Happy days as crowds
Big economic boost for Tablelands
AN ICONIC Far North agricultural showcase is expected to draw a huge crowd and eclipse 16,000 attendees before it finishes today.
The Rotary FNQ Field Days have been labelled an “economic shot in the arm” for the Tablelands as it enters its final day at Kerribee Park in Mareeba.
About 11,000 people have passed through the gates in the past two days.
More than 300 sites sold out for the event with exhibitors from across Australia.
Mareeba Shire Council deputy mayor Alan Pedersen said the three-day event was invaluable for Tablelands’ farmers to network with the agriculture industry.
“It’s the fact you can build a relationship with so many people that you can deal with in the future,” he said.
“So, even if you haven’t got the money to buy something now, you might have at the end of the year and you remember what these people were selling at Field Days.
The biennial event is being held over three days for the first time.
Cr Pedersen, who runs a cattle station near Mt Carbine, said the event was a “great economic shot in the arm for Mareeba and the Tablelands”.
“I think the whole place gets a lift this week,” he said. “To see all the traffic coming in, there’s certainly going to be an economic spin-off from this event.”
MSF Sugar chief executive Mike Barry said the event was bigger this year.