What’s on at Fieldays 2024? Tractor pull and fencing comp among highlights

The countdown to Fieldays 2024 is on, with less than a week to go.

From June 12 to 15, visitors from near and far will flock to Mystery Creek in Waikato for the 56th running of the largest agricultural event in the Southern Hemisphere.

Last year, more than 105,000 people attended the event across the four days, a number, the organisers, the New Zealand National Fieldays Society, hope to top next week.

People can expect a line-up of around 1000 exhibitors offering farm machinery, cutting-edge technology, great deals, innovations and artisan food.

As always, the fencing, tractor pull and excavator competitions, as well as the Fieldays Innovation Awards, are part of the programme.

Below are a few highlights. For the full schedule visit the Fieldays website.

Competitions

Fencing Competition

The annual Fencing Competition, run by New Zealand Fencing Competitions (NZFC), is always a visitor favourite.

Top fencers from New Zealand and abroad will showcase skill, speed, endurance, tenacity, and attention to detail, while being matched against time.

The competition runS on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 8am at Y Road, behind the Rural Living area.

Current world fencing champion Tony Bouskill will be looking to add a sixth win. Photo / Stephen Barker, Barker Photography

The Silver Staples cadet competition is held at Fieldays on Wednesday morning, and the Golden Pliers by Wiremark begins on Thursday morning.

The Silver Spades competition is on Friday with a doubles team from the United States - the winners of US Platinum Doubles Championship - taking part, adding an international flavour.

It will be an epic rural showdown as current world fencing champion Tony Bouskill will try to clock up his sixth win in the Golden Pliers by Wiremark single competition at Fieldays this year.

He and his dad, Shane, will also be looking to take out a sixth Fieldays Silver Spades doubles championship.

Tractor Pull competition

Another fan favourite, especially for the little ones, is the Tractor Pull competition.

Greg Nicholson (right) came to Fieldays last year to introduce his son Jethro to the event. The little Fieldays fan loved the tractors. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer

Check out the weight transfer for a battle of grunt, while speed fanatics can get their fix watching the weight-adjusted class. There is also a class for modified tractors and Pre-85s.

The heats will take place on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, from 8.30am to 4pm. The finals take place on Saturday from 8am to 1.30pm.

All Tractor Pull events take place on the river end of M Road.

Excavator competition

This one is not only for watching, but for people to have a go as well.

From Wednesday to Saturday, 8.30am to 4pm, there are mini dig activities for kids and Have a Go challenges for adults.

The Fieldays site at Mystery Creeks Events Centre, Hamilton.

However, people are also invited to watch these enormous machines being driven and manoeuvring on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, from 9am to 4pm.

Drivers have 30 minutes to complete 10 activities in each competition. In 2023 the excavators even had to complete a painting.

Visitors can find the competition at H Street.

Innovation Awards

The annual Fieldays Innovation Awards followed a slightly different judging process this year.

First-round judging took place in May, ahead of Fieldays, to select a shortlist of finalists in each of the four categories.

Those finalists participated in an online judging pre-event and will then undergo on-site judging at Fieldays.

The 2023 Fieldays Innovation Award in the category Growth & Scale went to first-time entrants Wilderlab. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer

There are 20 finalists in the running for a share of a total prize package of cash, services and products worth more than $70,000.

• Young Innovator: Iona College – Wool Be Studying (Havelock North), St Paul’s Collegiate School – Clean Milk Catcher (Hamilton), St Paul’s Collegiate School – Kiwi Beam Solutions (Hamilton), St Peter’s Cambridge – Ag Recruit, St Peter’s Cambridge – Mark-It.
• Prototype: CM Safety Ltd - “HOOD” Head On Object Deflector (Te Puke), Daisy Lab (Auckland), Fleecegrow (Auckland), Kiwi-Econet (Riverton), The Experiment Company Ltd - DiffuZone Imaging (Taupō).
• Early-Stage: Envico (Tauranga), KiwiFibre (Christchurch), NZ Auto Traps - AT520-AI (Whakatāne), Vertex Engineers – UVEX (Hamilton), Water Siphon (Auckland).
• Growth & Scale: Fleetpin Limited – Safetrax (Christchurch), Halter (Auckland), MSD Animal Health – SenseHub®️ Dairy (Hamilton), Robotics Plus (Tauranga), WoolAid (Auckland).

All the finalists are in the running for the newly introduced People’s Choice Award. All winners will be announced at the Innovation Awards Function on Thursday.

Different hubs

A new addition to the event will be the Rural Advocacy Hub which will bring the various rural organisations that advocate for farmers and champion their interests together under one roof.

The Fieldays Forestry Hub was popular in 2022. Photo / Stephen Barker, Barker Photography

In total, there will be seven special hubs which highlight various aspects of the agriculture sector.

As well as the Rural Advocacy Hub, there is the Digital Futures Hub, Forestry Hub, Sustainability Hub, Careers and Education Hub, Hauora Taiwhenua Health and Wellbeing Hub, and Innovation Hub.

The Sustainability Hub was a new addition last year. Now in its second year, the hub provides a platform for showcasing groundbreaking innovations and critical conversations to tackle climate mitigation and sustainable food production.

There will be numerous talks on all kinds of topics, including eDNA, Agribusiness in Schools, industrial biotechnology, soil health, predator control and off-grid living.

For the full schedule visit the Fieldays website.

Other highlights

There is a dedicated Family Activation Zone with activities for kids like rock climbing, safari train, axe throwing and an adventure obstacle course. The Family Activation Zone is located on F Street and open from 9am to 4pm each day.

At the Fieldays Sustainability Hub, people can experience Waikato Regional Council’s virtual reality experience Kauri Pou Kaitiaki which evolves around kauri trees and forests. There are sessions on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, from 10am to 2pm. You can find it on site E38.

On Thursday, at 11.15am, the Ministry for Primary Industries will hold a panel discussion called Wāhine toa o te Whenua – Next generation and the future of food. Find it at site E30 (Careers Hub).

On Thursday at 3.30pm, there will be a Women in Agritech Networking Event. Find it on site M31.

On Friday, at 10am, there will be a panel discussion with New Zealand Young Farmer Grand Finalists. Find it on site E30.

Further details and events are available online. You can also stay up to date with any Fieldays news by checking out the Fieldays Instagram and Facebook pages.