The 61st Golden Shears, which was due to be held in Masterton later this week, has been cancelled after the announcement of a return to alert Level 2 across most of the country, with Auckland going higher to Level 3.
Entry fees and tickets will be refunded.
Tickets purchased online through Eventfinda will be refunded, and those people will receive an email with details. Competitor entries done online will be refunded online through PayPal, while those whose entries where not done online are being asked to email their competitor name and bank account details to office@goldenshears.co.nz
Golden Shears International Shearing Championships Society president Sam Saunders said last week his committee had discussed the covid-19 situation over many months and the view had been that the championships could not go ahead under Level 2 restrictions.
The decision was also made to minimise financial risk and loss to the organisation, suppliers, competitors and supporters.
The Northland Field Days, which were also due to be held this week, have been cancelled.
In a statement the organising committee said after taking into consideration a number of options as well as the potential cost to everyone involved, it was with heavy hearts that the decision was made to cancel the event, which was due to start on Thursday.
“This decision was certainly not made lightly and the option of postponing the event was discussed rigorously but we simply can’t have exhibitors, suppliers and all the volunteers involved in bringing this event to Northland waiting around to see what happens,” the statement said.
All exhibitor site fees are being refunded, although some exhibitors have chosen to leave their fees with the organisers as a credit towards next year’s event to retain their site. That option will be offered to other exhibitors and food vendors over the next few days.
Other regional field days are still on – for now.
Organisers of the Central Districts Field Days, is scheduled for March 18-21, have said in a statement on its website that they are closely monitoring the covid-19 situation and further updates will be emailed to those involved and posted on the website.
In an earlier statement the organisers said the CD Field Days would be cancelled if either the country as a whole or the Manawatu region went to Level 2 or above as crowds or more than 100 people would be prohibited.
That earlier statement said if the event is cancelled because of covid-19, all ticket holders will receive a 70% refund on their full ticket price.
The money retained will go towards offsetting some of the event’s fixed costs, supplier payments and staffing costs.
Organisers of the South Island Agricultural Field Days, scheduled for March 24-26, are still working towards staging a full event but are continuing to follow the Government’s guidelines and recommendations.
They have given an assurance that as covid-19 is not the fault of exhibitors or ticket holders, both will receive a full refund if the event is cancelled due to covid-19.
The North Island stop-offs for What’s the Beef, a farmer-focused roadshow aimed at commercial beef farmers, have been postponed and are now likely to run from the week of April 19, while a decision on the South Island leg is to be made on Friday.
A decision is pending on NZ Herefords’ Allflex Coast to Coast Hereford Tour, which is scheduled for March 7-11, with more information likely to be available on Wednesday.
A Foundation for Arable Research maize establishment trial pre-harvest update and visit that was to be held at David Rawnsley’s property at 137 Wharepoa Road West, Waikato on Tuesday, March 2 has been postponed. It may be held next week. Keep checking the events page on the FAR website for updates.
However, a FAR sunflower field walk scheduled to be held at the Kowhai Research Block, Springs Road, Lincoln on March 3 is going ahead under strict Level 2 covid-19 provisions.
