Slippery slope
OPINION: It used to be that the National Fieldays attracted brickbats for being officious clipboard carriers, while the regional, farmer-run field days enjoyed the bouquets for being easier to deal with.
Held over three days – February 10, 11 and 12 – it features the latest in rural technology, equipment and specialist knowledge from around the world.
SFD is a nonprofit incorporated society run by previous and current members of the Eastern Southland Young Farmers Club.
All members are volunteers, apart from the secretary and caretaker, and all work in the agricultural industry. Chairman Logan Evans, who farms at Mandeville, is in his first term as president.
Organisers say that wherever possible, non-profit groups within the local community – such as clubs, schools, PTAs etc – help set up and run the event, which is an important fundraiser for these groups.
The first Southern Field Days was held in 1982 on Ken Bowmar's property, at Waimumu, with 60 exhibitors attending. The main focus was on working demonstrations.
The SFD now owns 38ha of its own land and the last event in 2014 had over 650 exhibitors from New Zealand and Australia and some 38,000 people through the gates. Organisers believe this year's event will once again reach capacity.
An exciting addition to this year's field days is the Farmlands Cup pre-season rugby game between the Super 15 champions the Highlanders and the Crusaders. The game is being held at the Booth Family Park adjacent to the field days site.
This will be a great opportunity for visitors to see top level rugby locally. The game will be on Thursday Feb 11 starting at 6pm. Tickets went on sale for this on Feb 1.
Other new events this year include the Southern Man competition, speed shearing, the Golden Pliers fencing competition, the tractor pull and the Young Farmers fencing competition.
Working demonstrations will be held in the new working demo arena. These are a great way to view tractors and implements in a natural environment – ploughs, drills, balers and everything in between.
The Farm Invention Awards, part of the Southern Field Days for many years, will highlight budding inventors' creations. There are two categories, market prototype and Kiwi ingenuity, with good prize money offered.
Organisers say they have worked hard this year to ensure a much better ticketing system; people may buy tickets before the event at Farmlands stores. Cellphone coverage is also better – more reliable and capable of handling the volume of traffic.
