New look to 47th Fieldays
The largest agricultural event in the Southern Hemisphere kicks off on June 10 with over 120,000 people expected to pass through the gates of the 47th New Zealand National Agricultural Fieldays.
Regular punters will immediately notice a different look to this years event after organisers undertook a $1.6 million project to create more exhibitor space.
The lake in front of the pavilion and the former tractor pull site had been shifted to create about 70 new exhibitor site that include a new central precinct in front of the pavilion.
A bigger lake has been created near the University of Waikato Arch and the new tractor pull area now site riverside.
‘‘We’re really pleased with the changes we have made. Everything is doing what it should, the lake has water in it. We’re happy,’’ Fieldays chief executive Jon Calder said.
The army of organisers behind the Fieldays have also battled a continous run poor weather in the leadup to the event. Calder said the rain had initially caused planning delays, but were on target to be ready this Wednesday.
‘‘We just hope that it rains itself out and there’s nothing left come June 10.’’
Many of the exhibitors had already put their sites up well in advance and with the marquees up, this assured that the ground underneath stayed dry.
He was hopeful the fall in dairy prices over the past 12 months and the tight cashflows dairy farmers will have from now through to spring would not overly impact the event.
In late May, Fonterra announced a 10 cent reduction in the current season payout down to $4.40/kg milk solids and an opening forecast of $5.25/kg MS for the 2015-16 season.
Calder said the spend from dairy farmers would obviously be more considered as a result. But he urged dairy farmers to still attend, even if it was to look at new products on the market, many of which were simple, inexpensive and often improved their productivity.
‘‘If farmers can come to Fieldays and see products that for a reasonable investment, they can generate a significant return over a short period, then they have got to be interested in that.
‘‘If you look back at the last five years, on average 42-43 per cent of our exhibitors release new products at Fieldays so there is always something new to see. They might not be coming here to buy the six figure capital items, but there will be other things they can see and look at. It will get their thinking going in different directions.’’
A potential drop in spending by dairy farmers could be offset by sheep and beef farmers which enjoyed record prices for beef this season and comprised 36 per cent of last years 120,000 visitors.
The remaining 18 per cent were from the horticulture industry, 4 per cent represented other livestock enterprises, 2 per cent were deer farmers and 10 per cent horses.
About 650-700 of this years 980 exhibitors were agricultural exhibitors and a lot of them served multiple sectors, Calder said.
‘‘While the spend from the dairy guys may be down, there is still going to be good representation from other sectors that may hold it up.’’
While 42 per cent of farmers that attended last years event were dairy farmers, Fieldays was not just a dairy event.
‘‘But we have to be mindful that it’s an important part of the sector, it’s a challenging year and we are hoping that we are providing the right kind of environment for exhibiting customers to put on the best display with it’s products and services, education and information.’’
If there was an essential product needed by a dairy farmer for the new season, the Fieldays was the ideal place for a farmer with a limited budget to secure the best deal possible.
A new feature for this year is a partnership between Fieldays and Federated Farmers to hold daily seminars from throughout the event while Nuffield Australia were also bringing scholars across to hold seminars.
‘‘It will have a very different flavour and focus than what it has had in the past. The seminar series is a lot more compelling this year,’’ he said.
There was also a strong international delegation coming to fieldays from 25 different countries. These included 80 people from Australia, five from China, two Brazilians as well as people from Pakistan, South Korea, Uganda, India, Morocco, Colombia the United Kingdom and 17 companies from Ireland, European countries such as Romania, Italy and Holland.
The delegation from South Korea included 10 companies and comes hot on the heels of the free trade agreement it signed with New Zealand, he said.
This year’s theme – growing our capability in agribusiness, stems from the need to build on New Zealand’s position as a global leader in agriculture and recognises the challenges in maintaining a skilled workforce.
About 70 per cent of New Zealand’s export earnings were derived from agriculture and 12 per cent of our GDP.
A recent Ministry of Primary Industries report suggested another 50,000 workers were needed in the agricultural sector if it was to meet its goal of doubling exports by 2025. Those workers needed to come from somewhere, Calder said.
‘‘We’re world renowned as a leading agricultural nation based on our ability to innovate, use technology or create solutions to solve problems. How do we accelerate? How do we continue to move forward?’’
The rapid development of innovation and technology in farming along with the increasing requirements around food safety and traceability required a shift in how New Zealand equipped and prepared those working in agriculture, and those that would become the future workforce and next generation of agribusiness leaders.
‘‘Growing our capabilities in agribusiness will give us an exciting platform to showcase the opportunities for careers within New Zealand’s primary industries and the innovation and technology that will help drive continued efficiency behind and beyond the farm gate.’’
Fieldays’ strategic partners, ANZ and the University of Waikato could also look to market agriculture as a career to the largely urban crowd that flock to ‘townie day’, the last day of Fieldays on Saturday, June 13, he said. ‘‘It’s a great opportunity to align the message and get everybody working together.’’
Fieldays was more than just a trade show.
It brought together every leader in agribusiness at the one place over four days.
‘‘It’s a great opportunity to stimulate debate and perhaps challenge some current thinking and look for ways to solve a problem that pretty much affects everybody.’’ Calder also hoped the theme would open the public’s eyes and make them more aware of the importance of the primary sector as well as making people think where their food came from.
The connection people used to have between rural and their urban counterparts was largely gone.
Helping to mend that bridge was an important part to what fieldays does, he said.