The 56th edition of Fieldays wrapped up on Saturday with the traditional townies’ day. More than 1100 exhibitors and thousands of visitors spent four days at Mystery Creek in the Waipā district. Guests included prime minister Christopher Luxon and Opposition leader Chris Hipkins. The News senior writer Mary Anne Gill was there too.
Michael Austin, Kevin Mounsey, Wally Sinton, Shawn Luxton, Tractor Pull overall winners after the prizegiving on day four of Fieldays at Mystery Creek, Hamilton. Photo: Stephen Barker
Waipā mechanic Shawn Luxton was the overall winner of this year’s Weight Transfer Class at the Fieldays Tractor Pull.
The purpose-built Fieldays Tractor Pull track is a hard clay-packed area running parallel alongside the Waikato River. At 100 metres long, it stretches the length of rugby field.
Some consider Tractor Pulling – first run at Fieldays in 1975 – as one of the oldest motorsports, tracing back to the 1860s where farmers engaged in friendly competitions to showcase the strength of their draft horses.
Today it features state of the art machinery mostly four-wheel drive and computer-assisted tractors. Luxton, who works at John Deere in Cambridge, continued his success at Fieldays where he has been competing since 2008.
Giltrap AgriZone, founded as Giltrap Engineering in Ōtorohanga in 1959 and now based in Cambridge, was at Fieldays again with staff from its Ōtorohanga, Cambridge, Rotorua and Taupō branches in attendance. Chatting to Ōtorohanga agricultural contractor Malcolm Boggiss, second left, were Lindsay Ferguson (Cambridge), Graham Anderson (Ōtorohanga) and managing director Andrew Giltrap. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
Tractor Pull Competitor Dana Lile was looking forward to competing. Photo: Stephen Barker.
Te Awamutu’s Dana Lile was one of the few female entrants and she was hoping to back up her success from last year’s event where she placed third in both the weight transfer and weight adjusted classes and was given the first-time entrant award.
But she missed out in a crowded field of veterans.
Meanwhile St Peter’s School, Cambridge student Penny Ranger won the Young Innovator title for entrants in the Fieldays Innovation awards for entrants 19 years old and under.
Penny’s Mark-It is a tool designed to streamline the drenching process for sheep by leaving an ink mark on the side of the sheep’s mouth.
Judges said Penny showed wisdom beyond her years and is well down the road towards commercial success with a product that solves a sheep farming issue in a simple way.
“It is a classic Kiwi solution that simplifies an important task while helping save money and waste,” said head judge Peter Dowd.
The Fieldays Innovation Awards provide a platform for creative problem solvers to launch, test and promote their ideas to a large group of their ideal target market.
The 56th Fieldays enjoyed mild weather conditions – with heavy rain on the Friday.
Catching up: At the opening of Fieldays were from left Waipā mayor Susan O’Regan, Taupō MP Louise Upston, Fieldays president Jenni Vernon, Taranaki-King Country MP Barbara Kuriger and Waikato Regional Council chair Pamela Storey. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
The event was opened with a pōwhiri and the raising of flags, followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony led by Fieldays chair Jenni Vernon, Agriculture and Trade minister Todd McClay, and Tumuaki o te Kiingitanga Hone Thompson.
Guests included Sonny Karena – and other representatives of Ngāti Hauā – mayors from Waipā, Hamilton, Waikato, Matamata-Piako and Waikato Regional Council chair Pamela Storey.
Waipā deputy mayor Liz Stolwyk helped out on the Ōhaupō-Ngāhinapōuri Lions Club caravan in the Fieldays’ food court. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
Cambridge Olympian Sonia Waddell with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the Forgotten World Adventures Ltd stand featuring her cousin, owner and former professional rugby player Grant Ross and partner Laura Wackett. The couple, who are based in Cambridge, bought the King Country business two years ago from founders Ian and Rachel Balme. Forgotten World Adventures operates tours of forgotten townships, country farms, and native bush in converted golf carts on abandoned railway tracks from Taumarunui through to Stratford and spans across King Country, Taranaki and Manawatū. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
On the Beat: Te Awamutu senior constable Ryan Fleming with Constable Richard McDermott at Fieldays. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
Taranaki-King Country MP Barbara Kuriger loves Fieldays saying she’s “like a pig in muck”. “I’ve jokingly been called ‘The MP for Fieldays,’ she told The News. “I just love it. I’ve been going since my late teens, both in my farming and my governance days.” Kuriger says the best thing about the event is that “absolutely everybody’s there – the whole community, the whole farming community.” Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
The pinnacle agricultural event concluded last week with 106,000 visitors through the gates. Photo: Stephen Barker.
Fieldays has officially closed the gates on its 56th event. Photo: Stephen Barker
Aerial view of Fieldays 2024. Photo: Stephen Barker.
