lose its quality really quickly and spoil so these days the aeration and drying and so on has become an essential part of guaranteeing that the crops can get safely off to market.” That’s why REL Group are always looking for the next top quality product or technology wherever it might be in the world that they can bring to add value to the New Zealand market. • From page 70. • High Defintion Plasma Cutting • Profile Cutting • Laser Cutting • Bevel Cutting • Drilling and Tapping • Brake Pressing • Plate Sales 0800 40 40 88 Neil Tozer 027 269 4624 Grant Tozer 027 917 5771 erlene@windowslive.com 249 Normanby Raod R.D.14 Rakaia 7784 Specializing in concrete placing, silo bases, pole sheds, dairy shed alterations and all other rural work large or small PROUD TO SUPPORT RAKAIA ENGINEERING Proud to support Rakaia Engineering