FROM purchasing her kids new bikes for Christmas to securing the latest farm machinery Simone Jolliffe has experienced it all at Henty Machinery Field Days (HMFD).
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The dairy farmer from Euberta near Wagga and the Australian Dairy Farmers deputy chairwoman officially opened the event this week.
She spoke about the challenges and opportunities for the agricultural sector and also outlined her fondness for the evolving field days.
“I have a long association with the field days … my earliest memory is attending the event as a child when we would make the trek from Tumbarumba,” she said.
Mrs Jolliffe said change was the only constant in life and the field days were no exception.
She commended the committee on its commitment to innovation and ability to constantly evolve and develop the event each year.
Member for Riverina Michael McCormack said the long standing event, which started in 1963, contributes $100 million to the local and national economy.
”It is a fantastic promotion of agriculture,” he said.
Mr McCormack said the field days would attract 60,000 people over the three days.
In fact, he admitted to spending up to an hour in the lineup to enter the site on Tuesday morning.
HMFD chairman Ross Edwards has notched up 10 years in the top role.
This week he said there was a definite mood of optimism from southern producers despite the fact that many were sick of the constant rain.
“Prices for beef cattle are at record levels and we are seeing good returns for wool, lamb and mutton,” he said.
“We saw first cross ewes making $292 at Temora the other day …. and I am sure there are a lot of livestock producers with aging infrastructure and shearing sheds that are looking to do something to bring them up to date,” he said.
