KEY POINTS:
Inflated farmer incomes do not necessarily mean spending records will be smashed at this year's Fieldays.
The average dairy farm income is expected to receive a $140,000 boost at the end of the 2008 financial year to $630,000, on the back of increasing world commodity prices for dairy products.
Fonterra recently forecast a record payout to dairy farmers of $5.53 a kilogram of milk solids for the coming year.
Last week Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard cited higher dairy incomes as a factor in his decision to raise the official cash rate, fearful that the rural sector would go on a spending spree.
Fieldays general manager Barry Quayle said that last year $302 million was spent with exhibitors during the event and the weeks that followed.
"History tells us a lot and there are some distinct benchmarks we have. These things go in three-year cycles, and last year it got to a new plateau. Spend went from $250 million in 2005 to $302 million last year. We're not expecting a significant jump again."
Dairying was a major part of the agricultural sector, but there were many other industries in the rural economy.
"Sheep and beef have not done too well but we have information that they are not too far away [from a recovery].
"There's also horticulture, contracting, animal health, deer farming, viticulture, floriculture and fish farming that are represented here."
A jump in spending happened when the "stars are all aligned and the moon and planets are all in the right place", Mr Quayle said, but this year was not one of those occasions.
