Tech part of puzzle for Wairoa

Wairoa A and P Society president Dave Martin and event manager Sue Wilson at the Wairoa Showgrounds, where regeneration of the site and facilities after a devastating storm during the 2010 show sparked a need for greater use of the showgrounds, and plans for next April's East Coast Farming with Technology Expo.

The small town of Wairoa is hoping to become the centre of a rural universe with the East Coast Farming with Technology Expo being planned for next year.

To be hosted by the Wairoa A and P Society, it will be held at the town's showgrounds on April 13-14, and after months of planning it was last month the subject of a launch to community leaders and potential sponsors and partners, including the unveiling of an expo website.

A and P Society president Dave Martin says the two-day expo will be an opportunity for East Coast and Hawke's Bay farming communities to interact face-to-face with industry innovators.

He says it promises an exclusive and specialised environment for farmers and landowners to explore new ideas for farming in their region.

It will also provide an intimate platform for trade exhibitors to demonstrate and promote their forward-thinking products and services.

"The expo is the ideal opportunity to launch new products or release new research and technology, specific to the East Coast sheep and beef industry, directly to a target audience," he said.

"The whole point of the expo is to acknowledge the importance of face-to-face interaction when it comes to learning about new technology and making it affordable and achievable for these two groups to come together."

A and P Society event manager Sue Wilson said it could not be easier for exhibitors to get involved, with Trade Application forms available on the website.

"Everything regarding the expo is right there at exhibitors' fingertips, as we wanted to make the process as stress-free and straight forward as possible," she said.

Hawke's Bay Regional Council (HBRC) acting manager land management Nathan Heath said the council is excited to be on board with the expo.

"Wairoa is a really big part of the northern Hawke's Bay region and, together with the East Coast, has a raft of challenges that are unique to those areas," he said.

"We believe technology is a big part of the puzzle in terms of understanding and managing these. We love the concept of the expo in that every year there will be different exhibits relevant to Hawke's Bay and the East Coast at that time. We wanted to be a part of that and have HBRC represented in what it can do for farmers and landowners in terms of land management."

The idea for the expo stems from thinking following the storm that ruined the society's annual show in January 2010, and almost destroyed the venue and the society.

Mr Martin said it was fortunate the society had "some" money in the bank, but a repeat would have more than likely financially destroyed the organisation.

"The regeneration at the showgrounds led us to do something like this," he said. "We decided we just can't sit around and let the facilities be ideal for all but a few days of the year," he said.