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An aerial view of the Southern Field Days Waimumu site during the last event, in 2016. SUPPLIED/SOUTHERN FIELD DAYS.
A buoyant local economy should help make this year’s Southern Field Days a big success, says event chairman Logan Evans.
The three-day event, held every two years, runs from February 14 to 16 on a dedicated site at Waimumu, near Gore.
Southland is experiencing an unusually dry summer, but lamb prices of $120 should make it a good event, quips Evans.
“It’s good that the sheep boys have got something to be happy about this year,” he told Rural News.
Showing the latest in farming technology, equipment and specialist knowledge from around the world, the event has grown from modest beginnings. It was first hosted by a local farmer in 1982 and now boasts nearly 800 exhibitors on a 60ha site owned by the Southern Field Days organisation.
Sharon Paterson, secretary and event manager, says the exhibition space is fully booked.
“In every nook and cranny we could potentially get another site into we’ve put more,” she says.
They expect to at least match the 40,000 visitors who attended the last event in 2016.
Southern Field Days is run by a volunteer committee of past and present members of the Otago/Southland Young Farmers Club. With just two paid employees – secretary Paterson and a caretaker – they take pride in involving the local community to make it a success.
It is an important fundraising opportunity for local groups such as clubs, PTAs, rugby clubs and play centres, who manage car parking, ticketing and rubbish collection.
“It’s a very good community event,” says Evans. “In everything we try to do we always ask, how can we involve the community more? It’s putting money back into our community.”
A sheep and beef farmer from nearby Mandeville, Evans is now into his second field days as chairman.
“It’s pretty easy because we’ve got a secretary and a caretaker and the rest of the committee are a bunch of good buggers who all do their job,” he says.
Popular events will all be back this year including the Golden Pliers and the Young Farmers fencing competitions, the Tractor Pull and the Speed Shears. The Southern Man contest, new in 2016, will also be back, as will a revamped Innovation Awards.
A celebrity speed-shearing contest on the Friday afternoon will pit radio man Jamie Mackay (Newstalk ZB’s ‘The Country’) against his counterpart Hamish McKay (RadioLIVE’s ‘Rural Exchange’).
Mackay will be defending the title he won against then Deputy Prime Minister Bill English at the 2016 event. Former world shearing champion Sir David Fagan will be the judge.
Evans will welcome back the Super 18 Rugby champions the Crusaders to the Farmlands Cup pre-season game against the local favourites, the Highlanders. That match will be played on the Thursday evening at the Fred Booth Family Park adjacent to the show site.
Site development continues, and the large AgriCentre building for covered exhibits is now into its third event.
The former Gore Playcentre building, relocated to the site for the last field days, has since been refurbished as an office, meeting and kitchen spaces.
Also new this year is a motorhome park adjacent to the main site, offering another option for visitors’ accommodation. It has no water or toilet facilities so is open only to fully self-contained motorhomes.
Returning to the field days circuit after a break of four years due to Covid, the Southern Field Days at Waimumu, near Gore, was all about positivity – following six months of negative sentiment in New Zealand agriculture.
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