Te Pari animal handling equipment

About the Racewell brand

The well respected Racewell brand has been around since the early 1980s when it was founded by a New Zealand farming couple Robin and Carol Fagan. In 2011 its livestock handling division was acquired by Te Pari Products which is based in Oamaru in the South Island of New Zealand, where all manufacturing is now carried out.

Te Pari says one of the key benefits of the multi-purpose machine is that it can do everything that is carried out in a drench race as well as weighing and drafting. “Sheep handling has become more of a challenge with larger breeds, bigger flocks and less available manpower. However the Racewell handlers really do make weighing, drafting, dagging, administering vaccines and tagging stock so much easier. We get a lot of feedback from older farmers who say they can manage it easily on their own, and in some cases have even left their wives to do the drenching while they go and do something else on the farm!”

The multi-purpose design means the handler can be upgraded at any time from the basic, economy model with three-way drafting gates for manual drafting, to the fully automated Racewell HD4 Sheep Handler which can draft automatically by weight or EID.

Te Pari Products director Jeremy Blampied says the company has continued to develop the Racewell products following its acquisition of the brand and believes the Racewell Sheep Handler has reached “a new plateau” in terms of its technology and productivity. “The level of integration between the sheep handler, EPanel integrated EID reader, Scales and software is something we’ve never seen before. Data is so easily recorded, downloaded and managed.”

The top-of-the-line livestock handlers also have adjustable sensors that ‘catch’ the stock in the preferred position depending on animal size and task. With the antenna for the EID reader built directly into the clamp wall, ear tags are accurately read no matter where the animals are caught in the machine.

“The combination of all these technologies allows farmers to handle their stock with ease and base their stock management decisions on individual animal performance, resulting in maximum genetic progress and the best possible returns from every animal.”

Blampied says the robust, easy to operate Racewell handlers also reduce strain and injury to the farmer, who could “work a Racewell all day and still climb into their tractor the next morning”.

Optional extras include a hot dip galvanised trailer for moving the Racewell system around the farm; side tilt option that allows the clamp section to tilt up to 90 degrees for easier crutching; and the Dagger’s Mate handpiece for dagging.

He says Te Pari continues to streamline its manufacturing process through the use of robots and other new technology, and is always looking at the next product innovation.

“When you stop improving you start going backwards which is why we are constantly talking to our customers and looking at new product features.”