Not so long ago Central West NSW contractor, James Sunderland, was relying on a part-time job in town to keep himself busy, but for more than two years his phone has barely stopped ringing as farmers seek out his fencing skills.
Second generation fencing contractor, Mr Sunderland now employs a part-timer to help him and his father, Bob, keep up with jobs from the tablelands to Nyngan.
“When the drought was biting it was pretty lean until about 2011, but I reckon we’ve been flat out since 2013,” he said.
While better seasons and booming livestock prices have helped convince farmers to upgrade, he said many had little choice because their fences were so old.
“The biggest percentage of jobs we do involve replacing older fences which could date back 100 years - they’re simply not up to the job any more,” he said.
Everything from new kangaroo-proof fencing to post and rail sections has been on his work schedule this year, with the next three months booked solidly.
Mr Sunderland’s Dubbo-based Fencepro business has also been testing new product ideas for Whites Wires, whose range has had increasing rural market prominence in the past decade.
“There’s a lot of new equipment and fence technology available to make a new fence really effective and I try to encourage people not to go for the inferior brands if they want their investment to last,” he said.
“If you’re spending $4700 to $5000 a kilometre to get a fence erected you can’t afford to waste the money on false economies.”