Fieldays Exhibitor

FIELDAYS

EXHIBITOR Commemorative Edition 2018

Proudly supported by the New Zealand National Fieldays Society Inc.

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Foreword During this 50th year of annual Fieldays agricultural events it is with a great degree of pride that I welcome all exhibitors to Mystery Creek. From a very humble beginning in 1969 at Te Rapa Racecourse - where 80 exhibitors drew the attention of 10,000 (mostly paying) visitors - we will enter the 50th event on 13 June with 1442 exhibitor sites and look forward eagerly to welcoming up to 135,000 people through our gates.

To be leading this historic link between town and country in its 50th derivation is a very humbling experience. In doing so I recognize the huge effort that has taken place over previous years by both volunteers and staff members. From the initial 1966 dream of farmer John Kneebone - whose letter to The Farming Editor of the Waikato Time sowed the seed - to what has emerged 49 years later speaks volumes to dedication, risk, foresight, bravery and, no doubt, many sleepless nights.

One of our great pleasures in this half centennial year was the event held in April when we brought together and saluted the exhibitors and supporters whose firms and brands have loyally been present every year from that fledgling start in 1969. To all of you – and those who have joined along the way - may I express the gratitude of the Fieldays Society Board, the Society members and staff for your loyalty, time, expense and continued service to the public in general and agriculture in particular. The variety and scale of the current event using every square metre of our dedicated display area is a wonder to behold. The largest agribusiness show in the Southern

Hemisphere is no small feat to achieve. From the six weeks to build the site, the very early starts by volunteers each day, the crisp Waikato mid-winter air and the smiles on the faces of attendees. All of these meld together to produce hoped-for commercial success for the exhibitors and a socio-economic return to the nation well in excess of $500 million.

My deepest thanks to all of you for being a vibrant part of the 50th Fieldays family. I wish all exhibitors a successful return this year and welcome you on board for the next 50 years.

- Peter Carr

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From The Editor’s Desk Welcome to our commemorative edition of Fieldays Exhibitor.

We’re proud to be here as Fieldays notches its 50th, having ourselves clocked a much more modest 15 issues.

Our journalism and photography students have been out covering the news at Fieldays every year since 2004, whether that’s been the Rural Bachelors’ antics, new innovations, or stories about individual exhibitors – and everything in between. Back in 2004 we wrote about Ellen Millington’s extraordinary work finding accommodation for visitors; last year it was insect farming that caught our reporter’s eye.

The Exhibitor is the brainchild of journalism tutor Charles Riddle, and was originally published in hard copy only, a four-edition magazine pumped out every morning and distributed to exhibitors’ tents by a group of Fieldays’ wonderful volunteers.

The hard work is done by a team of Wintec Media Arts students, who not only collaborate to produce the stories

and photos, but also design the magazine, all under the eye of their tutors. Fieldays is a perfect real-world experience for our students, and we are grateful to the organisers for their ongoing support.

In this commemorative edition, you will find new stories profiling individuals with a proud Fieldays association, and also stories from our archives. You may even find yourself in one of them.

Plus, keep an eye out for our roving reporters and photographers with their Fieldays Exhibitor vests – they’re keen to tell your stories. Just like Fieldays, we keep moving with the times and these days that means a much greater emphasis on publishing online, and no longer a daily hard copy of the magazine.

- Richard Walker

This year, you can keep up to date by reading our stories at: www.waikatoindependent.co.nz Happy Fieldays, and happy reading.

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ACKNOWLEGEMENTS

THE TEAM

A special thanks goes to the hard-working and talented Wintec feature writing, photography and graphic design students of 2018 for their excellent contributions to this book.

Thanks also goes to their tutors, Richard Walker, Charles Riddle, Stefanie Young, Luke McConnell and Aida Khangholi for theirexpertise, guidance and support of this project.

WRITERS: Aidan Sami Eeshani Dinesh Blair Voorend Jesse Wood Anna Clausen Candice Gollan Horiana Henderson Caitlan Johnston Shisir Parajuli Aasha Parle Louela Pegarido Marie Brunskill

Published June 2018

GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Alice Leonard

Wintec Private Bag 3036 Waikato Mail Centre Hamilton 3240 Phone: 0800 2 WINTEC www.wintec.ac.nz

PHOTOGRAPHERS: Denise van Dam Miriana Wetere-Ryder Souem By Marie Brunskill Terry Su

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PROFILES...

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GROWING UP WITH FIELDAYS

BY HORIANA HENDERSON

“Here’s the Queen and Princess Anne and Prince Charles!

Gosh he’s looking young,” reminisces Alex Quinn. The owner of Quinn Engineering is rummaging through a collection of Fieldays memorabilia collected by his family over the years.

The Royal Family visited the second National Fieldays in 1970. That was the Quinn family’s first year of exhibiting at the event. Alex’s father captured photographs of the Royal Family, and of his then 10-year-old son in his best outfit – his scout uniform.

“Rural people never had dress-up clothes so it was normally: wear your cubby or scout uniform. That way you were respectfully dressed.”

The Quinn family have been Fieldays regulars ever since, showcasing the agricultural machinery they design and manufacture at their W base, 15 minutes out of Paeroa.

In the late 1960s, Alex’s father Eddie Quinn was dairy farming and had a problem. He wanted to cart conventional hay bales from the paddock to the barn.

He searched for a solution on the market and came up short so he applied some number 8 wire ingenuity and solved his own problem. Using a model he’d made from a meccano-set, his grandfather’s blacksmith’s drill and a small welder, Eddie engineered an Australian-award winning piece of machinery.

Alex remembers when a company name was being discussed at the kitchen table and “Baleboys” came up.

He chimed in and said, “I like it because we’re big boys handling bales.”

The company became known as Quinn Baleboys, and their product was a tractor attachment called the Baleboy.

Purchasers of the Baleboy would come back to Eddie asking for adaptations like, “can you put a set of forks on 8

that?” The response was always, “yeah, we can do that.” This philosophy has guided the business from then till now and it uses “the Can Do company” as its slogan and mantra.

Forty-nine years of attendance since the family’s debut display and Alex says he has “totally grown up with Fieldays”.

“When Baleboys went in we had the job, because we had a tractor and hay handling equipment, to carry the Fieldays hay down to the demonstration areas and then we donated them a hay clamp so they had it at their new premises, Mystery Creek.”

Alex remembers the Women’s Division providing all the food. “It was good homemade scones. I miss it.” He remembers staying on-site in caravans and catching up with other exhibitors each night, attending Young Farmers Club dinners and spectacles that would unfold in the “Bull Ring” as competitors showcased their products in choreographed performances. He also remembers how occasionally these demonstrations went awry.

Leading up to the Fieldays’ 40th anniversary Alex joined the celebration’s organizing committee. “The funniest thing at those meetings: I was the youngest by perhaps three decades. You’d have these five guys sitting at the table going to each other, ‘‘oh, when were you born? 1938? I was 36. You were just a pup!”

Growing up the Quinn children understood that the family business was everyone’s responsibility so daily chores often included tasks like drilling holes, cutting steel or using a paint brush.

“From a very young age it was always, get home from school and you were doing something to help.”

Later, Alex left home to attain his Diploma in Agriculture.

He had borrowed money from his parents for his studies so once his course was finished he returned home from Christchurch to begin repaying the loan and to “help” again, in the workshop.

“I remember I’d actually driven through the night, got into the factory here to see mum and dad, said ‘hi, yeah I’m home safe’ and within half an hour I was on a lathe. I never had a sleep.”

He came back into the workshop, found he enjoyed the job and never left.

“So I’ve been in the business since I was a toddler and I’ve owned the business for 28 years.”

From the workshop on the outskirts of Kerepehi, Alex has steered his small family business through its share of rough patches since he took over operations. “In the late ’80s life was pretty tough. Sales were down. It was hard, hard work.”

But Alex determined a course for his company which meant their business employed one strategy: “I went out and made sure that we could meet the market.

“Effectively we are solution finders. I always inform my staff whenever anyone phones up, they’ve got a problem and

it’s up to us to fix their problem.”

He acknowledges that his company was “really too small” to be making its vast range of bespoke designed products, but he recognized the tough odds facing his business and determined, “I’ve got to survive”.

The company now also designs and manufactures commercial and domestic passenger lifts in addition to its agricultural engineering core and supplies markets throughout Australasia and the South Pacific Basin.

Alex remembers apologizing to his staff for several years following his ‘80s product expansions, saying, “I know guys, I’m sorry once it’s all settled down we’ll get rid of those and we’ll just get back to our core,” but the demand has only increased and now the 17 staff operation is in the process of moving from its site on the family farm to a new larger industrial site three kilometres down the road.

Despite the growth, Quinn has no plans to move the operation out of Kerepehi.

“The beauty of living in a rural area is that you don’t lose your identity.”

Photo: Denise van Dam

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NEIGHBOURS LEND A HELPING HAND

BY SHISIR PARAJULI

Kaipaki School is used to offering a bus service to its rural pupils. Come mid-June, it also offers a service to Fieldays visitors.

The school runs a service ferrying people up the hill to Gate 2 each day, starting at 1pm, as a fundraiser.

Kaipaki School has a long history with its near neighbor Fieldays, says principal Kim Budd.

“We have a reciprocal relationship with Fieldays,” says Kim, who is a relative newcomer herself, having started as principal at the school last year. She is delighted at the connection, which was recognised this year when the Fieldays Society awarded the school a commemorative medal for its long-term contribution.

She says the award represents work by all the people and families involved with Kaipaki.

“It’s been long history, more than 20 years. The connection of our school with the community is really, really important.”

For everybody who attends the school Fieldays is part of their life, Kim says, a connection made all the stronger by the school’s rural base.

Kaipaki School not only offers the bus service, it also provides a courier hut service for Fieldays visitors. The hut

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acts as an assembly point for packages. It is also a convenient place for visitors who have bought a large or heavy item - the couriers will pick it up and take it to the hut where it is looked after it until the buyers can get it on their way home. That also helps the exhibitors. They can make a sale without any problems around how to get it out of the site, and are also given a way of getting items on site during the day.

“We have four or five vans and the courier hut with eight volunteers along with Fieldays personnel,” Kim says.

The hut volunteers operate in two shifts: in the morning from 8am till 12.30pm, and in the afternoon from 12.30pm till 5pm.

Kaipaki School parents are among those volunteering in the courier hut as well as driving the vans. Some of the parents are also involved in Fieldays through their own businesses, while some are involved through other organisations as well, for instance as parking volunteers.

Meanwhile, the school’s own bus service for its pupils minimises the disruption caused by the onslaught of Fieldays traffic.

And what would Kim like to see at Fieldays this year? “I want sunshine,” she says with a big smile.

“It’s been long history, more than 20 years.

The connection of our school with the community is really, really important.”

Photo: Souem By

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PHOTOGRAPHER SEES THE BIG PICTURE

BY MARIE BRUNSKILL

As Fieldays approaches, it is with “a healthy sense of fear and dread” that Stephen Barker, official Fieldays photographer of 12 years, anticipates the coming event.

Planninag is rigorous. “It’s lists and schedules, and trying to solve dilemmas of time and place,” Stephen says, “prioritising events for each day, and comparing wish-lists with event timetables.”

The line-up looks exhausting. He covers as much as he can, from the tractor pull and Rural Catch of the Year to awards and innovations, not to mention the wide range of exhibitors on site. Typically, he rushes from one thing to another, grabbing a sandwich or pie on the way.

Fieldays begins around 6am on the first day for Stephen. He likes to get there for sunrise, and photograph the crowd before the gates open at 8am. He enjoys this time, often a bright and frosty morning, with the buzz of excitement in the crowd. It is a good time to find images that “encapsulate Fieldays”, he says.

Stephen recalls heading out to his very first Fieldays in 1994 while working for the Waikato Times as Deputy Chief Photographer: “I had never heard of Fieldays before coming to Hamilton, but the impact, the size, the whole big deal of it soon became pretty apparent.”

After working for 10 years at the Waikato Times, Stephen set up his own freelance business in 2006, and began working for Fieldays as the main photographer. He has documented the event for 12 years, shooting on average 800-900 images a day, building up quite an archive. For a Fieldays publication, 12

out later this year, Stephen has recently uploaded around 17,000 images, compiled by himself and two contracted photographers over the 12-year period. The book, by Geoff Taylor commissioned by the Fieldays Society, celebrates the 50-year anniversary of Fieldays.

With more photographers now on site than ever, and video coverage of the event taking a more dominant role, Stephen has relished the increased freedom he has had in the past couple of years, with more time to look and breathe, and see stuff that is not agenda focused.

He recommends heading to the Pavilion, which hosts major clients, as well as the Innovations Centre where inventors showcase interesting new ideas.

“Every year it has become bigger and better,” he says.

The animals, whether alpacas or bulls, are always a popular draw for the public. Stephen often heads to the live horse cutting, a demonstration where horses are used to separate cattle; it’s an exciting event to get pictures at. He also recommends not missing the fencing competition.

“It is something to behold because they are immense athletes, constructing fences which are top quality under time pressure.”

“The Rural Bachelor of the Year award (now the Rural Catch of the Year award) really demonstrates what Fieldays is all about. Rural personalities, competing it out for the Golden Gumboot, these events are at the heart of Fieldays,” he says.

It is the aerial photos that are the highlight for Stephen: “I

usually head down to the Helipad by the river on a Thursday or Friday lunchtime when it is at its busiest, and do one or two loop-arounds. We go as high as we can over Fieldays without needing special clearance. It’s a real buzz, strapped in with the doors off.”

Stephen carries all his equipment on him for the day: a camera, three lenses and a flash, as well as a raincoat, belt bag and golf umbrella. People comment to him, “have you got enough gear?”, he chuckles.

Laptop glitches are the main problem, and some days he is still up at 3am editing images. The lack of sleep builds up, as well as the pressure he has had for coordinating the photographers.

“It’s not much use complaining how tired you are because

all of the event staff, the clients and exhibitors are all in it, and there is a camaraderie that you get in knowing you are there for the whole thing together. This gives everyone the energy to keep buoyant, and do it well with a good attitude.”

His wife Cathy is “good for a hot meal” when he eventually gets home from Fieldays before he starts his night of editing.

His family support is “immense”, and has got him through. And after it is all over Stephen says he usually has a hot bath to recover. Despite the hard work Fieldays requires each year, it is the people he works with which make the event fun, and draw him to return year after year.

“It’s bigger than big. It’s a city that arrives for four days a year. It’s epic, but also daunting. Gumboots aren’t necessary, but good shoes are.”

Photo: Souem By

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POLICE SET FOR SMOOTH FIELDAYS

BY EESHANI DINESH

Some look forward to an eventful Fieldays; Senior Sergeant David Hall hopes otherwise.

“If an event goes by without anything spectacular happening, that means everything has worked really well. So the less spectacular, the better,” he says, chuckling.

Security at events is an important responsibility that come with the job, and for Snr Sergeant Hall, Area Prevention Manager, Waikato West Area, one of the most significant is Fieldays, with an enormous number of people pouring in and out every day.

“My job is to make sure that everybody who gets there has a safe and enjoyable time.”

A team of more than 40 officers work during the event to ensure its smooth running and support the public.

Preparations start well ahead of time. Briefings and protocols like desktop exercises which involve hypothetical problems are often set up, and the police along with Fieldays staff work in teams and come up with solutions. All the contingencies are thoroughly planned and the needs of dignitaries such as Members of Parliament are met.

During the event, rural crime prevention pamphlets are handed out. “We are always available to everyone who needs us in the site,”Snr Sgt Hall says. He even gave a talk about Rural Crime Prevention in one of the stands during last year’s event.

Most officers involved have previous Fieldays experience.

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Those new to the event are encouraged to interact with as many people as they can, to spread the crime prevention and safety word and to be as visible as possible at the site.

“The flipside of Fieldays is that we get to interact with people from a lot of different backgrounds. There are exhibitors, there are organisers, volunteers, the rural community and the public.”

During his time, policehave not faced any emergencies.

“Crime has been minimal and that is how we want to keep it.”

Their busiest time is when the gates open at 8am and when people start leaving around 4pm, with more than 20 police officers involved in traffic management.

The police force is all set for the 50thevent, and looking forward to it. “We will be keen to do our bit and make sure everything runs smoothly.”

Snr Sgt Hall, 53, joined the police force 25 years ago. “My father was a police officer, and I got an insight into the job through him,” he says. “I was interacting with the people my father was working with and they seemed like a good bunch, and so have they been. The best part of the job is the camaraderie.”

He is more than excited to be participating in his fourth Fieldays.

“If you happen to go out there now, it’s just a bare ground, but then when you go to see the event, it’s like a mini town.

“It is a very well thoughtout exhibition out there, so many companies and so much innovation, it is an inspiring and an enjoyable place to work in.�

Photo: Terry Su

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PARKING CARS TODAY, RULING THE WORLD TOMORROW

BY CAITLAN JOHNSTON

Courtney Goodare’s first ever job at Fieldays was to hop on a quad bike and give people a quick tow out of the mud.

He hopes his last job at the Fieldays will be to sit on the board one day.

Aside from being a very active Fieldays volunteer and car parker, Courtney is also a contract farmer based in Morrinsville. Fresh out of high school he didn’t know what he wanted to do and ended up giving farming a go.

He worked hard for the career and lifestyle he has today. He has gone from farm to farm around the Waikato and now has managed to become his own boss, allowing him more time to get involved in the social side of the farming industry or to even take his girlfriend out for lunch on a quiet day.

“Being my own boss as a contract farmer means I have that money and time freedom that most of us want and I worked really hard for that sort of lifestyle,” says Courtney.

Courtney first became involved in Fieldays in 2008, the same year he joined the New Zealand Young Farmers organisation. Back then he says he was very shy and gives credit to Young Farmers for helping him break out of his shell.

Ten years later, he is more ambitious and outgoing than he would have ever imagined. He says he may be doing the same job at Fieldays as he was when he first started out, but it’s all part of his long-term plan to make it to the top – a seat on the board.

“This year’s goal is to find a path through where I can help out the most. It may be car parking for the next 10 years, 16

that’s fine by me, but next year there might be a role opening up as someone moves on, so I want to do everything I can this year to convince them that I’m the best for that job,” says Courtney.

“It’s good fun but I really want to take it seriously this year and figure out what’s the path I want to take up through Fieldays, how can I help them best.”

One of Courtney’s longest standing struggles with his job is convincing people that they simply cannot park in the spot they want to.

He says there was one time when a lady in a small twowheel drive car insisted she had to park close to the front gate, a spot so soft that only the 4wd utes could park.

She didn’t want to listen to Courtney at all, he says, and sure enough at the end of the day he got the call about a lady who got her little car stuck up the front and needed a tow out.

“There’s situational comedy when doing the car parking, someone always gets stuck and it’s entertaining to have to pull them out,” says Courtney.

To him the whole week is a lot of fun. Behind the scenes when everyone has gone home and they’ve locked all the gates, Courtney and his mates often get up to a little bit of mischief, he says.

“Our head of team normally rides around on his quad the whole week and at the end we normally play a prank. Last year he got smart and brought two. So we thought, right, we’ll take them both, and we Gladwrapped them together. He had

to sit there all night unwrapping it.”

Fun and entertainment aside, what’s most important for Courtney is that from his job he is able to find a sense of accomplishment.

Simple things like a lady telling him she only had to wait 20 minutes this year for a car park compared to waiting 40 minutes in previous years felt awesome to him - he had kept the traffic flowing.

“It sounds like a lame job, and can be a dick of a one at times, but the sense of accomplishment you get out of it is so rewarding for me,” says Courtney.

Photo: Marie Brunskill

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HELPING HAND FOR RURAL WOMEN

BY AASHA PARLE

At the very first Fieldays in 1969 the Women’s Division of Federated Farmers was making sandwiches and cakes to sell to punters. When asked if WDFF would like to do the catering for Fieldays, Lulu Peacocke, head of the organisation, responded with “of course we can”, a mantra that has stuck with the organisation to this day.

“The food was made in team members’ kitchens before being sold at Fieldays … This was all before health and safety came into the mix,” laughs Janet Williams, a Hamilton board member for Rural Women New Zealand, previously known as WDFF. Janet wasn’t there during the days of making sandwiches in whoever had a free kitchen. Her first experience with Fieldays and Rural Women came 30 years ago when she was starting out as a dairy farmer herself.

“I was having a nosey at the new technology in farming when I came across the Rural Women stall in the Bledisloe Hall. I was asked if I would like to become a member, and I have been ever since.”

The decision wasn’t difficult: Janet already knew something about the organisation from her hairdressing days in a rural salon near Pukekohe, when she would cut members’ hair.

She was drawn to Rural Women by their community involvement. From being recruited into the organisation at a Fieldays event to her own extensive involvement with local communities, she embodies Lulu Peacocke’s “of course we can” mantra.

Rural Women began in 1925 as the Women’s Division 18

of the Farmers Union with the purpose of supporting the supporting women living and working in rural communities.

Rural Women’s community involvement now extends to rural environmental and social issues, as well as aiding rural students through scholarships.

At her second Waikato/Taranaki Rural Women meeting, Janet was awarded the position of treasurer. No one else put their hand up for the role, so Janet decided to give it a crack and, as a result, later went on to hold the position of president before becoming a national board member.

In 2015 Janet had the honour of raising the flag at the Fieldays opening ceremony.

“What I didn’t realise was how tall the pole is and how heavy the flag is,” laughs Janet. “My biceps were bulging after that one.”

Nowadays Rural Women New Zealand uses Fieldays to network with other organisations and raise money for charity.

At a typical Fieldays there will be two to four Rural Women members running the stall and answering questions and are part of the Health Hub this year. When the Christchurch earthquake struck in 2011, Rural Women used their Fieldays stall to sell NZ-made merino “after-shock socks”. The $140,000 profit from these socks was then sent to Christchurch as a donation for earthquake relief. Following the devastating 7.8 magnitude Kaikoura earthquake, Rural Women went to work again and raised $52,000 through selling their “after-shock socks” and donations for their Adverse Events Fund to help

Kiwis in need. The fund was started by Rural Women to give grants of $1000 to Kiwis affected by natural disaster.

“If you know of anyone who was affected by the Kaikoura earthquake, let them know we still have some money to donate.”

Janet still has a passion for farming and has proudly reared award-winning Jersey cows on her lifestyle block just out of Hamilton. She sold her Jersey calves to companies like LIC and dabbled in dairy-farming. Nowadays she farms beef and sheep on her lifestyle block.

It’s a surprise Janet has any free time at all – her list of community work is as long as your arm. She is a Justice of the Peace, a member of Dinsdale Lions, a member of the Waikato District Licensing Committee and is also involved in the Hamilton Life Education Trust.

She also has an array of hobbies to keep herself even busier. She loves trekking, and completed the Annapurna trail in Nepal. Janet did the Milford track and Tongariro Crossing as preparation to conquering the 8000-metre peak in the Himalayas. That came with it a surprise moment that drew on her farming background.

“Completing the walk was a huge challenge, but I expected that. What I didn’t expect was having to mime corralling alpacas to the Sherpas at the top of the mountain.”

From her experience in farming, Janet knew herding alpacas was like herding calves - they need to be picked up and carried. The Sherpas didn’t have this knowledge, so Janet had to act it out.

Meanwhile, back on home soil at Mystery Creek, Janet says if she were to sum up Fieldays in one word, it would be “opportunities”. “Fieldays is an opportunity for urban people to meet their rural counterparts, a place to network, and an opportunity to expose yourself to the agriculture business in New Zealand.”

RWNZ encourages social connections and supports growing dynamic communities.

“We actually provide a lot of information on compliance to farmers,” says Janet. “We are often a lot less intimidating to people than a council flyer, and we’ve found that having someone to talk to about new farming regulations is more productive.”

Photo: Miriana Wetere-Ryder

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TAG TEAM DRAWS THE CROWDS

BY CANDICE GOLLAN

Soft Friesan and jersey ears and a personalised tagging machine creating keepsakes, one vibrant sunshine yellow tag at a time, created a stir that drew the crowds to the LIC site in 2015.

One of those at the site was LIC marketing manager Jason Szabo, who was a self-proclaimed townie before fulfilling his dream by joining the team at LIC. Despite being a rookie, he dived head first into planning the Fieldays site. In his first year of exhibiting, the LIC marketing team produced personalised tags for visitors, and success was measured by the fact those who came also asked questions and showed interest in the company.

“We had the best giveaway,” laughs Jason. “It was a really cool experience.”

The following year, the team were still using the tagging machine, but for a gold coin donation as the organisation raised money for Rural Support Trust for Suicide Prevention.

Rural Support Trust was formed during tough financial times for farmers in the 1980s and aims to support rural people when times are challenging. The groups let struggling farmers engage with others who may have been in the same boat.

There was a milk price slump, harsh weather and life was hitting farmers where it hurt. Many farmers felt trapped as they grappled with debt.

“The [farmer suicide] stats are shocking,” Jason said.

LIC, a herd improvement and agri-technology co-operative, launched a webpage to help promote the Rural Support Trust and other support organisations.

“We were doing everything possible to help support our farmers,” Jason said.

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LIC aims to improve the prosperity and productivity of its farmer members, through the delivery of superior genetics and technology.

The organisation wants to be able to engage with its customers face-to-face and make it easier for them to approach it with any questions or concerns. It usually has some sweet treats and a hot cuppa at its site near the Pavilion.

The staff love opening the line of communication and having their clients come in for a chat.

“We do enjoy being there,” Jason says. “Many people from the company, including the CEO and directors, make an appearance.”

LIC also encourages its staff at Fieldays to get out and about to check out other sites.

Jason’s personal favourite display is the Karaka Whips.

“It’s so interesting watching them try and crack them,” Jason said. “I wish I could do it.”

Once Jason accidentally crashed the show that Dairy NZ puts on. He was sitting at a table by the stage and he was so engrossed with what he was doing, he suddenly found himself surrounded by children. He was going to stand up and leave when Rosie the Cow appeared, but it would have been rude to walk out, so he stayed for the show and thoroughly enjoyed it.

It was all part of a greenhorn’s education. “It was really interesting learning about a cow’s anatomy from a kid’s point of view,” Jason says. “I learnt a lot.”

Getting ready for the Fieldays takes months of preparation and working with many people to make sure that their clients have the best possible experience at their site. LIC offers farm equipment and technology through LIC Automation. It also offers an ear to listen to any questions a client might have

about technology or its genetics programme – and there are those giveaways.

It takes two days to set up the site and then it is four full-on days of seeing their clients and talking to new people. They often do not leave until 6.30pm.

“We have a team debrief at the end of each day. It also helps lessen the traffic congestion,” Jason says.

Three out of four cows in New Zealand have come from LIC’s genetic programme.

“There are about five million dairy cows in New Zealand.

The more cows the greater the stress on the land,” Jason said. “We are trying to breed a more efficient cow.

“There’s always room for improvement.”

Photo: Denise van Dam

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CHARITY KEEPS EVERYONE SAFE AND SOUND

BY BLAIR VOOREND

Trying to find more than 60 missing people and then dealing with a parent ranting at you while you scurry around urgently looking for a signal on your phone is hardly a routine experience for most people at Fieldays. For Kay Worth, it was a day she will never forget.

This day in particular was one of her most “challenging” in her eight years at The Salvation Army staff at Fieldays.

“That was the days before they had the big cellphone tower and being a Friday with a lot of school kids using Facebook and whatever, there was no cyber space left and we couldn’t get a line out,” she says.

“We had people backing up and then had some father nutting off wanting to know where his daughter was, it was just manic.” Fortunately, everyone made it home safe”.

Having a day like this doesn’t come as a complete surprise when you look at the services The Salvation Army provides for Fieldays every year. With such things as their missing persons site, a parent rest area and the selling of many donated and hand-made hot water bottles, the role takes a certain person. Someone who is compassionate but also has that determination and attitude to get the job done, which makes Kay the perfect fit.

Working for charities has always been important to her.

Before joining as a staff member at The Salvation Army she worked for both St John and the Red Cross. “It’s important to me. The harder I work and the more I achieve the more people benefit.”

22

Kay grew up in “the Tron” spending her earlier days living on a game bird farm, seven acres in Ruakura with nearly every bird imaginable. “It was our playground of sorts,” she says. Adult life saw her living overseas and working on prawn trawlers in Australia and oil rigs in Scotland for nearly 14 years, giving her a different perspective on people.

“A requirement for living in Sweden is that you have to be able to speak Swedish, so I spent four years learning the language. But working on the rigs there’re so many different people you work with and different cultures.”

The Salvation Army has been at Fieldays for over 20 years, and in her eight years there Kay has spent her time between the parents rest area and missing persons. “I arrive just after 6am and leave at 5pm provided there are no longer any missing people on the books. I stay until all are found. A couple of times I stayed quite late, but it’s always a great feeling to know that everyone is heading home safe and sound.”

Coping with 61 missing people in a day was one out of the box; normally they deal with between 30 and 40 throughout the event, mostly the young and the elderly.

Although it can be quite a demanding role having to deal with upset parents and distraught children, there are favourite moments that Kay never forgets. One year there was a young lad who kept wandering in to play with the kids’ toys at the missing persons tent.

“He was so cute. What actually happened was he was with us for a little bit, but then once he got picked up he kept on

coming back again and again, until we realised his mum was working at a site around the corner and he kept on coming back and forth wanting to play with the toys.

“So we would send him back with a toy and by the end of the four days his mum came back with an armful of toys that he had collected over the week.”

Being involved for many years she has learnt many tricks of the trade when it comes to surviving Fieldays. It is important to always know where the toilet is because someone will always ask. Another is to surround yourself with a great team to help you get through the day, and to always “keep your radio and smile on”.

With it being the 50th Fieldays the organisers gave out special awards to long-standing contributors. Kay was chosen to receive the award on behalf of The Salvation Army, but for her it is never about recognition but action instead. The chief pleasure is being able to help others as she has been doing for so many years, and she is very proud to work for The Salvation Army.

Photo: Terry Su

23

MAN IN THE MIDDLE

BY JESSE WOOD

One thousand exhibitors, 1500 sites. Almost 20 hectares out of 115 used for exhibitor sites and most of the rest used for parking. Overseeing Fieldays at Mystery Creek is a big job for president Peter Carr.

His background in international trade, export and logistics helps. He started out as a master mariner before moving on to become the logistics manager at Affco New Zealand, and then coming to Fieldays as an international business centre volunteer in 2009. When he was elected onto the Fieldays board in 2013 he was also made chairperson of the structure committee.

In 2016, he became president, and stood again unopposed in the last annual election, voted in by Fieldays Society members all of whom have backgrounds as volunteers at Mystery Creek events.

One of his main roles is dealing with the media, as well as helping build relationships with other companies. “Whilst a business, we’re very much about relationships,” he says.

He had been attending Fieldays a long time before he got into the agriculture business. He says the event has changed enormously over the years. At the first Fieldays, held at Te Rapa in 1969, there were only 80 exhibitors and about 10,000 visitors. Now there are about 133,000 visitors over the four days.

For him, the most memorable thing is watching the faces of the volunteers at 6.30 every morning when they come into the Fieldays kitchen. “If they wear glasses they’re all steamed up. [They] look like stunned mullets or a possum in the headlights”. He loves seeing them chat and talk about what they’re going to do for the day.

And then, for Peter, it’s on to the varied tasks of four busy 24

days. Last year, then Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett attended Fieldays. Peter was showing her around and when they reached the muddy Isuzu four-wheel drive site, Bennett wanted to go for a ride. She asked the guy in charge of the track if she could have a go. She was offered the passenger’s seat but said she wanted to drive. As she drove around one of the muddy corners she got lodged in the mud. She then decided to rev the engine. One wheel was spinning in the air and the other was “digging a hole through to Spain or somewhere”, Peter says. It took six guys to push the vehicle out of the mud.

The Fieldays Society tries to be as environmentally friendly as possible, a move which Peter backs 100 percent. That ranges from using electric cars, to compressing rubbish to stop it going to landfills, to having a partnership with the bus companies to reduce vehicle numbers on the roads and cut carbon emissions. Last year they ran free buses from the Hamilton bus depot and the Base. This year buses are also coming from Cambridge.

Nevertheless, the number of visitors requires a huge number of carparks, with drivers often struggling to find their car on their way out. The Fieldays smartphone app, updated this year, allows visitors to pin-point exactly where they parked, helping relieve stress at the end of the day.

Even the experienced can struggle. Peter recalls going to a meeting and finishing late one night. When he got back to the carpark he couldn’t find his car. Luckily, he had a modern key with the remote to find his car as the lights flashed. Otherwise “I’d still be there looking for the bloody thing”.

As for his Fieldays recommendation, he doesn’t hesitate.

“Without doubt the Innovation Centre.” That’s where

inventors and innovators submit their creations, not only for awards but also for the curious and the business-minded. It’s the cutting edge of farming. They aren’t allowed to sell their inventions there, but many companies approach them about helping produce their ideas commercially.

Every year Peter lives at the Fieldays for six days in his campervan. He’s always running around helping someone or asking someone how they’re doing. He says his favourite part is the end of the Fieldays. “I get my feet back.”

Photo: Denise van Dam

25

TAKING CARE OF THE FUTURE

BY LOUELA PEGARIDO

Fieldays has evolved from muddy streets to bigger and better marquees for an agricultural showcase of world-class calibre, yet the essence has stayed the same.

Chris Lewis, Federated Farmers Dairy Sector chair, puts it in a nutshell. “It is where you can buy affordable deals, get to hear breaking news, see the latest innovations, talk with business contacts, and socialize to renew friendships,” Chris doesn’t only appreciate what Fieldays is doing for the future. He is also grateful for the past. He has childhood memories of Fieldays as precious as any family traditions.

“I remember going as a kid and every tractor seemed the most awesome thing in the world, every food booth giving off a glorious delicious scent from hot dogs to burgers,” he says. “Now I’m bringing my kids for the experience. It’s a generational activity and celebrating this year’s 50th is exciting.”

He gives credit to the organisers for drawing people back again and again.

Farming is in Chris’ background, and Fieldays helped show him that farming would also be his pathway.

So it is apt that Fed Farmers recruits bright and motivated New Zealanders into the dairy industry through its Apprenticeship Program at Fieldays.

“It’s our first year to focus on education in the Fieldays, a long-term project of attracting young people into dairy farming,” Chris says.

Federated Farmers and Primary ITO, an organisation dedicated to training, have teamed up on the Federated Farmers Apprenticeship Dairy to rapidly grow capability in the industry. Launched in October last year, it aims to coach, share knowledge, and build confidence, ambition and 26

capability - “to grow smart people where farming offers more than just a job,” Chris says.

Apprentices will earn while they learn, develop skills and grow their careers. Employers will enjoy having motivated staff, and learn and grow throughout the apprenticeship too, he says.

Since farmers are stewards of the land and its resources, transfer of knowledge through mentoring is crucial, and Chris says simply satisfying a minimum requirement in regulation is not enough.

Fieldays is perfect for promoting the apprenticeship program, he explains. “I have been attending the Fieldays since I was knee-high and have been involved with it as an adult for over 19 years. Fieldays not only embraces innovation, it also brings to the fore issues on environment and climate change and farming as a career.”

Before becoming chair of the dairy sector, Chris was Federated Farmers Waikato president for six years. He brings to his current position almost 20 years of farm management, a passion for sustainable farming for the future and public policy experience.

He is also enthusiastic about promoting dairy farming to the young. Born and bred on a farm, Chris has been farming for 24 years, the last 10 in Pukeatua with his wife with over 1,500 cows on an almost 500 hectare farm.

This, as the average age of dairy farmers steadily rises - to 41.7 years, according to the 2013 census.

Chris confirms an F&MM research report, that there are fewer younger entrants into agriculture as farmers’ children are taking on different careers; there is a prevalent perception that farming no longer has the status it once had; and male

farmers have difficulty meeting women willing to take on the farming life.

The lack of interest in farming among the young becomes more concerning as issues get more challenging: soil and nutrients management to reduce environmental degradation, increasing infrastructure investments, disease outbreaks, tighter restrictions on water use for irrigation to name a few.

Chris is positive that the industry has the resilience to meet the challenges. In fact, dairy export revenue is forecast to reach $16.7 billion for the year ending June 2018, he says.

Dairying remains the largest goods export sector and provides incomes for more than 45,000 farm workers, including 10,000 who are self-employed.

When I meet Chris on his farm, he has just come from a Fed Farmers meeting in town, which included discussion of Fieldays. Pockets of native bush can be seen dotting nearby hills.

Somewhere in the vast farm, are farm workers, cows and – today – carpenters all waiting for his attention.

With an infectious laugh, he sends a message to youth and young adults. “Go visit a farm, talk to local farmers. Find your interests around farming and see if you can find yourself a mentor. If you are interested in cows, and can stand working outside, in the wet, in the heat, in the cold, this is for you,” he says, extending his arms to encompass the open spaces all around us.

Photo: Miriana Wetere-Ryder

27

28

THROUGH THE ARCHIVES...

29

WORKING DOGS FARMERS’ FRIENDS

BY KATHY GRAHAM With more than 40 million sheep in New Zealand, sheep dogs aren’t likely to be replaced by technology any time soon.

The New Zealand huntaway is one such a dog and has been purpose-bred over the last century to cope with New Zealand’s tough conditions, and tough sheep. Standing about 60cm at the shoulder, black and tan, they are lively and energetic working dogs.

And noisy. Unlike heading dogs such as border collies, which work silently, the huntaway uses its bark to move stock. They are often heard barking at sheep-dog trials held throughout the country. These are seen as good tests of sound and practical shepherding and, unexpectedly, great television.

It is thought New Zealand’s first sheep dog trial was held at Wanaka in 1867.

Trials help improve the ability and breeding of sheep dogs and educate competitors about handling and treating both sheep and dogs.

30

Well-bred and well-trained dogs are keenly sought after and you don’t have to watch one for long to see why.

“You get a great deal of joy working a few sheep and a heading dog or a huntaway,” Waikato’s Sheepdog Trial Association president Michael Oliver says. “It takes good control and great finesse.

“If they are allowed to develop stock sense, a good huntaway can work on its own bringing stock in.”

And thy can be pretty good mates.

Farmers have a “high degree” of comradeship with their dogs, he says.

“It’s not often you’ll see a photo of a farmer without his dog somewhere in the picture.”

The arrival of the motorcycle meant the departure of the dog for some farmers, and while it’s possible to handle stock without dogs, it can be stressful on stock and isn’t exactly environmentally friendly.

“Trying to with stock on steep country

without dogs would be absurd,” Mr Oliver says.

“Dogs can run through fences, across gullies, across streams and up very steep country.”

Trials still attract strong entries and competition is fierce, as farmers send their dogs out to herd sheep through testing courses, often with just a single word or whistle.

“There is still a very a high standard at the trials.”

Tomorrow the current New Zealand Short Head and Yard Champion, Bob Berger and his dog Lana, will be going through their paces at Fieldays during the TUX Provincial Challenge.

Mr Berger, from Putaruru, will be joined by several other Waikato teams at the10am abd 3pm demonstrations at Area 6.

Or just listen for the sound of the barking huntaway.

- 2007

AG ART WEAR HELPS STUDENTS WITH NCEA

BY ZOE HUNTER Clothing made out of everything rural fills the textile classroom at Matamata College again this year.

Preparing for the college’s 18th anniversary of involvement in the National Fieldays Ag Art Wear awards, students dress plastic models in punched out sheet metal and frost cloth skirts.

Year 12 Matamata college students Ashleigh Andrawartha and Korri Cunningham merge work with play as they design their outfits under NCEA and Fieldays Ag Art Wear guidelines.

With the help of school teacher and head of textiles Melody Priest, the girls earn NCEA credits for their Ag Art Wear entries.

This is Priest’s second year involved in the competition.

“It’s all about the students, that’s why we do it.”

Ashleigh and Korri, 16, will enter their designs into the Designer Traditional section.

The event invites designers to create wearable art that uses only materials sourced from the farm, rural industries or the natural environment.

“The biggest challenge is trying to come up with something new,” said Priest.

Ashleigh’s garment, which she calls Iron Maiden, was inspired by a dress made of discs she had seen in a fashion magazine.

Korri’s is a wedding dress made of yellow grain bags and purple tree ties.

With over $12,000 in the prize pool,

the competition challenges entrants to create thoughtful, interesting and unique designs.

The girls say if they win the money will be spent wisely.

“I’ll probably buy gifts for all of the people who helped me first, and then go shopping with the rest,” said Ashleigh.

“I’ll put it into savings,” said Korri.

The designs will be adopted into the country couture family during the four days of Fieldays next week at Mystery Creek. Both garments will be worn by professional models from Nouveau Management.

in other countries, and he thinks New Zealand has a chance to cash in on this Commercial manager for Job Flow, Rusty Knutson, thinks there may be a market for it in New Zealand depending on how they were sold. day “There andpossibly night. is (a market for it) I’m “I sure, hadit’s one a cheap call at source 2am from of protein,” Northern Knutson Irelandsaid for a. booking and another night aIfcall they came came inas from ground-up Argentina protein at 3am.” he would Ellen be first all for worked in his as protein a volunteer shakeswhen inher thedaughter morning,Valerie but he was did admit promotions he would manager rather fornot Fieldays be chewing in 1979. up It large bug was heads.

Valerie who volunteered Ellen for Knutson the job. believes bugs should be farmed In the alongside early days, cows the orHamilton sheep asCity an alternative.

Council public relations office handled accommodation “Would I want tobookings see cowsand andit was a sheep job they disappear did notfrom like. Accommodation New Zealand’s landscapes, then fell back no Itowouldn’t, the Fieldays and organisers. would I still Valerie eat meat, volunteered yes I would.” her mother for the

Federated Farmers general manager for membership Lyndel Stone said insect farmers would be welcome as members.

“You can’t halt progress so you have to embrace it,” Stone said. position She believes and Ellen, farmers now should in herbe 70s, open has tobeen changing handling theiritpractices at home with to embrace her phone the and future. her computer ever since.

Senior “I said policy I’d look advisor afterNikki the bookings Edwards said for she a year would and be 25open yearsto later the I’m still idea doing as well. it.”

“IBy don’t anyone’s see them standards, being any Ellen different from Millington’s bee farmers.” contribution to the Fieldays is huge but she’s not one tomake a song and dance about what she does, or the fact she does it all without the luxury of sight. Ellen Millington is blind.

STEAK? TRY LOCUST INSTEAD…

- 2012

BY BRIDGET KELLY Fancy some ants in your smoothie? Or how about some crickets on your toast to make your morning a bit more chirpy?

BY What ANN Next HUSTON hosts John Campbell and Nigel Latta recently explored the future of farming, and it looks as if insects may beFrom the next Huntly bigdown thing to that Otorohanga adds crunch andto your from lunch.

Raglan across to Te Aroha, Ellen Millington There wasfrom plenty Ohaupo of support has them for the idea booked at Fieldays.

– hotels, motels, homestays, B&Bs, Dairy farmer caravans, Matthew even tent O’Briensites.

Brown Every sees year potential since 1979 in the Ellen world hasofbeen insect finding farming. places to stay for up to 20,000 farmers, While heexhibitors, doesn’t think andthere visitors willheading be a market for thefor Fieldays. insects in New Zealand, he thinks To farming Ellen, the insects numbers hereare in no thebig future deal. would “I’m capable be a veryand promising I do myindustry job, that’s forall exporting that matters,” overseas. she says.

“IIn think theirthere’s searchdefinitely for Fieldays potential,” said accommodation, O’Brien-Brown. people contact Ellen throughout Insects arethe seen year, as aatfood all times source of the

ELLEN TUCKS THEM IN

- 2004 31

LIVE SEX SHOWS PROVE A HIT WITH THE CROWDS

BY LYNDA DAHLBERG New Zealand’s first-ever semen collecting mechanical cow has been a huge hit at Fieldays, attracting large crowds to the Ambreed site and filling the specially placed grandstand.

The newly developed decoy is being used to host live sex shows three times a day, every day, during Fieldays because Ambreed managing director Graham Bowen says the most common question they are asked is how a semen collection is carried out.

Mr Bowen said they have spend three or four months developing the teaser which was made locally by

Hautapu Welders.

“There are similar ones in Europe, but this is the first in New Zealand,” he said.

“So far we are very happy with it.”

There are several reasons for the new method of collection, Mr Bowen said.

The new machine preserves the bull’s health, is a more natural way of collection, and it meets OSH requirements, because the collector is at no risk.

Before the development of the decoy, a steer was used as a teaser.

A collector captured the semen in an artificial vagina by deflecting the penis to one side.

Mr Bowen said this was unnatural as the bull then had to thrust at an angle, alongside the teaser.

Ambreed is considering building a second decoy but with a few improvements including motorising it and also installing brakes.

The current teaser has to be braced against the side of the yard, but with brakes it would be able to be used anywhere in the yard, creating a variety, which, according to Mr Bowen, is important for the bulls.

– 2006

CATCH THE BUS AND AVOID THE QUEUES

BY SHONTELLE CARGILL Free buses to Fieldays were packed early on Wednesday as visitors took the chance to avoid traffic queues.

To help ease the traffic congestion, Waikato Regional Council has been offering free bus rides to and from the Mystery Creek event for Fieldays ticket holders.

GoBus Waikato regional general manager Glenn McLeod said the types of people who catch the buses out to Fieldays are “normally townies – but there is all walks of life.”

Wednesday morning’s bus was 32

packed with farmers and townies enjoying the free service – some sitting and some just squeezing in by standing in the aisle.

Mcleod said this year Fieldays has laid on a designated bus lane to get through the slow traffic. The bus service drops off passengers at the main gate, which means no trudging from the car park.

Hamilton resident Lynda Brosnan caught a bus from outside her residence to the transport centre to connect with the Fieldays bus.

She chose this bus for its convenience

and “so the car doesn’t get stuck in the mud,” she laughed.

Brosnan took the day off work to attend the event for the first time, where she was looking forward to meeting up with a friend.

Chantelle Pumfleet from Hamilton is set to catch the bus every day. She is working at Fieldays this year so she used her Busit ticket to head to work.

“I don’t drive so the best option was to catch the bus,” Pumfleet said.

- 2015

GALLAGHERS LAUNCH WORLD FIRST AT FIELDAYS

BY IRIS RIDDELL Gallagher is getting into the spirit of innovation with their new invention, the SmartFence.

The fence, designed and created entirely in Hamilton, consists of four 100m long wires, nine standards and a main end post.

Gallagher Animal Management Systems regional sales manager Matt Macfie says they are extremely proud of the SmartFence and totally streamlines the process of installing a temporary fence.

“The old way, you used to have four separate reels and ten posts. What we’ve done is we’ve put all of that into one unit. So it is a world first: it’s the first four-wire, ready-to-go temporary fence.”

The SmartFence hit the New

Zealand market for the first time this morning at the New Zealand National Agricultural Fieldays and sales are already underway.

“The idea of it is to totally change the way that people do something that they’re doing every day anyway. [With the old system] you have to walk out, you’ve got four individual reels to roll in, and it can be pretty messy. This system makes it much easier.”

The SmartFence can be hooked up to an energizer to electrify the system and works equally well on hilly terrain.

It is highly portable, weighing less than six kilograms, and has a number of features to make the whole process easier, such as the reel drive system.

“When you get to the end, if some wires are pulled out more than others,

there’s a clever little mechanism that winds the wires individually.”

Mr Macfie says the SmartFence’s versatile nature means it has received a lot of interest from lifestyle block owners and traditional sheep farmers, and can be used in a variety of ways including tree protection and creating a breakfeed fence.

“You can make temporary arrangements with it, you can make a corral, there are endless uses for it; limited only by your imagination.”

The unit is priced at $296.00 and is available for purchase from the Gallagher site.

- 2010

33

ARTISTS DRAW THEIR INSPIRATION FROM MANY SOURCES

BY AMANDEEP KAUR The winners have been announced and the Fieldays No 8 Wire Exhibition is in full swing at ArtsPost in Hamilton. But what goes into turning old bits of wire into striking works of art?

It was quite a contrast for jewelery designer Michelle Rumnet to turn from delicate brooches to a creation on a much larger scale. But the Hamilton-based designer willingly took up the challenge to come up with something unique for this year’s competition.

Drawing inspiration from a Weta-like brooch, Michelle decided to sculpt a 2.5-metre-long version called Giant Giant Weta – which was no small feat.

“You know it takes me a few minutes to design small brooches depicting Wet-like insects with silver. But I spent nearly five months preparing Giant Weta using No 8 wire.”

As Irene Wilcocks, a former participant in the No 8 wire competition says, “It’s really a big challenge to work with

No 8 or 4mm wire. Although sometimes called ‘soft’, this is only in relation to the high tensile now used for fencing (which would be impossible to use).” “other wires, like the ones made of aluminum, copper, or thinner materials are much easier to do things with. A lot of time goes into planning a piece to enter, and especially lots of time experimenting with the wire,” says Irene.

But that’s clearly not putting people off, as the competition is becoming increasingly popular. :I think they are getting a lot more good entries now as more people accept the challenge to see what they can do.”

Nor does it stop people coming back for more. “I have entered many times, and got second position with Windwand in 2003 and with The Empty Kete in 2004. I was really delighted to winin 2006 with The Games People Play,” says Irene, adding that although she was not participating this time she was

still keen to see the results.

Last year’s first prize winner Elsa Lye also decided against entering again this year owing to other commitments but remains a supporter. “I have participated in the competition three times and won first prize last year [with The Origin of the Species].

“I really wanted to participate but I am too busy with my studies. However, I am excited for others who are part of the competition this year and get the opportunity to prove their talent.”

The growing popularity of the Fieldays No 8 Wire competition, which encapsulates the spirit of ingenuity, is evident in the boost in entrants from 13 last year to 29 this year from across New Zealand. “The need now is to make the competition global by calling for entries from other countries,” says ArtsPost coordinator Marion Manson.

– 2009

FINE ART FROM HOT SAWS AND STEADY HANDS

BY SARAH-LEE RYAN Hot saws, bachelors, and wood carving are all part of the STIHL festival of logging skills.

STIHL has been hosting a variety of events over the four days, including a carving section in which each competitor finishes two sculptures which are then auctioned. All proceeds go 34

to St John.

STIHL territory manager Philip Ropiha says, “These are some of the best carvings in the country.”

Hot saws are highly modified chainsaws. “They are really fast and really aggressive; they are like the Ferrari of the chainsaw world.”

Today the full Castrol chainsaw team will be on site competing for one of the trophies up for grabs.

“It’s going to be an exciting few days, we even have commentary so people know what is going on.”

- 2006

35

STEAK? TRY LOCUST INSTEAD…

BY BRIDGET KELLY Fancy some ants in your smoothie? Or how about some crickets on your toast to make your morning a bit more chirpy?

What Next hosts John Campbell and Nigel Latta recently explored the future of farming, and it looks as if insects may be the next big thing that adds crunch to your lunch.

There was plenty of support for the idea at Fieldays.

Dairy farmer Matthew O’BrienBrown sees potential in the world of insect farming.

While he doesn’t think there will be a market for insects in New Zealand, he thinks farming insects here in the future would be a very promising industry for exporting overseas.

“I think there’s definitely potential,” said O’Brien-Brown.

Insects are seen as a food source in other countries, and he thinks New Zealand has a chance to cash in on this Commercial manager for Job Flow, Rusty Knutson, thinks there may be a market for it in New Zealand depending on how they were sold.

“There possibly is (a market for it) I’m sure, it’s a cheap source of protein,” Knutson said .

If they came as ground-up protein he would be all for in his protein shakes in the morning, but he did admit he would rather not be chewing up large bug heads.

Knutson believes bugs should be farmed alongside cows or sheep as an alternative.

“Would I want to see cows and sheep disappear from New Zealand’s

landscapes, no I wouldn’t, and would I still eat meat, yes I would.”

Federated Farmers general manager for membership Lyndel Stone said insect farmers would be welcome as members.

“You can’t halt progress so you have to embrace it,” Stone said.

She believes farmers should be open to changing their practices to embrace the future.

Senior policy advisor Nikki Edwards said she would be open to the idea as well.

“I don’t see them being any different from bee farmers.”

- 2017

SCHOOL GETS WITH THE PROGRAMME

BY MARIKA FRICKER For the past four years parents and staff members from Hamilton North School have been participating at the New Zealand National Agriculture Fieldays.

Hamilton North, a school for children from 5-21 years of age with a disability, has the contract for selling and bagging programmes.

“The students actually put the programmes in the free bags, then we box them up and take them down to Fieldays where we have the contract to sell them on site here,” said principal Tony Kane.

“The fundraised money will go 36

towards resources for the school. The last couple of years we have spent that money on wheelchair vans, this time we are going to spend the funds on resources, which includes computers and other equipment which helps their learning.”

Support staff member Jeanette Neale says she sells the programmes to help support the children.

“I enjoy talking to and meeting lots of different people, some from so far away, lots of lovely different people.

We choose our days but I normally do it about three or four days each

year,” she said.

Teacher Puanani Strother says this is the biggest fundraiser for the school.

“Sometime it is difficult for us, because we are a small school, to find a fundraising project. We meet a lot of people, and have more of a chance of making money for our school and everyone takes a turn, whether we are at school or selling programmes we are all doing our part.”

- 2010

Claudine and Nikki Douglas exhibiting their garments at Fieldays. Photo: Geoff Ridder

GARMENTS FROM NEPAL GO ON SALE DESPITE EARTHQUAKE

BY DASHA KUPRIENKO Two Waikato sisters at Fieldays selling woollen garments from Nepal, left that country just a day before the April earthquake.

The Douglas sisters, Claudine, 41, and Nikki, 46, had been in Nepal checking on new designs being made for their company, Mt Kiwi.

“We had been getting our new designs made, checking the quality of the product and meeting with everybody.

Just catching up, because they are a bit like family to us,” Nikki said.

They had intended to stay longer, but changed their plans and brought their leaving date forward to April 24.

Fortunately, their Nepali contacts and friends were unhurt in the quake, though their villages were affected and production shut down for a few weeks.

Despite the quake, Mt Kiwi got 90

percent of their stock delivered in time for Fieldays.

The goods are knitted by hand at home by Nepali women using New Zealand wool. Nikki said she knows some of the workers were up at night completing the orders.

“There were a couple of things that we couldn’t get completed, some of our new designs didn’t come through.“ The sisters appreciate all the work and said they are lucky to have a lot of their stock in.

One of the main workers overseas is Rita Pudasaini. The Douglases met Pudasaini when she was a nine-year-old selling bags on Kathmandu streets.

“Rita is now 25 and she oversees our business up there [Nepal]. She coordinates our orders and payments,” Nikki said.

Each year the sisters have been donating to Himalayan Trust, and they also helped send Rita’s son to school.

As well as having a support from Nepali ‘family’, Douglas said their own relatives are helping too.

Mum and cousins are happy to help out during Mt Kiwi’s busiest time of the year.

“Mum is going to come down for a few days. She loves selling and interacting with people.” Claudine said.

The Douglas sisters have been selling their jackets, hats, socks and mittens at Fieldays for 10 years.

They said annually the wool jackets are the best-sellers as they go on wholesale only once a year.

- 2015 37

AG ART FASHION A ‘STANDOUT’ SAYS LEADING DESIGNER

BY LEIGH VAN DER STOEP The Fieldays Ag Art Wear competition is a standout success, according to one leading fashion designer.

Annah Stretton (Annah S) of Stretton Clothing Company of Morrinsvile, one of this year’s judges of Ag Art Wear, admitted to being impressed.

“There were some standout ones but I’m not saying anything,” Annah Said.

“Ag Art Wear has a great future; it’s ready to go to a new level. All I can say is congratulations to those responsible for its inception, it’s a great concept.

“I think I was pretty impressed.

I didn’t expect to see some of the levels I saw.”

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Although a new section of the competition was introduced this year which encourages entries that could be worn as garments, Annah’s favourites were the outrageous.

“What I think is good and the ones I like are true wearable art.”

Designers have to be incredibly true to themselves and need to come up with ideas that entertain on stage, she said.

“You have to have a good idea and then put something together that looks good at making it come alive on stage.”

The competition requires designers to create wearable arts out of materials

found on and around the farm. Annah said some of the materials used at this year’s competition looked like materials used in some of her own designs.

“Some of the materials looked like fabric,” she said. “Some of the fabrics are hessian and sacking and they’re quite popular.”

Increasing numbers of entrants have been attracted to the competition since it began 11 years ago and this year there were 67.

–2005

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Linda Bulk with a drone in the Innovations Centre. Photo: Evan Xiao

IT’S A BIRD, IT’S A PLANE, WAIT NO IT’S A DRONE

BY DON ROWE Clouds might be the only thing filling the sky over Kiwi farms if drone manufacturer Aeronavics has anything to do with it.

The Raglan-based firm produces custom-built unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s) complete with onboard video cameras capable of transmitting a live feed to the operator Former telecommunications professional Linda Bulk and partner Rob Brouwer, an ex-pilot, started the company with a focus on providing cinematographers and media personnel with airborne cameras.

The devices are used for things like bird’s-eye views of herd animals and 40

aerial shots.

“We saw the potential in the agricultural sector and, in the US and Europe, we’ve experienced a lot of success,” said Bulk.

The drones, ready to fly from $12,000, are constructed from materials such as carbon fibre, which allow for a maximum flight speed of 80km/h.

A payload of a kilogram means the smaller drones can be fitted with sound producing devices and used for tasks such as herding sheep and inspecting stock.

“It’s a pretty grunty little thing,” said Bulk.

“In optimal conditions, it has a

battery life of up to 40 minutes.”

John Greenhead, a trustee in several blocks of land near Waiuru, said that while the technology is intriguing, he would hesitate to buy one just yet.

“There’s a lot of wind and turbulence off the pinnacles near our land, so I’d want to be sure it could handle the conditions.”

Greenhead said he would wait until the price came down before investing in an Aeronavics drone.

“It’s a lot of money to have it crash,” he said.

“Too expensive for a bit of fun.”

- 2014

KIWIS AND IRISH A GREAT COMBINATION

BY LIBBY WILSON The Irish are here, and they’re ready for some good craic with Kiwi farmers.

Six years ago, government body Enterprise Ireland brought a contingent from the Emerald Isle for a walk-through of Fieldays and liked what they saw.

With more than NZ$300 million worth of trade between New Zealand and Ireland in 2012, it is a small wonder their site gets bigger each year.

Enterprise Ireland director for Australia and New Zealand Paul Burfield said the importance of agriculture in New Zealand and Ireland made the combination a natural fit.

So did the 20 per cent of New Zealanders with Irish ancestry.

“There’s a lot of ‘O apostrophes’ around this place.”

Even so, a physical presence at Fieldays was essential.

“You’ve gotta be able to kick it, feel it,

and climb over it.”

But the Irish companies are not jumping in and selling directly to New Zealand.

They are looking to form partnerships with local distributors who know the market better than anyone else.

Burfield estimated Fieldays was a $90,000 to $100,000 investment – testament to their commitment to the Kiwi market.

Hi-Spec Engineering has a New Zealand division, based in Geraldine.

Sales manager Denis Madigan came up for Fieldays from South Canterbury, but fortunately the tanker on display had a shorter journey.

Madigan is looking forward to some extra exposure for the business, which he hopes will get farmers thinking.

Another of the seven exhibitors on the Enterprise Ireland stand is Joana Ramos, who was launching BioTector’s

wastewater analyzer to the New Zealand market.

The machine analyses the carbon content in wastewater, and was not as easy to get through customs as Ramos expected.

Ramos was amazed at being surrounded by companies like Hyundai and Fonterra.

“There’s a huge variety that I wasn’t expecting.”

Despite that variety, Phelim Wakely had not yet found any competition for the Wakely Engineering grain mills.

While the company already has New Zealand distributors, Wakely wanted to talk directly to the farmers who buy his products.

And coming to New Zealand holds an extra attraction: he can visit his daughter, who lives in Wellington.

- 2013

In 2012, Joe Brennan came from Ireland with his fence post drivers. Photo: Shannon Rolfe

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OLD TRACTORS GET NEW LIFE

BY KASIA JILLINGS Long-time farmer Alf Pinkerton is dedicated to giving old tractors back their youth.

The most recent acquisition, a 1928 American farm tractor, was a “complete wreck” on its way to the scrap merchant until Mr Pinkerton stepped in.

One year since he bought the old girl, it is fully restored and proudly displayed at the Fieldays Waikato Vintage Tractor and Machinery Club heritage site.

The restoration took around 300 hours but Mr Pinkerton said it’s an enjoyable way for him to keep busy now he’s retired and living in Hamilton.

“Some people collect stamps, I

collect vintage machinery.”

Mr Pinkerton said it’s a very rare piece of farm machinery.

“It is from the period when farmers were starting to change from horses to tractors.”

He said restoring tractors and vintage farm machinery is a bit like doing a jigsaw puzzle.

Mr Pinkerton, who has been to more than 40 Fieldays, also has seven stationary motors on display he built from scratch.

He said the stationary motors are like a slice of farming history from before milking sheds had electricity.

Alf Pinkerton with his restored tractors. Photo: Kasia Jillings.

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Mr Pinkerton’s tractor is on display with 37 others this Fieldays. There will also be a vintage tractor parade daily at 10am.

Co-ordinator of the Waikato Vintage Tractor and Machinery Club Michael Bent said it is the most tractors they’ve ever had.

The club, which has around 200 members, meets monthly and attends Fieldays every year.

Mr Bent said, “It’s a good chance for us to get together and lie about all the things we think we did in our youth.”

- 2011

MYSTERY’S IN THE NAME

BY NATHAN SAVILLE Gather round folks, for I’ve a story to tell.

A story of mystery and intrigue, skulduggery and daring-do, of highwaymen and gunfights…

This much we know: there is a creek at Fieldays. It’s a pretty insignificant creek at that, although it does its job draining the Rukuhia Swamp. But for a swamp drain, it has a wonderful name, the origin of which is shrouded in the Waikato mists.

It’s the name on the lips of many farmers around about now as they flock to its banks. Look on the large 1:50,000 scale Land Information map of the area and you’ll find it clearly marked. But there’s no reference to it in that most trusted of guides, Wises Discover New Zealand, which records only the presence of Myross Bush, the small farming locality we’re all familiar with on the Southland plain.

Although the guidebooks may ignore it, Mystery Creek ‘s significance lies with the yearly Fieldays and the Mystery Creek Events Centre.

But ask around and you’ll hear many a yarn about the name.

Fieldays Society President Jack Parle won’t be drawn on the matter. “There’re at least four different versions I have heard people talk about. No one has any idea which, if any, is true.”

Ex-journalist Linda Thompson researched the creek’s origins for the Fieldays 25th anniversary book Having a Fielday. “There were all sorts of versions of the story,” Ms Thompson recalls. “The most popular though seems to be about a horse called Mystery ridden by Captain Rich who lived in the area.”

Named after a horse? But wait, there’s more.

According to a 1987 letter to the Waikato Times a bank official travelling

from the Ohaupo stockyards to Hamilton with the sales takings was held up by two highwaymen near the creek. The banker was beaten to death and his body, along with his horse and cart, found near the creek. Those responsible were never caught and the money never recovered.

Sound convincing? Authors Eric Beer and Alwyn Gascoigne in their book Plough of the Pakeha tell another chilling tale. One night a man knocked on farmer Christian Hansen’s door asking for directions. “Hansen did not suspect any mischief was at hand,” record the authors. However, the man returned later with another who promptly threatened Hansen with a knife, while the other man took his money. In the ensuing scuffle, Hansen’s gun discharged, shattering his wrist.

“The culprits were never bought to book, and the episode would probably have been forgotten in time…” write Beer and Gascoigne. Except that a body was found on the banks of the nearby creek…

“It was gradually believed that one of the men who had robbed Hansen had stangled his accomplice for his share of the booty. Ever since the place has been known as Mystery Creek,” proclaim Beer and Gascoigne.

Although, maybe with a tad too much confidence, for farmer David Savill who grew up and farmed in the nearby Tamahere area most of his life, has heard a lot of stories about the creek and, like Jack Parle, he’s also slow to buy any one version. He recalls a Jack Perrikat who taught at Hamilton Technical Institute in the 1930s wrote an article into the origins of the name. “I think he came to the conclusion that there was no clear answer or even a real reason why it is called Mystery Creek,” says Mr Savill.

“Some said it was a mystery because no

one knew why it has such steep banks.”

One of the Fieldays founders, Sir Don Llewellyn, remembers a meeting in 1969 when the board met to discuss the creek’s name.

“We thought ‘why not retain it and give people something to talk about?’ There’s lots of theories and no one really knows [its origin].”

General Manager of the Mystery Creek Events Centre Barry Quayle agrees it was a good idea to keep the name.

From a marketing point of view, it’s an unusual name. It’s been excellent in establishing Mystery Creek as a brand.”

Using the name for the events centre has created two distinct brands, which allows events outside the Fieldays to be marketed separately. Past events such as Davis Cup tennis, national netball games, and the recent Smokefree Stage Challenge have benefitted from the Mystery Creek Eventes Centre brand.

But wait, there’s more.

Mr Quayle himself is adamant the true origin of the name comes from the story of a policeman sent to recapture an escaped convict and who disappeared, along with his horse, in the area somewhere between 1911 and 1915.

Then again, he says, perhaps it has something to do with the difficulty of finding where “Mystery Creek joins the Waikato River”.

Somewhere in the mythology of the Waikato lies the answer, formed at a time when highway men roamed, and the Waikato was a bit like the Wild West.

And it’s probably best left a secret because if we knew we’d probably all be a little disappointed.

– 2004 43

FENCER AIMS FOR 60TH BIRTHDAY WIN

BY TE AHUA MAITLAND After 40 years of competing, Nick Liefting is preparing to lace up his boots one last time for this year’s Fieldays Golden Pliers fencing competition.

The Pukekohe contractor is set to retire following his 60th birthday. His presence this year will make him the first 60-year-old to compete at the Golden Pliers competition, an achievement which crowns appearances that started when he was just 19.

Liefting has won the Golden Pliers competition twice, and finished first for last 28 years straight, often beating out younger men by hours.

Liefting believes the Golden Pliers is the Olympics of fencing competitions.

“It’s like the 1500m at the Olympics – it’s the event…not only nationally but internationally, it’s a very recognised competition.”

He announced two years ago that 2015 would be his last competition, admitting the body did not function as well as it used to.

“Why go on any longer when the body is starting to say ‘hey, what are you doing?’” he asked.

Although still in good condition (thanks to working out regularly at the gym), he has had his fair share of setbacks including a knee replacement 18 months ago, a shoulder reconstruction, and back pain.

He is known for being first off the line every time during the competition, but says he tends to lose points on the quality of his fences.

“Because I’m quick I haven’t been

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pedantic with my quality, which the others pick up on… It is judged very severely, with tape measures and spirit levels and everything.”

Over the years he has seen a vast change in fencing. “When I first started you competed and then you walked away, and then 12 months later you gave it another go.

“It is probably easier now for a new competitor from when I first started because they get a judging standards sheet so everybody knows what the judges are actually looking for.”

Although Nick does not train for the Golden Pliers anymore, he does focus on his health and nutrition, comparing the event to an ironman.

“It’s like an ironman, it will take you five hours but the last guy it could take seven… You don’t stop, so you have to be hydrated and well-nourished throughout and to the end.”

He said he hired a personal trainer who set up a nutrition programme for the physical event.

“You can be as fit as you like, but you need to have a nutrition programme for fuel and food intake before and during the competition.”

A highlight for Nick was in 2008, when the winner of the Golden Pliers was set to compete at the International Fencing Competition in Germany held every second year. Although he did not win the Golden Pliers that year, the sponsors offered him a wildcard entry after seeing his performance at Fieldays.

At 53 years old he won the Interna-

tional Fencing Competition, beating the Golden Pliers winner.

Liefting admits he always find finals day stressful but believes nothing really prepares competitors for the main event.

“Competing in the Golden Pliers and putting up a fence are two completely different scenarios. You can be the best fence farmer in the world but you’ll be a disaster in the competition and vice versa.

“A farmer will comment on what you’ve done well, a judge is looking for all your mistakes. And that’s hard for people to handle.”

He has a lot of knowledge and experience when it comes to fencing, and provides beneficial advice for participants or people eager to get involved in fencing competitions.

“Once you know what the requirements are, that’s probably the biggest hurdle.

“It’s not such much building the fence, but where to spend time on the fence and where not to spend the time… then there is the time component and, also, what the judges are looking for.”

Although this is his last year as a competitor, Liefting will be back next year as a judge, and continue to help out at regional events.

“I want to encourage some of the newer and younger entrants, and coach them about requirements and encourage them in the speed element.”

- 2015

Nick Liefting will mark his 60th birthday by competing in his final Golden Pliers fencing competition at Fieldays at Mystery Creek.

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Fiat Chrysler Jeep climbs muddy tracks during demonstrations. Photo: Michelle Corbet

FIRST-TIMERS SCOOP FIELDAYS AWARD

BY RACHAEL CLARKE Fiat Chrysler New Zealand has won the Jubilee Award for Fieldays 2014 – and it is their first time at the event.

Circling their Fieldays site is a large muddy track that they use to demonstrate their Jeep Wrangler JK-8 Ute to Fieldays’ goers.

When driver and Fiat Chrysler NZ Commercial Vehicle Sales Gary Sanders asked if I wanted to “jump in” and have a ride, I blurted out yes without thinking it through.

Before I knew it I was buckled in and ready to go.

But there was one big, giant catch – a massive drop, halfway through the track, was waiting for me.

Approaching the drop, Gary looked at me and said “you must hold on to the bar there Rachael, it’s steep” – not something I want to hear.

We drop down in front of a large crowd, many capturing the moment on their iPhones. Oh that wasn’t too bad I thought…

“Wanna go again?” he asked.

“Of course,” I answered over-confidently.

We approached the drop, second time 46

round, and Gary left us hanging at the top for what felt like an eternity. The suspense was killing me.

“Do you trust me?” said Gary, smiling.

We dropped more suddenly and faster than last time.

I decided it was time to get out of this thing.

Fiat Chrysler NZ brand activation manager Rebecca Joyce said the team almost didn’t turn up to the awards evening, held on Thursday night at the Village Green, Mystery Creek.

“Some judges said we should come along to the awards yesterday, so yeah about five of us rocked up.

“It feels great. It’s been six months of planning and to be rewarded for it is very satisfying.

“Everyone back at head office is really, really stoked for us.”

The Jeep Wrangler JK-8 Ute was brought over from Australia especially for Fieldays, and Joyce said they are looking to sell the kit.

“You can fit it [the kit] into any 4-door Wrangler.”

The track itself was designed and built by Showscape, a Hamil-

ton-based company.

Joyce said it wasn’t a costly project and that they wanted to “keep it local”.

“A few other companies approached us but we decided we wanted to use a local company to support the community down here and because they have everything on site.”

She added that Showscape moved onsite a month before Fieldays to start the excavation of the track, and the track’s design took roughly 3-4 months to decide on.

“We went back and forth for a good couple of months.”

Will they be back next year after their massive success this year?

“Absolutely.

“Next year we’d like to be in a more prominent position. We know spaces book out pretty quick.”

The team plan on celebrating tonight and having some fun because, according to Joyce, “Hamiltonians know how to party”.

- 2014

AL BROWN HEATS UP THE KITCHEN

BY ADEN MORUNGA It isn’t often Fieldays has a celebrity chef demonstrating his culinary skills in front of enthusiastic crowds.

However, this year there is.

Celebrity chef Al Brown is heating up the kitchens at Kiwi’s Best.

Al said he loves working in front of a packed audience. “I love cooking, it’s all about sharing with people.”

He added that he doesn’t have any secret recipes, he just enjoys what food is and it is about sharing and giving to people.

Of all the products, he is demonstrating he prefers a simple clam dish with white wine.

“I love this dish because it is kai moana. Fresh seafood is what I really, really love.

“I do a lot with the other products, but I can’t beat seafood.”

Kiwi’s Best will offer a range of products, including a clam dish and barbecued wild hare from down south.

After he visited Fieldays last year for the first time, he said he had to come back because it is a celebration of New Zealand.

“I think Fieldays in itself is just so colourful and is a snapshot of New Zealand. It is a celebration of all the great people and ingenuity in this country.

“It is really awesome to show what is happening out there with the primary product and what happens when it is taken to the next level.”

All ingredients used in every demonstration are delivered every morning and New World has donated the food that he is using.

The response has also been a highlight of his visit with visitors loving the experience. “The response has been fantastic. We’ve had lots of people through and they love the experience.”

- 2008

Al Brown entertains in the first year of Kiwi’s Best Kitchen.

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