It’s where you discover clever Kiwis

Kiwi ingenuity will be once again showcased in the Innovation Centre at the New Zealand National Fieldays.

The latest innovations in agriculture, backyard inventions and commercial improvements are always an integral part of Fieldays with thousands of visitors eager to view the latest rural advancements, event manager Gail Hendricks says.

‘‘Kiwis are clever people. Some of the ideas featured at the Innovation Centre are ingenious. Fieldays is a great Launchpad for these ideas and no doubt, there will be plenty more this year.’’

Seventy-one entries have been received in the Fieldays Innovation Awards. These include innovations in fencing, irrigation, pasture management and animal health. Agricultural technology would also be on show, with several app-based innovations and a virtual reality innovation.

The four-day event is in its 49th year and the theme of Fieldays 2017 is ‘leading change’. Hendricks said the Fieldays Innovation Awards is at the cutting edge of what is happening in agriculture, and the future of the industry.

‘‘Originally, the Fieldays Innovation Awards was about widgets, gadgets and devices to improve farming, and now, more and more we are seeing how science and technology is impacting agriculture.’’

This year, for the first time, organisers have accepted entries relating to genetics, animal science and chemical-based innovations.

‘‘There has been increased interest in this field recently so this year we have two new judges on board who can judge the science behind these innovations, which is really exciting.’’

The three main categories are Fieldays Prototype Award, Fieldays Launch NZ Award and Fieldays International Award.

Other awards up for grabs include Fieldays Young Inventor of the Year, Vodafone Innovation in Technology Award of the Year, Locus Research Innovation Award, the Crowe Horwath Agri Innovation Award, the Tompkins Wake IP and Commercialisation Award and the Origin Intellectual Property Award.

Judges consider things such as inventiveness, design and originality, the process of coming up with the innovation, commercial opportunities, intellectual property protection, technical viability and its benefit to New Zealand agriculture.