Riverina farmers embrace Christmas spirit with farm sculpture competition

What began as a fun activity for Adelong farmer Will Reynolds and his children has spiralled into a full-blown sculpture competition, as families compete to build the most haymazing creation.

The competition was thought up by Elders merchandise manager David Crooks after he saw the Christmas sculptures being created every year by Mr Reynolds' family.

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"Last year they were doing their sculpture again so Elders decided to put up a prize and see who else would get involved," Mr Crooks said.

"It was such fun that this year we made it into a proper competition and it's become quite the community event actually."

More than 20 entries have been submitted to the competition with the winner set to be announced on Friday.

Some of the entries include a giant castle, a semi-trailer, a huge angel, a turkey, elves, snowmen, sheep, and of course Santa Claus himself.

"The ideas they've come up with and how they've done it - I'm honestly not sure how they're going to improve on it next year," Mr Crooks said.

Mr Reynolds, who this year built a giant semi-trailer and an homage to Shaun the Sheep, said it was incredible to see all the other families getting involved.

"Well I think it's safe to say we're definitely not going to win this year," he said.

"I thought we'd come up with a decent one but some of the one's which have popped up - there's some really creative imaginations."

Mr Reynolds said the best part of the competition was undoubtedly the chance to get together as a family, embracing the Christmas spirit in a uniquely Riverina way.

"The kids are always chomping at the bit to get on the spray cans and we even had a couple of neighbours come over for a barbeque and some drinks while we were doing it," he said.

The sculptures are even proving a tourism drawcard for the Adelong region, with some families making long drives to check them out.

"When you look down the driveway and see three or four cars pulled up and taking photos you definitely get a bit of enjoyment out of it," Mr Reynolds said.

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