increase font size
Planting a crop of fodder beet for harvest at the Field Days
Preparations for the South Island Agricultural Field Days in March are already well underway, with the venue shifting from Lincoln to Kirwee this year.
According to organising committee member Daniel Schat , the field days had out-grown the site it leased near Lincoln University, so the committee decided to purchase its own property.
The new site, a 40-hectare property on Courtenay Road, near Kirwee township, still needs quite a bit of work to get it up to scratch, but Schat says that volunteers have been busy getting the property ready for the March 25th-27th event.
Work on the site has included putting up fences, prepared the way for water and irrigation lines, and planted oats, fodder beet and other crops for machinery demonstrations.
Think Water Leeson has provided and installed pump and irrigation equipment and will maintain an irrigator to ensure the crops are in top condition.
Power for the event will come from generators this year, but hopes are that in future the Kirwee site can connect to the main grid.
"South Island Field Days 2015 will be bigger and better than ever," says Schat.
"It will to provide visitors the same mix of displays and agricultural machinery, and fencing demonstrations that has made the event such a success in the past.
"We will also have the Agri-Innovation competition, with awards for best New Zealand-made machine, best farm invention, and best imported farm machine. We expect to see a range of new companies and new technologies this year."
With more than 25,000 people expected to attend South Island Field Days, the event should to give a boost to the local economy of Kirwee and its surrounding towns.
OPINION: The Rural Support Trust ran a dinner and debate at the National Fieldays last month. In tables of 10, over 540 people were wined and dined, including the Prime Minister, supported by ministers from around the country.
OPINION: Good times are coming back for the primary industries. From sentiment expressed at Fieldays to the latest rural confidence survey results, all indicate farmer confidence at a near-record high.
OPINION: The Federated Farmers rural advocacy hub at Fieldays has been touted as a great success.
Rakaia-based equipment manufacturer Pluck’s Engineering will soon start production of a new machine designed to simplify the deployment and retrieval of temporary water troughs used in winter break feeding.
Among the regular exhibitors at last month’s South Island Agricultural Field Days, the one that arguably takes the most intensive preparation every time is the PGG Wrightson Seeds site.
OPINION: Nothing it seems can be done in the short term to get Donald Trump to change his mind about removing the unfair 15% tariffs that he’s imposed on New Zealand exports to the US.
A charity that connects young people with farmers for two years of on-farm training is reporting 150 student applications for its 2026 intake.
It’s been a long time coming, but the FMG Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final is returning to the Naki for Season 58.
The Government has appointed three new members to the board of state farmer Landcorp Farming Ltd, trading as Pāmu.
North Canterbury pig farmer Steve Sterne has been honoured with NZ Pork's Outstanding Contribution Award, recognising his 27 years of dedication to excellence in the sector.
Hawke's Bay's loss is Canterbury's gain with the opening of a new state-of-the-art soil testing laboratory for the Ravensdown subsidiary ARL (Analytical Research Laboratories) at Rolleston.
