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Team members Henry Williams, left, Andrew Stewart and Tim Wilson with the fodder beet that has been used for machinery demonstrations in previous years, but has been dropped for 2021.
The machinery demonstrations are a major part of the biennial South Island Agricultural Field Days.
They are also a family tag-team affair for brothers Andrew and Nathan Stewart.
Andrew, who runs a family dairy farm at Waikuku, and Nathan, who has a contracting business, have been on the organising committee for SIAFD since 2013, Andrew has been running the machinery demonstrations since the 2017 event.
This year, Nathan will step up to help manage the demonstrations over the three days, while Andrew has been busy preparing for the event.
Andrew told Rural News he is pleased with the interest in demonstrations with about 17 different companies expected to take part and around 50 demonstrations happening daily.
Because of Covid, it had been a “bit of a struggle” for some machinery suppliers to get new machines into the country, but people were working hard to put on a good show, he says.
“We’ve got Norwood, who started back demoing last year – after a lengthy break. They’ve really decided they’re going to up the ante and bring a bit more gear.”
Andrew says a big change for this year is the crops planted for the demonstrations – a decision made after having “a bit of a yarn” with the 2019 exhibitors around what they wanted for this year.
“We decided that we weren’t going to put in the fodder beet or the maize, just because it was time for a bit of a change,” he explains.
With the uncertainties around Covid they didn’t want anything too unconventional but chose crops that should be pretty ‘user-friendly’ for everyone, he adds.
“There’s lucerne, grass, oats and barley stubble ... it can all be reasonably easily utilised and grown.”
Andrew says the crops chosen give exhibitors a chance to show off a wide range of machines from ploughs, grubbers, speed discs, rollers and drills through to mowers, rakes and balers.
Ashburton-based New Zealand Tractors are expected to show an intercrop cultivator for vegetable crops, which weeds between rows and is designed to replace hand weeding.
Andrew says they have transplanted broccoli on the site especially for the demonstration.
“They’ve seen a big market for that in New Zealand,” he says.
Also on site are some trial strips to show the results of various fertiliser regimes, while a helicopter is lined up to conduct some spraying demonstrations.
“We are always trying to do a little bit of something different.”
Twin rotor swathers have become the ‘go-to’ for forming swaths to feed hungry harvesters and balers, however, the design layout often means that crop located between the two rotors is not picked up, turned over or incorporated into the swath formed for subsequent harvesting.
Operating large tractors became more expensive back in March due to the ongoing Strait of Hormuz conflict, meaning contractors had to introduce fuel surcharges and farmers had to adjust their budget forecasts.
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