Fieldays is entering its 54th year as the Southern Hemisphere’s largest agricultural event. For the first time in the event’s history, it will be held at the start of summer from 30 November to 3 December, in stark contrast to its traditional month of June.
However, that doesn’t worry New Zealand National Fieldays Society CEO Peter Nation. “As with many organisations across the country, the Covid-19 pandemic has hit us hard, which has meant that we’ve needed to adapt – the biggest thing being the timing of this year’s event. The fact that we’ve changed the timing also provides us with a lot of opportunities. We have the added benefits of longer daylight hours, warmer days, and best of all, increased interest from international visitors from the Northern Hemisphere, says Nation.”
This year’s theme, ‘same, same but different,’ celebrates the events’ significance to the rural sector and the farming calendar whilst acknowledging that it is being held at a different time of the year. As always, the premier agri-event promises to bring together the rural communities, providing a platform to showcase our agricultural and primary industries.
Visitors will be able to see many of their favourite exhibitors and bag a bargain on the latest farming equipment, power tools, tractors, machinery and rural living products.
The prestigious Innovation Hub returns, playing host to the annual Innovation Awards. This year 65 finalists have been selected to showcase their innovations: 21 in the Prototype category, 31 in Early-Stage, and 13 in Growth & Scale. The innovations include a mix of technological solutions like data recording, sensors and automation and everyday products that could revolutionise the Primary Industries.
There are plenty of new developments this year too. The Fieldays Forestry Hub, a large-scale exhibit of the entire Forestry industry, will allow visitors to explore the forestry and wood processing sector and its role in climate change, biosecurity and biodiversity. The Fieldays Opportunity Grows Here Careers Hub is a new development between Fieldays and the Ministry of Primary Industries and is aimed specifically at people keen to learn about career pathways in the Primary sector.
This year, Fieldays will continue to focus on rural wellness, says Nation. The Hauora Taiwhenua Health and Wellbeing Hub has increased in size, and visitors will have a chance to get health advice and connect with health support groups, all under one roof.
The hub is a one-stop shop for everything related to physical and mental health and well-being. “The Health and Wellbeing Hub has a wealth of knowledge that many of our primary industry workers probably aren’t able to access very often. We’ve had some great feedback that tells us Fieldays has become an integral checkpoint on our visitor’s to-do lists,” says Nation.
“This has been great to hear, as we believe that the most important asset in any primary industry is people, and we’re proud to help the health of people in the primary industries in any way we can”.
ABOUT FIELDAYS
Fieldays is based on a 114-hectare site at Mystery Creek 10 minutes from Hamilton and is the largest agricultural event in the
Southern Hemisphere. Fieldays draws people from around the globe – both as exhibitors and visitors. Fieldays 2021 saw 132,776 people visit the event, generating $675M in sales revenue for New Zealand businesses.
Fieldays is run by New Zealand National Fieldays Society, a charitable organisation founded in 1968 for the purpose of advancing the primary industries. The New Zealand National Fieldays Society thanks their key partners Case IH, Hyundai, Ministry of Primary Industries, and Vodafone for their continued support.
