Farmers had their chequebooks out again with several $1 million-plus sales of combine harvesters heading to new homes at the South Island Agricultural Field Days in Canterbury’s Kirwee last week.
The costly farm machinery exchanged hands on the first day, signalling farmer spending was back with confidence, restored by a high dairy payout and improved red meat prices.
Trade exhibitors reported positive sales at the three-day field days, from March 26 to 28, after a subdued event marred by rain two years ago.
Fine autumn weather brought in the crowds with gate attendances expected to surpass the 30,000 mark once final numbers were confirmed.
Work boots and outdoor clothing sold well again, with shopping bags matched by farmers lifting their sights.
Committee chairman Andrew Stewart said farmer attendances and spending were up with the south carpark full by 9.30am on the first few days.
"We’ve had some really good sales early with tiny homes sold, combines sold and tractors sold.
"Everyone’s pretty happy and that doesn’t even include the tool guys yet, but the wee side-by-side [vehicles] are going flat out to the carpark so they will be happy too."
He said the general farming mood had lifted.
"The payout’s pretty good, grain’s all right and meat is good too," Mr Stewart said.
"So sometimes the dairy sector’s up and all the others aren’t, but this time it’s everything.
"In those other years when it was a wee bit quieter it was because we didn’t have that payout money and people have looked and haven’t followed through.
"Whereas this year it seems like they are really following through."
The Agri-Innovation award went to Marlborough company Repost, which recycles vineyard posts for farm fencing, saving thousands of tonnes of timber from landfills.
The Marlborough company’s portable hydraulic nail puller, developed for pulling nails from vineyard posts, impressed the judges.
Runner-up was Rakaia-based Plucks Engineering for the Hose Runner, a towing device that can lay or wind up 300m of 20mm alkathene hose in minutes for running portable water troughs during strip grazing of livestock.
The design was invented by Harihari dairy farmer Jock Nolan, from the West Coast.
