British bring fencing to NZ

Quickfencer representative Brian Faud says Fieldays are the place to be. Picture / Amos Chapple

More than 70 British companies attended the Fieldays agricultural trade show - one even wanted to teach Kiwis how to build a fence.

The British Consulate General stand represented three trade missions and about 30 companies looking to build export links.

Quickfencer wants to license a tractor mounted fence-building tool, they say can more than double the speed of fencing, for manufacture and distribution in New Zealand.

To borrow a phrase from up-north, fencing gear to New Zealand sounds a bit like "carrying coals to Newcastle", but Quickfencer representative Brian Faud said Fieldays was the place to be. "If your machinery manufacturers and distributors are as sharp as your farmers they won't miss out on this."

A successful agricultural sector without Government subsidies meant Kiwi farmers worked smarter and "anything that reduces manpower needs, they're up for it".

Paul Noon, first secretary at the British High Commission, said that although geographically distant, the British and New Zealand farming industries were close culturally.

"There are places closer to the UK much more difficult to deal with. You don't have to go very far across very much water to find more difficult parties."