Thursday, 13 June 2013 09:01

Good crowd to Fieldays first day

Written by 

A total 26,648 people came through the gate for the first day yesterday of the New Zealand National Agricultural Fieldays at Mystery Creek.

 

This figure was typical for the first day of the event, says event manager Vanessa Richmond.

"We're very pleased to be bringing everybody an extra special event this year with several new or reformatted areas," she says.

"There has been a huge interest in our Innovations with its new format competition which has attracted amazing entrants. We're eagerly looking forward to our brand new event 'Innovation Den – pitch for investment' this afternoon."

Powered by SODA inc, the Dragon's Den style event will be held at 2.30pm today and will see 12 finalists pitch their inventions to a panel of investors and business leaders.

Another busy area on day one was Kiwi's Best Kitchen which was extremely popular with visitors enjoying the new layout and demos from chefs including Josh Emett, and the eight Rural Bachelors competing at this year's Fieldays.

This year's Premier Feature 'Getting Down to Business in the Global Economy', set the tone for a range of exhibits and seminars based on the challenges of meeting global demands and growing New Zealand's economy. Premier Feature sponsor, Ministry for Primary Industries, has a strong alignment with this year's theme and their staff are busy at Fieldays, presenting seminars and talking to visitors at their stand.

The 45th annual Fieldays was officially opened by Minister of Primary Industries, Nathan Guy, who had earlier held a Meet the Minister session in the Fieldays seminars.

Powered by the University of Waikato, the Fieldays seminars continue today and Friday and featuring a robust schedule of informative agricultural based sessions.

New Zealand National Agricultural Fieldays is on now until Saturday at Mystery Creek Events Centre, 10 minutes south of Hamilton. Fieldays is supported by strategic partners - ANZ and the University of Waikato. Tickets can be bought online or at the gate, visit www.fieldays.co.nz for more details.

More like this

Day out at Fieldays leads to ute win

Out of more than 80,000 entries, Daniel Neil from Piopio has been announced as the lucky winner of the Isuzu D-MAX LX Double Cab 4WD Ute in this year’s Fieldays Ute giveaway.

Back off!

OPINION: The inquiry into rural banking practice was welcomed at Fieldays, but Groundswell NZ added a proviso that this must include banks' treatment of agricultural emissions.

Live exports back?

OPINION: Milking It understands a major announcement on livestock exports will be made at the National Fieldays next month.

Junket?

OPINION: The Hound notes that the Taxpayers’ Union recently revealed that the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) spent more than $125,000 for its presence at this year’s Mystery Creek Fieldays.

St Paul's cracks it again!

Once again, the sharp minds at St Paul’s Collegiate School in Hamilton were the 2023 Young Innovators of the Year Winners at this year’s Fieldays.

Featured

East Coast Expo delivers two action-packed days of events

The recent East Coast Farming Expo, held over two days at Wairoa, offered an insight into the current state of agriculture on the east of the North Island, at a time when the locals are remembering the second anniversary of Cyclone Gabrielle.

Sensors may aid early detection

A Research programme supported by Beef+Lamb NZ is investigating the potential of ‘accelerometer’ sensors for early detection of conditions such as facial eczema (FE) in sheep.

National

Machinery & Products

Alpego eyes electric power harrow

Distributed by OriginAg in New Zealand, Italian manufacturer Alpego recently showed its three metre Alysium electric power harrow at the…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Dodgy!

OPINION: If you believe Maori Party president John Tamihere’s claim that “nothing dodgy” occurred at Manurewa Marae during the last…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter