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Andrew Stewart has been running the machinery demonstrations at SIAFD since 2017.
The South Island Agricultural Field Days is a family affair for brothers Andrew and Nathan Stewart.
Both have been on the organising committee for SIAFD since 2013, with Andrew running the machinery demonstrations since 2017.
"The machinery demonstrations are what makes us different from anyone else, really," he told Rural News. "We're the only one who provide that, to that scale anyway."
Stewart says it is usfeul for farmers not just to watch the demonstrations but also to get up close, walk around and see what the gear looks like afterwards.
Stewart admits it has been "a bit slower this year" signing up machinery demonstrators. However, he still expects a similar turnout to 2021 with about 40 different machines in operation.
There would be a number of different cultivators and ploughs, one or two maize harvesters and a few different types of round balers, rakes and mowers.
As in previous years, they have chosen crops for the demonstration in consultation with farmers and machinery suppliers to make sure they are relevant to current trends.
There is about 2ha of maize for harvesting, about 4ha of grass (with some red clover through it) for mowing and baling. There is also about 4ha of barley which will be harvested to stubble before the event, for use in the cultivation demonstrations.
Stewart says seed companies offered them three different cultivars of maize.
"That's a bit of a new one for us," he told Rural News. "Two strips were planted mid-October and the third in the first week of December and it will be interesting for people to see how they've grown."
The South Island Agricultural Field Days (SIAFD) gave the Landpower Vegetable Centre, a specialist division of the Claas Harvest Centres, the chance to show of it extensive product range – centred around the vegetable cultivation, planting and harvesting sector.
While the temperature was struggling to reach about 5 degrees and the horizontal hail had enough grunt to slice cheese, the SIAFD committee knocked it out of the park by delivering another great event.
The sheds have been built, the marquees are up and now the 600-plus exhibitors are busily dressing their sites.
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A couple of the machines that will be on show at the 2023 SIAFD have effectively already done their live demonstration.
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