Bill Johnston says the Fieldays make his mind boggle 'when I think about what things could be like on farm in another 10 years'. Photo / NZME
The biggest farming event every year is the National Fieldays at Mystery Creek near Hamilton and, for Winton farmer Bill Johnston, it's clearly one not to be missed.
Bill has attended every one of the 50 Fieldays held so far, and having raised his bat to acknowledge the half century he'll be back again this year for the 51st time to see what's new and what's promised.
So much of what is now considered to be standard farming practice or equipment first raised it flag at the Fieldays, and Bill remains as keen as ever to see what the latest crop of exhibitors will bring.
The first Fieldays event was held in 1969 at the Te Rapa Racecourse in Hamilton (or the Town and Country Fair, as it was then known), before moving to its current location at Mystery Creek in 1971.
It used to be a lot easier to make his way from his family's dairy farm in Otorohanga, but since moving to Southland to help his son convert a sheep farm into dairy in 2008, he has still made the pilgrimage.
He now takes his orders from son Graeme — "I'm tired, not retired" — and still does most of the tractor-based work, such as cropping, feeding out, ploughing and cutting silage or baleage.
That's how he first made his mark on the Winton farm as project manager for the dairy conversion, initially tearing out the internal fences to make it easier to cut the old pasture for baleage before seed drilling about 80ha of the 230ha farm. He built the milking shed, and re-fenced the property, completing the switch inside of six months.
"Looking back over the 50 years, I see that everything has got bigger," says Bill. "We've gone from 30hp tractors up to 200-plus. A 100hp tractor on farm now is just a small one.
"My mind actually boggles when I think about what things could be like on farm in another 10 years."
He says he hasn't been attracted by the lure of robotics and drones, preferring to practice a hands-on approach across the farm.
"As you are bringing the cows up from the paddock for milking, or getting them through the gate, you can pick up that some of them might not be quite right. I suppose robots will be able to do that some day."
He concedes that drones would have their place on a sheep or arable farm, making it easier to check up on stock and pastures, and to inspect crops without having to drive through them. "Drones are not even mentioned down here."
His son does use some automation to draft cows and to treat mastitis, but the farm is basically an "old-style herring-bone" affair.
"I don't milk any more— I've served my apprenticeship — but they milk twice a day."
Most of the feed comes off the farm, but a taste of palm kernel and grain is provided as a "bribe" to get the cows to come up to the milking shed more quickly.
Bill says he never set out to attend every Fieldays, but that's just how it's happened. He has a daughter in Te Awamutu who can provide a bed for this year's event. At this stage, he doesn't know if his son will be joining him.
"If he can't make it, he will send me off with a detailed list of what he wants me to get information on," Bill says. "I've done my time in the shed, so it's nice being told what to do for a change.
"It will be great to go along and have a look to see what's there. These days, I have to target the sectors I'm interested in, as there is so much to get around. I have to choose my farming sectors. It's a lot easier now, because you can get around in your town shoes, rather than clomping along in gumboots all day."
He has a method for making sure he sees everything, one he follows every year. He starts at the beginning, at the big main entrance, and has a wander up and down the rows, getting in about half of everything over the first two days, then on the third day he goes back to the things he wants to see again.
"It's always nice to see all the big new machinery and have a bit of a dream about it all. In the early days tractors were a lot smaller; over the years they've become more like tree toppers."
Of course, Bill's seen a lot of change in the 50 years he's been going to Fieldays, from what was originally a concept to bring "town and country" together, to the international agricultural showpiece it is today, showcasing hundreds of innovations and more than 1000 exhibitors.
But he reckons the core purpose has stayed the same — and that's what keeps him coming back. "The basics are still there. New ideas and inventions can come and go at times, but the core of farming is still there."
Bill was singled out by the organisers of last year's event once it became known that he had attended every event in the past 50 years. He was made part of the celebrations, and even had a slot in the official celebratory Fieldays Stories video, along with his dog Jet. A special event was held in his home town of Winton as well.
New Zealand National Fieldays is based on a 114ha site at Mystery Creek, 10 minutes from Hamilton. It is the largest agricultural event in the southern hemisphere.