AgriBusiness News May 2018

FIELDAYS 50TH EVENTS
WAIKATO AGRIBUSINESS NEWS May 2018 31
Parliamentary celebration
for 50 years of Fieldays
Town and country came together in
New Zealand’s capital in March to mark
the fiftieth anniversary of New Zealand
Agricultural Fieldays, which was first held in
Hamilton in 1969.
Leaders from government,
agriculture and business
gathered in the Grand
Hall in Wellington’s Parliament
for the function, which included
speeches from Director-General
of Ministry for Primary
Industries, Martyn Dunne, and
New Zealand National Fieldays
Society CEO Peter Nation.
Fieldays is recognised as the
largest agricultural event in the
Southern Hemisphere. The official
launch at Parliament was
90 days out from the 50th anniversary
of Fieldays, which will
be held June 13-16 at Mystery
Creek near Hamilton.
Mr Nation said it was an
honour to be hosted at Parliament’s
Grand Hall, which is a
privilege only offered to nonprofit
organisations and com-
munity groups.
“Parliament is the powerhouse
of New Zealand, and
the opportunity to have our
50th anniversary launch event
there indicates the significance
of Fieldays to the country,”
said Mr Nation. “Fieldays is
important to New Zealand’s
primary industries. For 50 years
we’ve been bringing urban and
rural communities together and
working to advance agriculture
through technology, education,
innovation and internationalisation.”
The New Zealand National
Fieldays Society board, and
its president Peter Carr, also
attended the event, along with
representatives from top New
Zealand agricultural organisations
and businesses.
In addition, a large group of
MPs attended, as well as senior
officials from Ministry of Primary
Industries and Callaghan
Innovation, which demonstrated
the strength of connections
between Wellington and
Mystery Creek, said Mr Nation.
“We really value the support
we’ve had over the years from
local government and central
government,” said Mr Nation.
“Fieldays has always been a
place that Prime Ministers and
MPs have come to talk to farmers
and take the pulse of the
industry. Fieldays is a place to
connect with CEOs and business
leaders, check out the
latest innovations and to meet
with people.”
This year’s theme is ‘the
future of farming’ and will
focus on agricultural trends and
ideas, with the aim of starting a
discussion on what farming’s
future will look like for New
Zealand. “As an event, Fieldays
has always looked forward, so
the theme – the future of farming
– was very apt,” said Mr
Nation.
New Zealand National Fieldays Society chief executive
Peter Nation with Director-General of Ministry for Primary
Industries, Martyn Dunne.
There will be a focus on
food production and nutrition,
including “where food comes
from,” said Mr Nation, who
added that Fieldays is committed
to “leading conversations”
about important issues affecting
rural communities and agricultural.
Minister of Agriculture
and Rural Communities,
Hon Damien O’Connor, who
couldn’t be at the event, also
congratulated Fieldays on its
50th anniversary and praised its
role in New Zealand’s primary
industry.
“New Zealand's economic
future depends on our ability
to sustainably produce the finest
primary sector products for
a growing global population.
But we need to move quickly to
ensure we are in step with the
staggering pace of market and
technological change. Fieldays
is a special event where we can
come together to confront these
issues and progress a shared
vision for a better New Zealand.”
In 1969, the first New Zealand
Agricultural Fieldays was
held at Hamilton’s Te Rapa
Racecourse, before moving to
its current location at Mystery
Creek in 1971. The Town and
Country Fair, as it was known
then, was a two-day event that
aimed to bring rural and urban
audiences together to celebrate
New Zealand’s farming industry
and lifestyle and the contribution
it makes to the economy.
The first event saw about
10,000 visitors and 80 exhibitors.
By 2017, Fieldays had
grown significantly. Last year
a record 133,588 people visited
Fieldays during the four-day
event. There were 998 exhibitors
across 1473 sites, and
delegates from more than 40
countries. In 2017, the event
generated $538 million in
sales for New Zealand firms
and overall contributed $238
million to the country’s gross
domestic product.
For townies, Fieldays provides
a taste of farming life, and
for farmers – it is a welcome
day off the farm, and perhaps
grab a bargain or eye up a new
tractor or farm ute. It’s a place
to check out the latest farming
equipment, agricultural inventions
and innovations, and to
catch up with friends and business
contacts.
Long-time supporters honoured
A
long-awaited event held
in in April at Mystery
Creek itself was the
Society’s chance to honour
the many exhibitors, customers,
sponsors, stakeholders
and support services that have
assisted the Fieldays event
over 50 years.
“You have all individually
and jointly invested thousands
of hours, millions of dollars
and given our event unconditional
support for a very long
time,” Fieldays Society chief
executive Peter Nation told the
audience.
“Many of you have taken
the opportunity to release new
technology, reward your loyal
customers, seek new customers
or sell goods and services.
Tonight also celebrates the
support we have had from the
many service providers to our
event, we thank you for your
long hours of hard work and
support. In many ways tonight
is one of our most significant
celebrations of the 2018 year.
Without the people that have
given us this support we would
not have an event of the calibre
or world class levels we
now all enjoy. Tonight is to
say thank you, recognise your
support and celebrate our joint
successes.”
Award recipients were separated
into three categories.
Companies who have been
with Fieldays for 50 years were
recognised as: AB Equipment
Ltd, CB Norwood Distributers
Ltd, Cable Price NZ Ltd,
Case IH, Claas Harvest Centre,
Coombridge & Alexander
Ltd, DeLaval Ltd, Ford Motor
Company of NZ Ltd, Gallagher
Group Ltd, Gough Group, Blue
Wing Honda Ltd, Iplex Pipelines
NZ Ltd, John Deere Ltd,
KH McConnel Ltd, Livestock
Improvement Corporation,
Lees Group, Massey Ferguson,
Nissan New Zealand.
Brands that have been with
Fieldays for 50 years were:
Aitchison Industries, Begg and
Allen, Bell-Booth Ltd, Davies
Pumps, Donald Presses, Dow
Agrosciences NZ Ltd, DuncanAg
New Zealand, Hayes
Fencing & Speedrite, Hooper
Machinery, Masport New
Zealand, PGG Wrightson Ltd,
Rosswood Engineering, Shoof
International, Vogal NZ Ltd.
Representatives from each of
these companies in the first two
categories received a special
Fieldays 50th commemorative
medal and a framed certificate.
Service providers, professional
services and support
services that have worked with
Fieldays were: Aegis Security
Ltd, AgResearch, ANZ
Group, Bourail Agricultural
Field Day, Cambridge i-Site,
Crombie Lockwood, Deanwell
School, Waikato Times, Farmlands
Co-operative, Federated
Farmers, FMG, Hyundai New
Zealand, Kaipaki School, King
St, Lincoln University, Lions
Clubs New Zealand, Marian
Catholic School, Massey University,
Norris Ward McKinnon,
New Zealand Police, Australian
National Field Days,
Radio NZ, Rural Women NZ,
Salvation Army, SBI, Southwell
School, St Johns, University
of Waikato, Vodafone
New Zealand, Waipa District
Council, The X-Site Group,
NZ Young Farmers, Barker
Photography. Each received a
boxed medal.
Fieldays president Peter
Carr had the last word in typically
emphatic fashion when he
told the audience:
“I sincerely hope that 50
years from now one of my
successors will be using some
mind boggling electronic technical
presentation equipment
to display the progress of the
second 50 years. Now we’ve
wrapped this up, let’s look forward
to the next 50 because the
journey has only just begun!”
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