Southern field days a chance to “get under the hood”

Field Days committee chair Andrew Stewart says the Kirwee event set for March 26-28 next year promises to give farmers and contractors the ultimate opportunity to inspect, test and drive equipment in an environment as close as possible to what they would be using it in.

“We have always prided ourselves on being the field days where the equipment is accessible. But so too are the people who sell and understand that equipment, having them on hand to really help potential buyers have a detailed, informed look at what that piece of kit can deliver for them.”

This year the traditional demonstrations will also include a change in the timetable to include a presentation walkaround for participants.

Accessibility to the equipment and the ability to see it being demonstrated has been expanded further this year, with the addition of an earthmover-excavator demo area. The earthmoving section will complement the crop and pastoral harvesting demo area.

“This will be popular with operators looking to upgrade their equipment. We intend to have a digger competition running for competitors to demonstrate their skills at some pretty delicate work, and it is bound to also be crowd pleaser.”


Dedicated hard work from the voluntary committee means crops used in the demonstrations will be well established giving a real-world impression of how the equipment harvesting them performs.

Along with the biggest and brightest shiny hardware, agritech has also always been an integral part of the displays at the field days.

Andrew Stewart says this year the latest in large scale drone technology is likely to draw strong interest.

“The technology behind the drones means they are bigger and more powerful than even a few short years ago, with significantly greater crop spraying and monitoring capabilities. Canterbury is the ideal, and most likely, place to see this gear operating commercially.”

The 2023 field days was lashed by unexpectedly heavy downpours on just prior to kicking off and on day one, making access in some areas challenging.

While crossing their fingers the weather will be more of a typical Canterbury autumn next year, the organisers have also invested significantly in improving access to the Kirwee site with additional shingle laneways laid down and boosted raceway shingle on existing laneways.

“Regardless of what mother nature brings this time, we are well set up to cope, and of course hope we see the usual run of warm, sunny weather you’d expect for the time of year,” says Stewart.

Only a few weeks into taking exhibitor bookings there are already a healthy 250 registrations. Expectations are the 2025 field days will feature at least 650 exhibitors, similar to 2024.

Registration has been simplified, with an accessible online registration process that provides a site map for exhibitors to outline their preferred location, and site size.

“The beauty of our site here is that should we get more exhibitors than expected, there is always plenty of extra space to expand our footprint to fit more.”

Exhibitors with a special piece of equipment to exhibit are encouraged to contact the organisers to optimise their location and exhibition time.
The field days draw in solid crowds who may not be committed to investing in some new equipment but have a keen interest in farming and agriculture’s latest and most innovative tech. Meeting the needs of those hungry crowds has also been better accommodated this year, with the committee arranging to have 25 food trucks offering many assorted food types, spread throughout the site.

Andrew Stewart says the strong community and voluntary input to the South Island Field Days helps make it a personal, accessible day out for visitors and industry alike, while offering the best tech and equipment available in the world today.

“It’s always an exciting, inspiring place to spend some time in. Even if you are not committing to some new equipment, you are guaranteed to come away a lot wiser and informed about some of the cutting-edge developments in farm productivity today.”

Would be exhibitors wanting to attend the field days can get full details on bookings and sharply priced sites at https://www.siafd.co.nz/