Fieldays planning for 50th anniversary

This year Fieldays saw a record 133,588 people come through the gates. Photo / File

New Zealand Agricultural Fieldays is preparing for the 50th anniversary event next year with the theme to be the Future of Farming.

Fieldays chief executive Peter Nation says the 2018 event is shaping up to be the biggest and best yet, and will also celebrate the wide-ranging contributions Fieldays has made to the agriculture industry since its inception in 1968.

"We have a really proud history as a world-class agricultural showcase and it has come a long way from an event aimed at getting farmers together and bridging the rural and urban gap," says Mr Nation.

"Fieldays is continually looking to the future and the advancement of agriculture, agribusiness and agritech, and promoting the primary industries in New Zealand and around the world."

A committee of past Fieldays Society presidents and members will organise the 50th Fieldays, alongside extra events, a local museum exhibition and a history book.

The 50th New Zealand Agricultural Fieldays will take place from June 13-16, 2018 at Mystery Creek Events Centre near Hamilton.

Meanwhile, a survey of visitors and exhibitors this year showed 96 per cent of visitors rated their experience as "good" to "excellent" and 92 per cent of exhibitors said they would exhibit again.

The iconic event, billed as the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere, saw a record 133,588 people through the gates - its highest visitor number yet.

Chief executive Peter Nation says he's pleased with the survey results and proud he and his team pulled off another world-class event.

There were 988 exhibitors across 1473 sites, nine of them international exhibitors.

Unexpectedly, Fieldays also reported 10 skin cancers found via the Health Hub visitor app. The Health Hub was a new area for 2017, designed to educate and inform Fieldays visitors about health issues affecting rural and urban communities.

Sustainable practices have become an increased feature of Fieldays, and this year 47 per cent of the event's waste was recycled and reused, preventing it from going into landfill.

A record 11,000 people also travelled to Fieldays by public transport, resulting in a noticeable reduction in road traffic.

"We estimate the public transport provided took about 5000 cars off the road. People were constantly telling us how much easier the traffic was this year," says Mr Nation.

As with other years, hundreds of volunteers ensured the four-day event ran smoothly.

"There were 232 volunteers who generously gave their time to help this year. Every year we're fortunate to have a large group of committed, skilled people help make Fieldays a success. We're hugely appreciative of their efforts."