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The History of Monofilament Fencing in North America
While displaying farm and fence products at the Royal Winter Fair in Ontario, Canada - 25 years ago - Gary was approached by a representative of the Canadian Division of Bayer Corporation to see if he had any interest in marketing Bayco fencing. At that time it had been introduced in Europe and Australia.
It tweaked our interest. We put up a fence. The instructions were for a special tying technique on the end posts and to run 5 to 6 lines. We experimented with post spacing and learned quickly that the further apart the posts, the more room for movement of the lines. Another lesson learned early – our horse Cameo and sheep Marie did not work on the fence but our goat Flopsy saw a way to the apple tree on the other side of the fence. A line of white polywire electric down low fixed that. From our experience with high tensile fencing we knew of the one-way vise hardware and immediately looked for the correct size to work with the Bayco fencing. With these lessons learned we were excited to introduce the product.
A few other concerns presented themselves as we proceeded. The product was coiled in a box. Similar to a coil of 12 ½ gauge high tensile - At times a problem when installing – think spaghetti………
We suggested they put it on a spool to no avail. There were concerns in the first years as well about product splitting in extremes of the Canadian cold winter– it appeared as if maybe the line was extruded as 2 pieces. But for the most part response was positive and sales were encouraging.
Bayco fencing was not on the radar of the American Division of Bayer until they learned of us importing and marketing it on our own. When it got their interest after a few years – we were interviewed and taken on as their distributor. The product manager at the time was a German Veterinarian who knew his division of Bayer did not have the knowledge needed to market the product. Product continued to be imported from Europe but now through the American division directly to us.
We were always looking for ways to improve the installation and instructions – videos were made – and we looked for other products (such as recycled posts) to make for a better installation. As the only thing in life that we can be sure of is Change – Change came to Bayer. A new product manager had thoughts of mass distribution through farm stores. We thought differently. They had already proven that did not work in Australia. But there was no room for discussion. We had built our business - Calico Supplies around monofilament fencing. It was time for us to change as well. The year was 1995.
No one in North America knows monofilament fencing better than we do and we believe in the product. With our own monofilament line manufactured for us – put on a spool for easier dispensing – and named "CAMEO" horse fencing – named after our horse Cameo who was the first horse to stand behind monofilament fence in North America, we continued business under "CAMEO" fencing, inc.
Bayco fencing went the way we expected – to store shelves where it sat. It was revived by those who follow our lead - with our hardware, our installation instructions and our packaging on a spool. We know they bad mouth us, which seems ………… as we laid the ground work for them. When they say don't be fooled by imitations – Who is imitating ……….???
As for pricing - we eliminated the middle man (large corporate Bayer) and passed the savings on to you. Don't pay more than you have to.
"CAMEO" horse fencing has always been UV stabilized and warranted.
The transition was not without its bumps in the road but we worked through any problems and stand behind our product, "CAMEO" horse fencing, 100%.
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