Though tens of thousands still walked the paddocks over the three days, regular stallholders noticed the decline.

“It’s easily the smallest foot traffic I’ve seen in ten years at least, maybe more,” said Damian Price of Central West GPS. 

Mr Price has been making the journey from Forbes to the Henty event for the past 22 years.

He spent the weekend on the Newell Highway in preparation for his three days in Henty.

He says the road was littered with evidence of the drought.

“Driving down here, you could tell the difference between the areas that have had the rain and where there’s just been nothing,” said Mr Price.

“Barmedman’s about the cut off, you don’t see much green going further north.”

This year he considered missing the field days, due to a particular fashion accessory he recently acquired – an orthopedic boot thanks to a motorcycle accident five weeks ago.

“I figured it’s a bit hard getting around here on crutches, so a mate suggested I use a scooter. So I just wheel around where I need to go, it’s much easier.”

Mr Price shared his stall with Temora business owner Michael Oliver, of MLO Ag.

Despite the sunny top teen temperatures, Mr Price and Mr Oliver still chalk the slow crowds up to the weather.

“There’s a couple reasons people would be here, either they’re looking for equipment to plan and set up their future, or they’re here for a couple hour’s distraction from their crops,” said Mr Price.

“But most of them aren’t here because they just can’t justify it when there’s so much work to do at home.”

Though the size of the crowd is left to be disputed if Henty livestock farmer Tim Lubke is consulted. 

Manning the Strathview Maternal Genetics tent near the back entrance to the grounds, he saw no end of client interested in his DNA-spliced livestock.

“It’s a bit quieter this year, but it’s been constant,” Mr Lubke said.

Where he stood along the agriculture precinct was buzzing with energy from the start.

With the consistently record-breaking sheep sale record in the south west, Mr Lubke is confident that is the driving force.

“There’s definitely a lot of interest in livestock at the moment, they are doing so well at the sales.”