Last year's National Horticultural Field Day at Hawke's Bay Showgrounds, Hastings, was popular.
The 2016 National Horticultural Field Day to be held on July 8 in Hastings is growing year on year to be one of New Zealand's largest horticulture events.
There are few dedicated horticulture events in New Zealand despite it being one of our most significant export industries, so it's no
surprise the horticulture industry is pushing for this to be the event for education, networking and information sharing.
The unique business-to-business event is growing to meet the industry's demand with innovation at the forefront, whether it is showcasing new technology and research or information transfer as part of the BNZ Seminar Series held at the Field Day.
One Hawke's Bay-based company which has benefited from the event's focus on innovation, through the Ravensdown Innovation Award, is Scionon. Ian Adams of Scionon is a long-time supporter of the field day and his grafting tool won the 2016 Innovation Award, and on two previous occasions placed second, impressing judges with his ingenuity and increasing international profile.
With more than 50 trade exhibitors booked in already for this year's event, organisers are expecting the final number to be about 80, bigger than 2015, meaning there will be an extensive list of technology, machinery and new products for visitors to see at the field day.
