Canterbury's premier field days event has a new site.
The South Island Agricultural Field Days committee has bought a 40ha site near Kirwee, just a 20min drive from Christchurch, in Courtenay Rd (between West Coast Rd and Miles Rd) as it gears up for the next field days in March 2015.
Chairman Alastair Robinson said it was ''a giant leap forward'' for the biennial event, with the 40ha of bare land providing new opportunities.
South Island field days have been held since 1951 and were hosted by Lincoln University for 32 years until last year. While the Lincoln site served the committee well, it had reached capacity.
Mr Robinson said next year's event would continue to feature new machinery demonstrations and to support relationships between farmers, service providers, scientists and technical experts.
The new site, a large rectangle shape, would allow for a large demonstration area next to exhibitor sites, with multiple access gates, while still being handy to Christchurch, he said.
''With the new site we hope we can make the field days even better and more user-friendly for everyone involved.
''We look forward to continuing our great relationships with exhibitors, local contractors, press and all of our attendees and with under a year until show time, the committee has kicked into full gear.
''The committee are dedicated to making the 2015 South Island field days event one that goes down in history.''
For more information go to: www.siafd.co.nz.
The next South Island Agricultural Field Days will be held at Kirwee from March 25 to 27, 2015.