A focus on the latest advancements in agricultural technology with a backdrop of fine weather and 55,000 visitors helped make the Henty Machinery Field Days a success.
Held from September 17-19, the 61st annual field days featured 14km of outdoor shopfronts from more than 800 exhibitors representing 3500 companies on over 1200 sites.
HMFD chief executive officer Belinda Anderson said the exhibition space was equal to last year’s record and showcased over $200 million in agricultural machinery, resulting in the nation’s leading field days.
Mrs Anderson said a key draw card this year was the Agtech Alley, a collaboration with NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry under the Support Regional Trade Events Program.
Farmers and visitors from every state and territory sought out the hot ticket items of hay, silage, grain storage and livestock handling equipment.
Visitors were also treated to Furphy water cart rebarrelling demonstrations, the Questacon pop-up science circus, fly overs by a PC 21 from the RAAF Roulettes at Sale, and a reptile show while Henty designer Headlie Shipard Taylor was acknowledged by marking the centenary of the Sunshine Auto Header.
The 61st field days were officially opened by meteorologist Jane Bunn, who was also a guest speaker at the new Agtech Alley and Country Lifestyle.
HMFD chairman Nigel Scheetz was pleased with how the event unfolded after a consistent flow of exhibitor bookings leading into the field days.
He welcomed the new innovations into grain handling capacity and livestock handling equipment, along with the launch of the Agtech Alley site.
“At the end of the day it is a lot of repeat exhibitors plus new ones, which is exciting,” Mr Scheetz said.
A highlight this year was the coveted Henty Machine of the Year Award being presented to the Ram-to-Ewe automated catching pen entered by Flinn Design, The Rock. Highly commended was the world’s widest draper platform, the Midwest Legacy, from Midwest Fabrication, Dalby, Qld.
Andrew Watt, Hutcheon and Pearce sales and marketing manager, declared 2024 as “one of the best Henty’s ever”, with the business unveiling a new electric ride-on mower.
“We have had a great amount of genuine interest from customers. The new John Deere S and X-Series harvesters were on display with the predictive ground speed automation and forward-facing cameras using satellite imagery from the past year to predict the crop flow into the harvester and giving an extra 20 per cent of productivity,” Mr Watt said.
“That was well received, and customers are excited to see them demonstrated in the paddock.”
Mr Watt said zero-turn ride on mower sales had been “through the roof” and compact tractor sales had been strong.
Jarrod Stephenson, Intersales general resource officer, said inquiries peaked on the Wednesday with a rate of genuine inquiry unseen at field days over the past few years.
Mr Stephenson said hay and silage machinery, including mower conditioners, was the hot topic, along with tractors and tillage equipment.
“Some people have already made a decision to cut crops for hay based on the recent frost, and others are still hopeful if we can get some rain, things might recover,” he said.
It was the first year the Case IH and New Holland dealers in Wodonga and Wagga had collaborated on the one site, with expectations exceeded.
Jimmy O’Neill, AKRON Australia DJI Agriculture general manager, said adoption of drone technology had been rapid with strong inquiry this year at Henty.
Growers and contractors were able to inspect drones with a payload of 40 litres of liquid and 70 litre of solids for baits, seed and spraying fungicide over canola.
Among the new exhibitors was Darren Monkoff, LeadnHand, with an anti-tangle device for the storage of electrical leads and ropes invented by a central Qld cattle farmer.
“We are a new invention and interest has been fantastic with strong sales for such a simple, low cost, Aussie owned and engineered, product,” he said.
Jim Gall, RB Sellars chief executive officer, said Henty was important to the clothing and workwear brand, with the business notching up its best sales day ever at any field day on the opening day.
“Timing is good as we had just launched our catalogue of spring /summer product. This is our epicentre as we have stores in Albury, Orange, Wagga, and Dubbo,” Mr Gall said.
“We have seen a transition to automation and a digitally led future for agriculture, and our clothes are no different. We are working on innovation around breathability and fabrics to make them better to work in.”
Talayah Dodds, All Things Country manager, said work boots, dress boots and jeans were popular with field days visitors.
A constant flow of visitors through the Farm Gate Produce Area resulted in good sales for Damien Cofield, Cofield Wines, Rutherglen.
Exhibiting for over 10 years, Damien was happy with the solid trade in local wines from repeat customers.
Hamish Dickson, Farmers to the Future program project manager, said the wide range of suppliers from across the agtech industry from soil and water monitoring to livestock handling systems drew farmers seeking labour efficiency, timely and accurate data management and staff safety at Agtech Alley.
“Agtech Alley at Henty was an opportunity to bring all those suppliers under the one roof and people able to see it in the one place,” he said.
HMFD is set to host the 62nd field days on September 23-25, 2025, with planning already under way.