I am the Farm Manager of Kopanga Station. We run a lamb finishing operation in Hawke's Bay, as well as hill country breeding block. Each year we put over 50,000 sheep through our Porta-Yards. We are constantly moving stock in and out of grazing blocks, and our portable yards are used extensively for this, ad well as for docking on our breeding blocks. So the decision on which system to buy wasn't made lightly. One of the main reasons for choosing Porta-Yards was the panel design. The standard one metre panel height and enclosed top quarter section means the sheep are much more settled and rarely struggle to escape. It's frustrating when sheep escape during muster, or constantly head-butt gates and cause damage to yards. I've found this rarely happens when using Porta-Yarts. Porta-Yards remove a lot of the stress from sheep handling - for both the stock and for us. The solid top quarter panel also reduces the risk of injury to one of our most valuable farm assets - our dogs. The gates and panels are well made and easy to assemble, and the hydraulic trailer is easy to load and unload. We put nearly 60,000 lambs through these yards each year and the gares handle the knocks better than other alloy systems we have used in the past. I believe Porta-Yards to be by far the best. In my opinion it's paid for itself several times over already.

They have definitely exceeded my expectations in a number of areas. Their simple design allows stock to move quietly and effortlessly between pens and the circular pattern meansthat stock draw into the drafting area really well. They perform like permanent yards but have the added flexibility of being able to be pulled down and moved to a new site if required. I expected them to be louder to work in than timber yards but they are extremly quiet. I would recommend them to anyonew who wants a set of yards that are hardy and built to last but also with the option of being able to be moved to another site if required.