Late start, but FIELDAYS is back
A delayed Fieldays gets under way at Mystery Creek today amid optimism that its timing shift won’t knock a big dent in the iconic agricultural showcase’s success – but others warn it could hit visitor numbers significantly.
The event, to officially open at 6am, is normally held in June but in March this year it was put off till now because of Covid-19 conditions.
Exhibitor numbers are down slightly at more than 1000 compared with a usual 1100.
That smallish drop in exhibitors was typical of global trends in the events industry, New Zealand National Fieldays Society chief executive Peter Nation said yesterday.
But Waikato agriculture sector leaders also warn some farmers may be simply too busy to come to the four-day Fieldays at a less convenient time of the year for them.
Those who do could keep a tight rein on spending because of current economic conditions and uncertainty, they add. The dry weather forecast, except for rain tonight, could prove crucial to attendance numbers given suggestions that fine days could see more people stay away to catch up with work delayed by recent bad weather.
Most farmers spoken to by Waikato Federated Farmers dairy chairperson Andrew Reymer ‘‘are in a struggle to get there for one day, let alone a few days’’, he said. ‘‘We’re flat out at the moment.’’
It was easier to get along in mid-winter when things weren’t so busy.
He also felt that, with ‘‘some dark clouds on the horizon’’ economically, farmers may be holding off on spending, especially with another Fieldays not that far away in June 2023.
Waikato Federated Farmers president Jacqui Hahn, who said she’d try to attend Fieldays for a day, agreed farmers may prefer to stay home to catch up on work and that spending at the event may be tight.
‘‘Inflation is just incredible,’’ she said.
On-farm cost increases were running at about 14% annually, with fertiliser doubling and some minerals for stock health going ‘‘through the roof’’.
The organisation’s Waikato meat and wool section chairperson, Reon Verry, also felt farmers were being cautious.
‘‘Everyone’s a bit nervous about the way prices are going at the moment and the regulations that are coming our way.’’ The latter included rules affecting freshwater in Waikato and new emissions pricing rules.
Verry said it was also ‘‘full-on’’ for sheep and beef farmers at the moment and he personally wasn’t planning to go to Fieldays, especially given the recent run of wet weather.
Waikato Rural Support Trust chairperson Neil Bateup said he’d also heard comment that this time of the year wasn’t so convenient and that some people would hold off going.
Stress levels were high in the rural community thanks to a range of pressures, including a ‘‘new world’’ of inflation and upcoming regulation.
The trust was busier than usual at the moment helping farmers.
However, the Fieldays Society’s Nation remained hopeful crowd numbers could be close to last year’s second-best ever 132,776 or even more.
But he says: ‘‘We’ve always been clear, though, that we won’t be as big as a normal year.’’
Still, ticket sales were going well.
The event’s proximity to Christmas may stimulate some spending, he believed.
‘‘If you look at the event, it’s 54 years old. It’s been through four recessions and the gate numbers hardly ever murmur because people actually want to come out and get out of the doom and gloom, and actually talk to people and learn some stuff.’’