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"We're thrilled with the economic impacts of Fieldays 2015," says NZ National Fieldays Society CEO Jon Calder.
The Fieldays 2015 Economic Impact report reveals the events contributes $166m to the GDP of New Zealand and $53m to Waikato.
Dr Warren Hughes of the University of Waikato Management School's Institute of Business Research and Hughes Economics independently prepared the report.
"When preparing the impact study, we look at three sources — visitor spending, equipment spending and organisation spending," says Hughes.
The decrease in both Waikato and New Zealand's revenue and GDP of 13-14% has been attributed to the dairy forecast.
"Unfortunately, as we came into Fieldays, we knew there was bad news ahead in the dairy sector and equipment purchase fell directly, and the overall total price fell accordingly," say Hughes.
However, he says all other sectors, including sheep, beef, horticulture and wine, are on the up.
"We're thrilled with the economic impacts of Fieldays 2015," says NZ National Fieldays Society CEO Jon Calder.
Calder says the event is "more than just four days in June".
"We're incredibly proud to have such relationships with our stakeholders and customers to be able to contribute so significantly to New Zealand's primary sector."
A function at Parliament on 7th October brought together central government decision-makers, MPs, industry stakeholders and commercial partners to highlight the need for strategic investment in the future of Fieldays and its home, the Mystery Creek Events Centre campus.
The iconic services building at National Fieldays' Mystery Creek site will be demolished to make way for a "contemporary replacement that better serves the needs of both the community and event organisers," says board chair Jenni Vernon.
New research could help farmers prepare for a future where summer rainfall is increasingly unpredictable and where drought risk is rising, no matter what.
Waikato is home to a diverse range of lakes, and experts say they urgently need better management and restoration.
OPINION: The Rural Support Trust ran a dinner and debate at the National Fieldays last month. In tables of 10, over 540 people were wined and dined, including the Prime Minister, supported by ministers from around the country.
The new majority owner of meat company Alliance has no plans to close any processing plants. Instead, Dawn Meats plans to extract more value from Alliance's existing footprint.
Westpac NZ has announced new initiatives that aim to give customers more options to do their banking in person.
New Zealand red meat exports experienced a 29% increase year-on-year in September, according to the Meat Industry Association (MIA).
The head of the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) biosecurity operation, Stuart Anderson, has defended the cost and the need for a Plant Healht and Environment Laboratory (PHEL) being built in Auckland.
BNZ says its new initiative, helping make the first step to farm ownership or sharemilking a little easier, is being well received by customers and rural professionals.
The head of Fonterra's R&D facility in Palmerston North is set to literally cross the road and become the new vice chancellor at Massey University.
