Wednesday, 31 March 2021 10:55

Upbeat crowd, exhibitors at field days

Written by  Mark Daniel
Feedback from tractor companies exhibiting at the field days has been positive. Organisers say the three-day event had very strong ticket sales. Feedback from tractor companies exhibiting at the field days has been positive. Organisers say the three-day event had very strong ticket sales.

With an enforced absence of two years, brought about by its cancellation in 2020, the Central District Field Days at Feilding heralded the first event of its type for 2021.

With everyone breathing a big sigh of relief, following the cancellation of the Northland Field Days and The Horse of the Year Show a couple of weeks earlier due to Covid, the CD event was certainly upbeat.

Visitors ranged from those looking for a bargain, to others doing some research for a future purchase, to those just after an excuse for a little socialising - with plenty of hand sanitiser, of course.

Exhibitors spoken to by Dairy News were very buoyant about the state of the industry, citing good weather, plentiful harvests and a healthy dairy payout for the season.

As expected, some were complaining about having to live a little hand to mouth with stock, due to the world's heavily disrupted shipping schedules. Indeed, one UTV importer noted astronomical increases in freight charges, citing a 40-foot container that cost around US$750 from China to Auckland in January 2020, now costing US$3500.

Kyle Baxter, Tractor and Machinery Association (TAMA) president and tractor and machinery lead at Norwood says feedback from sales teams has been very positive, with some saying that they had received serious enquiries from faces they hadn't seen in many years.

"Interestingly, we did see the crowds thin out a little mid-afternoon, obviously some going home to milk cows or others getting back to harvesting the maize crop that appears to be a couple of weeks behind the Waikato region."

Henry McLemrnon, sponsorship and events director at Stuff Events says early indications are that they've had the best ticket sales in recent years, from a predominantly trade day on Thursday through to family groups on Saturday.

"Exhibitors told us they had experienced strong revenue, some even said they sold more on the first day than they did across three days at other field days.

"They also said they recognised the advantage of a regional show, not only direct sales, but delivering good leads in their own region for follow up. So much so, that a significant number of exhibitors have re-booked for 2022, which will be the event's 29th year."

More like this

Longest running ag field days all go

The South Island Agricultural Field Days, held in Kirwee on the outskirts of Christchurch, will celebrate its 70th year in March 2021 with a bigger demonstration area.

Central region aiming to be the Agrihub of NZ

Manawatu District Council Mayor, Helen Worboys says the district is very proud to host the Central Districts Field Days because the region sees itself as the agritech hub of NZ.

Dry Dargaville ready to shine

The biggest issue facing organisers of next month’s Northland Field Days is water, says vice president Basil Cole.

Featured

Owl Farm marks 10 years as NZ’s first demonstration dairy farm

In 2015, the signing of a joint venture between St Peter's School, Cambridge, and Lincoln University saw the start of an exciting new chapter for Owl Farm as the first demonstration dairy farm in the North Island. Ten years on, the joint venture is still going strong.

National

Machinery & Products

New McHale terra drive axle option

Well-known for its Fusion baler wrapper combination, Irish manufacturer McHale has launched an interesting option at the recent Irish Ploughing…

Amazone unveils flagship spreader

With the price of fertiliser still significantly higher than 2024, there is an increased onus on ensuring its spread accurately at…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

The real emergency

The nutters of the green world, aided and abetted by the lamestream media, are rewriting the English language for the worse.

A very low road

OPINION: The self righteous activists at Greenpeace are copying the self-righteous lefties behind the ‘free Palestine’ movement – not surprising given…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter