Covid 19 Omicron: Mid Canterbury organisers push on with planning A & P shows

Methven A&P Association committee members have been working tirelessly to ready the showgrounds for the March event after strong winds caused extensive damage. Photo / Supplied

Organisers of Mid Canterbury's A&P shows have one eye on the ball planning their events, and the other on New Zealand's reported Omicron cases.

Mayfield and Methven A&P shows are due to run on March 12 and 19 respectively.

Mayfield A&P Association president Suzy King said the association would continue with preparations for the show in March. The closing date for entries is February 18.

"At this stage, we will still be going forward with preparation of the show but this decision will be revised closer to the time when we will have more clarity of what level we will be in," she said.

Shows being run with vaccine pass requirements in place cannot go ahead under the Red of the covid protection traffic light system.

But it was hoped it will not come to that.

King said entries had so far been steady and before the move to Red, the committee was expecting a late run on entries as per any other year.

Among some of the events this year was the reinstatement of the heifer competition, which had been on hiatus following the outbreak of Mycoplasma bovis, King said.

The Mayfield A&P show had "been very lucky" not to have missed a show yet due to Covid, unlike the Methven show which had missed one event in 2020.

Methven show committee members have been hard at work, too, restoring their showgrounds for this year's event after strong September winds caused extensive damage.

Methven A&P Association secretary Pip Ivey said committee members had worked tirelessly on the grounds, putting in some long hours around their own workloads to ready the site for the show, and the Methven Ute Muster.

Ten committee members had generously donated a combined 200 hours to clear damaged trees and branches, remove and replace damaged fencing and resow grass areas, she said.

They had also split 60cu m of wood being sold as a fundraiser.

She said the grass had struck and the grounds looked spectacular, park-like, and were ready for show day.

"The committee can be very proud of their property," she said.