Muddy boots - must be Fieldays

Tens of thousands of rural folk and townies are expected at the 41st Fieldays, which start at Mystery Creek on Wednesday. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Farmers may not be immune to the icy touch of recession, but National Agricultural Fieldays chairman Lloyd Downing says there will be a positive outlook at this week's massive agricultural show.

Thousands of exhibitors, farmers and members of the public will descend on Fieldays at Mystery Creek, near Hamilton, from Wednesday - the biggest agricultural show in the Southern Hemisphere.

"They'll [farmers] be looking to try and find something cheaper, where they can save money either in technical terms or to try and drive a good bargain ... There's nothing like Fieldays to do that."

Fieldays said it attracted 131,629 visitors last year to 40ha of exhibitions and demonstrations, with $285 million of sales and an economic impact of $865 million.

"I'd be fooling myself if I thought I was going to break any records," Downing said. But the Innovation Centre had doubled its entries, and Kiwi's Best had doubled its exhibitors, compared to last year.

The Innovation Centre awards are open to inventions developed without professional help, while Kiwi's Best would showcase premium food and drinks.

Farmers took a long-term view, Downing said. "They may not be spending as much money as what they were last year, but I think it's still positive, and the long-term outlook for New Zealand is still a hell of a lot better than what a lot of countries' are."

Dairy company Fonterra's forecast payout to farmers for 2009/10 was $4.55 per kilogram of milksolids, down from this season's prediction for $5.20.

Based on this season's expected production, that could result in a cut of about $900 million.

Rabobank's Agribusiness Review last month said farm-gate lamb prices had strengthened since January, hitting levels more than 50 per cent up on last year, which senior analyst Hayley Moynihan said would be enough to improve profitability but probably not enough to encourage more investment.

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