Oamaru's Te Pari Products establishes Nebraska office

Te Pari's signature drench gun stands out at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association Trade Show in Phoenix, Arizona, last month. Photos: Supplied

An Oamaru business is expanding into the United States farm animal handling and husbandry market.

Te Pari Products has established an office in Nebraska, staffed by local sales and feedlot specialist Brian Siekman.

''In New Zealand, Te Pari is a retailer,'' marketing co-ordinator Andries du Plooy said.

Te Pari Products' United States representative Brian Siekman (left), brand ambassador Baxter Black (third from left) and sales and marketing director Jeremy Blampied (right) discuss drenching options.

''In Australia and the United States, we sell through dealership networks. We have employed people permanently to basically manage the channel that we sell into.''

Te Pari manufactures weighing and data-capturing gear, including its electronic dosing gun which won the Grassroots Innovation Award at the 2014 Mystery Creek Fieldays.

The handling equipment has a built-in electronic panel that reads ear tags to identify each animal.

''The electronic dosing gun integrates with the weighing system. The machine captures the animal, the scale indicator weighs the animal and calculates the exact dosage and then communicates with the gun, which then dispenses the exact amount of dose,'' Mr du Plooy said.

That avoided common problems caused by giving each animal a standard dose - the larger ones would be under-dosed, potentially leading to developing resistance, and the smaller ones would be over-dosed.

The dosing gun also avoided wasting expensive medication.

''Medicine application and dosing can be ridiculously complicated. Te Pari has created this dosing gun and a variety of barrels to be extremely precise.

''It's a one-man operation because the machines handle the animal. You can work faster and easier with less strain.''

Te Pari also makes manual drench guns for the US market.

Te Pari co-owner and sales and marketing director Jeremy Blampied spent six months in the US in 2016-17 to form relationships with equipment dealers and in the animal pharmaceutical sector.

Te Pari has collaborated with the US makers of market-leading animal crush brand Moly Manufacturing, which now recommends and sells Te Pari animal scales and dosing guns as add-ons to its own equipment.

Mr Blampied has recently returned from the world's biggest cattle trade show, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association Trade Show in Phoenix, Arizona. Te Pari was among the line-up, and its drench gun was on display in the form of a giant inflated replica.

The company also has a dealership in Uruguay for the South American market.

''We are selling all over the world,'' Mr du Plooy said.

''We just had a guy in Abu Dhabi who bought a crush. He sent us photos of it in the desert.

''We also have a new dealership setting up in Russia.

The fact the products were Kiwi-made was an advantage internationally, he said. New Zealanders were known as farming champions, and Te Pari had a strong record.

''We build, service and supply our products. Our equipment is not a bunch of loose components. They're well-designed and well-built for the whole animal-handling process.''

Central Rural Life