CO-OPERATIVE NEWS
Central Districts Field Days The mornings were crisp, the weather was ideal and attendance was strong across all 3 days of Central Districts Field Days 2021 (CDFD). After the COVID-19 lockdown cancelled last year’s event at short notice, farmers and farm industry suppliers were eager to get out and support the event. Close to 3,000 Farmlands shareholders, as well as many non-members, came through the Farmlands site across the 3 days and all were warmly welcomed. Manawatū and Horowhenua Technical Field Officer and Sales Lead for the event Jason Payne remarked the first day was busier than anticipated, with the team seeing a lot of traffic through the tent from farming and lifestyle based shareholders, along with young families, which he says was great to see. “The verbal feedback we’ve had across the 3 days has been great. Shareholders thought we had a really interactive site filled with energy and thought-provoking conversations, plus the lunch offer was a nice little cherry
on top,” Jason says.
coming to us for advice and a good
“Having the extended hospitality area was great, making it a space that people wanted to come to, giving them a chance to relax and rest their feet. It also gave the staff a chance to sit down and have a conversation with shareholders, to see if there was anything that we could do for them.”
deal heading into autumn (at the time
An interactive space was established where shareholders were asked to do a 2 minute survey about what their core business is, what their biggest challenges were through the autumn, what brought them to the tent and what their main concerns are on farm.
are looking at some capital investments
Higher than usual levels of summer rain in the central district pre-Christmas was good for grass but not so good for some summer crops. There were a few washed out early maize crops and it delayed the sowing of others. Despite this, Jason says that most of the farmers in his area are feeling positive about the year ahead. “Our shareholders were generally
of the event) with lots of activities on the farming agenda, including maize harvest and re-grassing — so it’s a busy time of year. “Thing are looking positive in the dairy space with pay-outs looking good and plenty of feed about, so the dairy guys and infrastructure developments,” Jason adds. “We fielded quite a few questions around feed, seed and chemical applications which aligns strongly with our Autumn Campaign." Partners on site with the Farmlands team at CDFD in Feilding included Delfast, Meridian Energy, Agricom, Noel Leeming, Property Brokers, Donaghys, Summit and Zoetis. "All the customers were in such great spirits and happy to be out and about, we had some great deals on offer and it was fantastic to be able to interact with them after not being able to last year," Farmlands Retail Lead for the event Sally Gibson says. Zoetis Key Account Manager Tim Horsbrough says he and his team embraced the chance to chat to their customers face to face. "It went really well for us sales-wise and in every other way. Not being able to do this last year was a bummer, so those who came in were more engaged than ever
| Shareholders took the opportunity to talk with Partners on-site at Central Districts Field Days.
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before I feel."
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