The 2011 Lincoln University Foundation South Island Farmer of the Year winners, Raymond and Adrienne Bowan, will host a field day on their South Canterbury property in March.
Mr and Mrs Bowan will open both their farming operation, Fallgate Farm, and their Heartland Potato Chips factory to the rural community to show how innovation helped them turn their potatoes into chips.
They farm 1214ha at Orari and 197ha at Coldstream, on the north bank of the Rangitata River. With 95% of their farm irrigated, they grow potatoes, cereals, barley, maize and grass seeds and have been increasingly wintering dairy cows.
In 2009, when the Bluebird potato chip factory at Washdyke closed down, the Bowans bought it and established Heartland Potato Chips, employing 15 people.
Lincoln University Foundation chairman Neil Taylor expected a large crowd to attend the field day on March 2, which has been dubbed "From the Paddock to the Packet".
The field day was an opportunity for all farmers, especially growers, to learn how the Bowans' continued commitment to innovation enabled them to achieve their dreams through "complete vertical integration", Mr Taylor said.