Editorial: Agri's mojo is back
OPINION: Good times are coming back for the primary industries. From sentiment expressed at Fieldays to the latest rural confidence survey results, all indicate farmer confidence at a near-record high.
Day two of New Zealand National Agricultural Fieldays brought 30,647 visitors through the gate.
Although less than 2011's record Thursday, figures were still typical of previous years. With two days remaining, total visitors to Fieldays have reached 57,735.
National Fieldays Society CEO, Jon Calder, is pleased with the how the event is shaping up.
"I've met with a number of exhibitors and attitudes are positive. The value quality visitors are bringing to these businesses is encouraging. Trade is thriving and I'm confident Fieldays final exhibitor sales results will reveal a productive presence," he says.
Announced yesterday were the Fieldays Innovation Centre's Golden Standard award winners. The Golden Standard title and $5000 cash was awarded to Vernon Suckling of Ag Tech Industries Ltd for the "LifeGuard" ATV roll frame.
National Fieldays Society also announced the winners of the Best Site Awards, presented for outstanding exhibitions:
Best Food site: Mizzoni Woodfired Pizza
Best Rural Living Area site: Healthy Life media
Best Indoor site: Dairy Automation Limited
Best International Exhibition Area site: BouMatic
Best Mystery Creek Pavilion site: GEA Farm Technologies NZ
Best Premier Feature site: AgResearch
Best Small Outdoor site: Clark Equipment NZ
Best Medium Outdoor Site: Best Bars Limited
Best Large Outdoor Site: Honda Motorcycles New Zealand
Jubilee Award: Honda Motorcycles New Zealand.
Merit was also awarded to: National Animal Identification and Tracing, DairyNZ, Attach2 Equipment and Fonterra Co-operative Group.
New Zealand National Agricultural Fieldays is on until tomorrow (Saturday, June 16) at Mystery Creek Events Centre, 10 minutes south of Hamilton. Tickets can be purchased online or at the gate, visit http://fieldays.co.nz for more details. Fieldays is proudly supported by strategic partners - ANZ and the University of Waikato.
OPINION: Ministry for Primary Industries' situation outlook for primary industries report (SOPI) makes impressive reading.
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