Mr Luxon was one of the many thousands in attendance at the event near Gore, along with fellow National MPs Joseph Mooney and Miles Anderson, yesterday.
He had a busy day meeting contractors, farmers and taking selfies with the public before having a go at sheep shearing with Sir David Fagan.
He could not quite get a hold of the sheep to shear it, but helped sweep the wool off the stage after Sir David showed him how to do it.
Nonetheless, he said the shearing and hanging out with Sir David was his favourite part of the day, along with seeing the progress that had been made across the industry.
‘‘You’ve got dairy on fire, you’ve got red meat and sheep meat on fire, even wool’s got its highest prices in 10 years, and all of that’s a very positive thing.
‘‘There’s a lot of positive energy, amazing people, hardworking people doing an incredible job for New Zealand.’’
Adam Newton Homes owner Adam Newton showed Mr Luxon through a house he had built to be auctioned off at field days.
He said it was ‘‘pretty cool’’ to have the prime minister walk through the house and had a bit of banter about him buying a couple of his new builds.
‘‘Not often you get the prime minister through your home, and he had good praise for it.’’
The house sold for $573,000 on Thursday, and about $100,000 would go to the Rural Support Trust.
Northern Southland College students Mackenna Anderson, 14, and Sophie Dolton, 13, were over the moon to get a selfie and video with Mr Luxon.
They had a bet with their principal, Kieran Udy, that he would buy them lunch if they managed to get a picture with the prime minister.
The pair said they were looking forward to their free lunch on Monday.
St Peter’s College, Gore, head girl Eilish Greene, 17, said the prime minister came across as a very ‘‘chill guy’’.
She asked him why she should vote National and he was very convincing when he said the party was focused on ensuring a good future for the next generation.
She planned to pursue a career in medicine and said Mr Luxon talked to her about a variety of options for tertiary education.
Southern Field Days chairman Steve Henderson said the past three days had been brilliant and had met all expectations.
‘‘We were just trying to put on the best experience for exhibitors and public and I think we’ve done that... wandering around talking to all the exhibitors they’re having genuine transactions and inquiries for their businesses.’’
He said the 23 committee members got a lot of satisfaction putting the event together because it was huge for Otago and Southland and it supported the entire country.
There were about 800 exhibitors on the 57ha site during the three days and it created a lot of interest for the farming community.
‘‘For the first time ever, I reckon, the red meat price is probably going to be higher than [the] milk price and that’s an indicator that things are well and that’ll be reflected in sales throughout the field days.’’
There was no real one highlight of the event and it had gone fairly smoothly, Mr Henderson said.
The prime minister attending the event showed his interest in and recognition of the agricultural industry and how much it meant to New Zealand.
‘‘Showing face and answering questions shows he is genuinely interested in what’s going on down here.’’
Mr Henderson felt farmers were well supported by the government at present.
