Wairata (Wai) started work in the Rangitikei in 2011. He worked on three farms breeding and finishing lambs and cattle and grazing dairy heifers. Before moving to the East Coast in 2016 to work on steep hill country breeding operations, north of Gisborne.
In 2018 he believed fencing was an opportunity to run his own business and started working for an established contractor before starting his own operation, which happened to be, unwittingly, on the very day NZ went into covid lockdown.
Despite the challenges of the past five years, he’s still in business and located in Te Kuiti after completing a large waterway contract there a few years ago and getting married to a city girl from Auckland who enjoys the new lifestyle.
Anne works with Wai between childcare commitments and documents the journey on social media. You can follow her Facebook page here - A Fencer's Wife.
Wai operates across the central North Island and has other experienced fencers to join him when the job needs more hands. Generally, but not exclusively, King Country, Ruapehu, Rangitikei, Whanganui and Taranaki.
We work hard every day to achieve optimum production without compromising the mental health of our people, causing them undue fatigue or asking them to take unnecessary risks, that could jeopardise their opportunity to return home at the end of the day.
