General News
3 March, 2023
Big days and bigger deals welcome to WMFD 2023
Refreshed and raring to go Farmers have had just long enough to recharge their batteries after a protracted harvest and are now ready to start their post-Covid hunt for business-strengthening innovations, Wimmera Machinery Field Days (WMFD)...
Refreshed and raring to go
Farmers have had just long enough to recharge their batteries after a protracted harvest and are now ready to start their post-Covid hunt for business-strengthening innovations, Wimmera Machinery Field Days (WMFD) president Tim Rethus says.
“Harvest was very long in our area – very, very long for a lot of people this time – and initially everyone was quite rundown and tired from that,” Mr Rethus said.
“But we’ve recovered now and by the time the field days come around on March 7, 8 and 9 we’ll be fully charged up again.
“We’ve missed two years of field days here, which equates to three years’ worth of changes in the industry.
“Think what’s happened in two years – how much things have changed in our social lives in that time.
“The agricultural industry has also moved on with new equipment and technologies.
“There’s been new things released in that time.
“Three years’ worth of change has happened since we last turned up for a field days, three years’ worth of development, and new businesses have opened up.
“That means we’ll have quite a lot of interesting new things for visitors to see and learn about this year.
“That’s why we have the field days when we do: it’s a window of opportunity when there’s plenty of time for farmers to turn up and do some research.”
Mr Rethus said after “four great years in a row, which is pretty much unheard of”, primary producers in the Wimmera Mallee were looking to add to their businesses by both adopting new technology and replacing existing machinery with updated models.
“People are of a good mindset to look to develop their business and to look for opportunities,” he said.
“Field days are about where to find some really good ideas – and now’s the time to get out there, because everything has to be ordered so far in advance,” he said.
“It’s not just 'buy it off the showroom floor' any more.
“As farmers we have to get our research done early, because it could be a year and a half between when we order and when we actually see our product delivered.
“Essentially, I might be driving my new tractor but I’ll be starting to think already about replacing it because it’s going to take that long.
“We have to be sure of our decisions, and one way to learn about what’s out there is to go along to field days like ours.”
Social spin-off
Mr Rethus said the committee was keenly aware of the need for direct personal interaction within agriculture.
“It’s going be good to be bringing people back face-to-face with everybody again,” he said.
“We’ve been seeing when seminars and crop field days have been held during the year since our lockdowns ended that they’ve been getting really good turnouts.
“People are almost needing that person-to-person contact – catching up with people and socialising.
“The socialisation that you get at machinery field days like ours is really important too: you know, walking down the road to check out a truck and running into old mate Joe from the next town.
“The only time you ever see him might be at the field days.
“It’s a really good time to catch up and and find out what’s going on in some other other neck of the woods as well, and it’s all great for our mental wellbeing.”
Mr Rethus said people hard-hit by the isolation of lockdown would stand to gain enormously from circulating at the Longerenong site.
“I think we’re far enough along now that a lot of the anxiety’s gone and everyone’s a bit more back to ‘Covid normal’, which will be good,” he said.
“There’s still a little bit of apprehension but mostly everyone’s back in the swing and very excited to see what’s to come.”
One trend which the committee does see emerging is the challenge of attracting the volunteers who both provide essential services at the field days site and in turn reap the fundraising benefits of being involved.
“People are getting busier and busier so every organisation is finding it harder to get feet on the ground,” Mr Rethus said.
“We have a lot of community groups that we support.
“They might be running our gates, running the courier service to take goods to the carpark, running the food and drink sheds and things like that.
“That’s all done by volunteer organisations.
“Essentially, we provide them with sites for free, and fridges or whatever else they need, and they take the money.
“It’s good for us and it’s good for them.
“But a lot of them are experiencing the same struggle to get numbers.
“We’re still going along okay but it’s something for us to watch out for in the future.”
Exhibitors lining up
There’s no such concern about exhibitor recruitment.
“We’ve missed two years in a row but straight away we have our faithfuls back,” Mr Rethus said.
“Even some who were a little bit dubious are coming along, which is great.”
In fact, having the enforced hiatus might even have worked in WMFD’s favour, he said.
“Having a break was, in a way, a good thing because it has reminded people why field days are important.
“Now we’re determined to put on a good event to make sure that that’s reinforced.”
The support of stalwarts such as O’Connors and Emmetts had been central to allowing the event to relaunch itself, he said.
“O’Connors and Emmetts, the Case IH and the John Deere dealerships in Horsham, are our biggest sites,” Mr Rethus said.
“There have also been some big changes.
“For example, Wilson Bolton has changed from Holden to commercial vehicles so it’s selling forklifts, loaders, excavators and trucks as well as cars.
“It’s really extended so it’s going to be setting up a bit of a showcase exhibit right in the middle of the site.
“The outdoor guys are usually pretty religious – they tend to come back all the time.
“However, that said, there are some new ones coming for the first time this year and some of those extra exhibitors are significantly sized, which is exciting.”
This includes companies such as Oz Value Ag Machinery, which will have “a massive site”.
“And Agrimac is coming for the first time, too,” Mr Rethus said.
“It’s opening up in Horsham and has realised that the field days are a great opportunity to get the brand out there to everyone.