Good result from machinery display

Press, 4 April 1985, Page 24

Good result from machinery display

The organisers of last week’s South Island Machinery Field Days were very happy with the event and believe that most exhibitors we similarly pleased. The chairman of the organising committee, Mr Ray Seebeck, said this week that companies reported good sales from the total gate of 7500 to 8000 people. The field days, in Canterbury every second year, are organised by the Christchurch district committee of the New Zealand Federation of Young Farmers Clubs in association with the Rural Development and Extension Centre of Lincoln College. They were held on the Cropping Farm of the. college and Mr Seebeck praised the help given to his committee by the manager of the farm, Mr John McCartin, and his staff.

The special horticulture section of the field days was a big success, said Mr Seebeck, and might be repeated again in future. The organisers are also dicussing the possibility that the field days will become an annual event in Canterbury, perhaps on a permanent site. But at present all Mr Seebeck could confirm was that the 1987 event will be back near Christchurch and the 1986 event would return to Gore, as it did in 1984. All aspects of last week’s field days had been successful, he said, Including the fencing competition, the new farm equipment awards, farmer invention awards and field comparative demonstrations. Winner of class one of the new equipment awards was the Strautmann silage

wagon and the class two winner was the multistrip grazer from Gallagher Electronics. Winner of the farmer invention award was the Lincoln wire tension meter, entered by Van Kempen and Atkinson, followed by the leaf sweep from Roger Warren. The winner of the best commercial demonstration award was the I. H. round baler of A.I.C. International, and Humes Industries won the best site award. Mr Seebeck said that the displays, particularly of spraying and topdressing by plane and helicopter, were a great drawcard. Apart from the work of the Lincoln College staff, about 80 Y.F.C. members were involved during the three days or at night for security. One of the attractions of a permanent site, said Mr Seebeck, would be the savings on power installation, which cost $12,000 this year before the electricity bill was paid.