GOOD sheep prices and an improved season have meant a great couple of years for this year’s winner of the best local exhibit at the Australian National Field Days at Borenore, near Orange.
Owner of Kerin Engineering, David Kerin, Yeoval, has been in the business of building and repairing farm equipment for the past 30 years, but in the past two years, he has seen a 100 per cent increase in sales of his key two products, a multi-purpose feeder and grouper and a multi-purpose sheep trailer.
Mr Kerin said the company sells gear across Australia and into New Zealand and the better prices of the past couple of years had flown through to improved sales across the board.
He said two years ago his business was averaging about 1.5 units a week each of the feeder/grouper and sheep trailer, but this had increased to three units a week now.
As a result, he had increased his staffing from five to 11, all employed from the Yeoval and Wellington areas.
He said this allowed him to stagger the level of development of his staff, with established staff, those part way though their TAFE course and newer staff at the beginning of their TAFE course, providing a mix of experience and age on the team.
Mr Kerin was a farmer himself initially and the engineering was a hobby, however, it took off and 19 years ago he sold the farm to raise the equity to build a factory in Yeoval, his facility featureing 120 by 18 metres of floor space.
He said part of the success since then had been a workforce that was committed to producing a quality, local product.
The flat top trailer, which is a newer feature from the company, has been catering for the gap in the market opened due to the cost of owning a truck.
The 4.5 by 2.4 metre trailer was designed to cart as many as 48 prime lambs, but had sides which opened and allowed a pallet of fertiliser or farm chemical to be loaded for the trip home.
“People can use this all year without the cost of a truck,” he said.
The best local exhibit was announced as part of the opening ceremony on Thursday.