This year’s event from March 29-31 would be bigger than ever, underscoring the fact that SIAFD was New Zealand’s premier demonstration event for agricultural machinery, event spokesman Daniel Schat said.
More than 600 exhibitors promise something for everyone.
“While the SIAFD have grown and moved with the time, we have stayed true to the aims we began with – to promote ingenuity and innovation and to provide farmers with an opportunity to view comparative demonstrations so they can make informed choices before purchasing machinery and equipment, organising committee chairman Rodney Hadfield said.
The South Island Agricultural Field Days (SIAFD) feature side-by-side demonstrations, 80-100 tractors, headers, mowers, seed drills and other machines being put through their paces each day.
The main aim is to give farmers and others in the rural sector the opportunity to see the latest in agricultural machinery and services that are available on the market, particularly home grown products, Hadfield said.
The SIAFD has been running every second year since 1951 when it was first held at Motukarara before moving to Lincoln then in 2015 to its new site at Kirwee.
The event attracts about 25,000 visitors over the three days.
The SIAFD is a non-profit incorporated society, run by volunteers, except the secretary, who are all farmers or work in the agricultural field.
Any money made is reinvested back into the local community through scholarships and grants.
The SIAFD board bought the Kirwee site when it outgrew its leased site near Lincoln University where it was based for more than 30 years.
“When we moved to Kirwee we purchased 40 hectares, which allowed us to accommodate up to 450 exhibitors.
Now we have purchased an additional 40ha of land adjacent to our site,” Schat said.
“While we will not occupy the entire 80ha at the 2017 Field Days, we will have more exhibitors and a bigger demonstration space than last time.
“The machinery demonstrations will feature beet harvesters and maize choppers as well as a full range of balers and cultivation equipment.”
SIFD switches between Canterbury and Southland each year.
During the off year Kirwee farmer Tony Redman leased the SIAFD site and in recent months Cressland Contracting Ltd had been doing site development work on the newly acquired land.
Schat said Field Days was a true community event.
A group of dedicated volunteers organise and run the Field Days, and community groups provided many of the services – parking, catering and cleanup, that made for overall “smooth running”.
“We also provide $5000 in scholarships that go to two Lincoln University students.”
The winners of the 2017 scholarship winners would be announced to coincide with Field Days.
As well as the two scholarships, there were three awards presented at the show – the AgriInnovation award for a NZ made innovation or invention that provided benefit to the farmer, including machinery, implements or attachments, or tools for use in agriculture or other forms of primary production.
A cash prize of $2,500 would be awarded to the winner to be announced on March 29, 2017.
The best comparative demonstration award with a prize of $500 for the best run demonstration and commentary would be handed out the Phil Van Klundert Memorial Trophy on the Friday, March 31.
The best site awards for the best large and best small site would also be announced on the Friday.
For more information go to www.siafd.co.nz
