Crowds welcomed back to Waimumu

Organisers welcomed thousands of visitors to the Southern Field Days 57ha site at Waimumu last week, saying it was great to have the event up and running again after the 2022 event was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic. The Southern Rural Life rural reporting team were there to capture some of the atmosphere.

"It’s good to be back."

Those were the words of Southern Field Days chairman Steve Henderson after the two-yearly agricultural showcase was cancelled in 2022 due to Covid.

More than 800 exhibitors covered the 57ha site in Waimumu, near Gore, from Wednesday to Friday last week. They donned their sunhats and sunscreen for a Southland scorcher on the Wednesday, whereas gumboots and umbrellas were more the attire on Thursday, before the weather cleared for the final day on Friday.

Given the state of the rural sector, it was obvious that spending was not a high priority, particularly for big-ticket items, but those attending were enjoying a day out.

Mr Henderson, a dairy farmer in Awarua, near Invercargill, said the economic impact of the event and for the surrounding service providers would still be huge though.

He said the exhibition sites had sold out quickly in December.

He was pleased there was a large crowd attending, as many farmers were battling high on-farm inflation and some were facing lower prices for their red meat.

He believed farmers would use the event to gather information and then would buy goods and services in the weeks after the event.

"That’s my gut feel — they won’t go and buy outright today."

The site's caretaker Jack Cooper said the economic benefits the event had brought to Gore over the years had been "unreal". It was great to have it back after Covid-19 scuppered the last planned event.

Dairy farmer, former Federated Farmers national president and now Associate Minister of Agriculture Andrew Hoggard said it was important to attend events like the field days, to hear from grassroots level, rather than just "sitting in Wellington".

Mr Hoggard, who was elected an Act MP last year, said it was a definite change from his previous role. While used to being in the public eye and being aware of what the issues in the rural sector were, the real change was "now the buck stops with us", he said.

"It’s a lot more pressure now than just stating a view."

The event started on Wednesday with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon competing in a tractor pull event.

In a Massey Ferguson 320hp tractor, he pulled a weight the required 100m under the guidance of Dillon Harvesting owner Mark Dillon, of Riversdale.

Mr Luxon got out of the tractor cab with a wide smile.

"That was great fun — the highlight of my day," Mr Luxon said.

The agricultural sector was the most important sector in New Zealand, Mr Luxon said.

"It is the backbone of the New Zealand economy. It drives 11% of our GDP, employs 13% of our people and feeds 40 million people around the world and is 80% of our export earnings."

When asked what he was going to do to stimulate the rural economy, he replied that part of his plan included doubling export revenue in the next decade.

"If we get agriculture growing at 2% a year, we end up creating $35 billion of growth for the New Zealand economy."

On-farm inflation for farmers was "massive", he said.

"They are dealing with interest rates and mortgages on top of that. It is a killer and that is why we are determined to focus on the root cause of it, which is inflation."

On the Thursday, the aroma of lamb wafted around the site as National Lamb Day was celebrated, marking the anniversary of the day the ship Dunedin left Port Chalmers for London in 1882 carrying the first frozen shipment of meat from New Zealand to England.

The lamb price has fallen recently due to an oversupply of the commodity from Australia.

Speaking on the first day, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay said the government would focus on reducing costs on farm, including fixing some of the unworkables regulations farmers were facing to ensure their exports remained competitive in international markets.