Ian Newman, the 2023 Stockade New Recruit Recipient, took some time between worksites to partake in a Quick Fire Interview. Ian and his wife, TJ own and operate Double N Ranch Supply in Moses Lake, WA. Previously Ian worked for Double N Ranch Supply but has since purchased the business. As the Stockade New Recruit Recipient, Ian received accommodations and his registration for the Fall Fence Forum paid in full. To be selected as the Stockade New Recruit, Ian applied – and made quite the impression on the Stockade Team with his application. With aspirations of gaining new ideas and growing his brand, Ian was able to learn tips and techniques from some of the best in the trade this fall in Worthington, IN. When Ian, and his wife, TJ aren’t working they are busy keeping up with their 3 children and their sport of choice, rodeo. Two of their children complete in college rodeo, and one is competing in high school rodeo

Prior to attending, we asked Ian what he was looking forward to the most about the Forum – Networking with new people and new ideas. Ian has never been to anything like the Fall Fence Forum before, and for years has been wanting to try something like this. He is excited to see what the buzz is about, and meet some great people involved in the industry. “We have our own way of doing things, and we want to learn some new techniques”.

Fence building has been part of Ian’s professional career for years. His favorite type of fence to build is high-tensile electric wire, although he admits he doesn’t get to do too much of that these days. “It was the first type of fence I learned to build”. Lately barbed wire has been his most popular install. “We are in a dry part of Washington, a lot of range ground and fires recently, people are putting in barbed wire to replace fences.”

Ian traveled over 2,000 miles to attend the Fall Fence Forum in Worthington, Indiana. This may be a long stretch for some – but Ian has been across the world before. He spent 9 months working on 3 ranches in Queensland, Australia while in college through an Ag exchange program. The trip down under sparked his interest in the cattle industry.

Not many can say they are living their dream, but for Ian he is! When asked what his dream job was – he said he is living it! Working for himself, being his own boss, building fence is what he has always wanted to do. He does admit he would love to build fence in a place without rocks – but other than that one small request he is quite literally living the dream. He and his wife had a goal to own the business he had worked for, and they made that dream come true 18 months ago.

We asked Ian the most important piece of advice for someone just entering the fence industry,

“always try and keep an open mind – we get into a rhythm of doing things and sometimes an open mind is better because there might be a better, more efficient way of doing things”.

Not only is Ian looking forward to learning new techniques and networking – but he also will be bringing with him a wealth of knowledge to the forum to share with others.

We were very excited to welcome Ian, and all new attendees to the Fall Fence Forum. It was great to see everyone sharing their wealth of knowledge and experience with those also attending the forum for the first time.

To learn more about our Stockade, please visit www.stockade.com.

Nick and Amy Peacock started from scratch when they switched from solid satisfying rural careers to building a new fencing contracting business, Ridgeline Fencing, in Waipukurau, in the Central Hawke’s Bay.

The change required “a big mental step”. Nick says it has been worth it.

“We are creating something for ourselves, and we are in charge of our own destiny.”

About Nick and his family

Nick had fenced with contractors in Australia, the UK and the Hawke’s Bay and throughout his farming career and both were no stranger to running businesses for other people. After throwing the idea of fencing contracting around for a couple of years, the Peacocks started Ridgeline Fencing in September 2019 specialising in rural, lifestyle and horticultural fencing.

Starting up, the biggest challenge has been finding good staff. Ridgeline Fencing runs three full-time staff who work alongside Nick. Amy runs the finance and administration side of the business. Then, they have a couple of young lads who come in every school holidays, and they’ve just taken on a 16-year old school leaver.

Nick says they’re lucky. “We are still a young business. We have a really good crew, and we are looking forward to growing our staff and growing a happy team. They are our most important asset. There’s an expectation in the industry that if you develop your staff, and you do your job right, they will fly the nest. For us, there is nothing more rewarding than seeing all of them go on and do great things with their lives.”

Working on large projects in New Zealand

Taking on a large fencing project for New Zealand’s national transport agency has been a way to expand and challenge the team.

It’s all conventional fences sectioning off the roadside planting along the Woodville-Ashhurst Highway. This first stage is close to 20kms. Nick says the project has taken a lot of pre-planning going on before even putting a post in the ground, a lot of forward planning, logistics, making sure everything’s up to spec, managing staff and travel. Getting the posts in the ground was another story.

“It’s quite steep country, very rocky. For about a third of the fencing we were actually above the windmills and looking down. Sometimes you thought you didn’t need a staple to hold the wire on to the fence. The winter has been very wet. It’s been tough on the guys and the equipment. There were some pretty trying conditions for a while.”

“The biggest thing for us is making sure that the job doesn’t get monotonous for the crew. We were able to work it with the guys dipping in and out to other jobs, providing some variety, avoiding burnout, and ensuring no one gets fatigued from the same thing day in and day out.”

Work smarter, not harder

Amy and Nick approach fencing the same as farming, looking at ways to be innovative, to learn and grow. That’s where their motto of working smarter rather than harder comes in.

“Jobs like the Woodville-Ashhurst Highway are a really great example of just how important it is to have the right gear: our Stockade tools, post and batten staplers, our two rammers the tracked Evo Protech rammer and our dozer set up with Kinghitter Series 5 rammer.”

Nick Peacock

“We had a Stockade pneumatic batten stapler from right at the start. Obviously, it is miles better than hand stapling. It wasn’t until one of the guys who works for me said ‘have you tried the Stockade post stapler?’ I looked at it and I thought it would be a nice tool, but it would be another expense on a young business – by three weeks later I had bought my second one. That’s how good they are. They have saved so much time and effort. They are a brilliant invention.”

To learn more about our Stockade products, please visit www.stockade.com.