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Henty to continue focus on agricultural machinery

With less than one week to go, the countdown is on for the 2015 Henty Machinery Field Days (HMFD) with organisers expecting over 60,000 patrons to stream through the gates this year.

The annual field days is set to take place in Henty, New South Wales from September 22 to 24.

Over 800 exhibitors representing over 3500 companies will be displaying their products and services at the show, touted to be Australia’s single largest agricultural and open-air event.

HMFD chief executive officer Belinda Anderson says the event will continue its tradition of focusing on agriculture and machinery.

View our coverage of 2014’s Henty Machinery Field Days

An annual highlight of the field days is the Machine of the Year awards, which acknowledges innovation and excellence in machinery design.

Announced on the opening day, the award is presented to the most outstanding new piece of agricultural machinery exhibited at the field days.

Organisers say the winning machine usually goes on to become a standard piece of equipment on farms across the country.

The winner is selected by an independent panel of primary producers based on different criteria such as machine purpose and suitability; scope of application; construction; ease of maintenance and service; ease of operation and adjustment; availability of parts and overall value for money.

Last year, Tow and Farm’s Tow and Fert Multi 4000 fertiliser spreader took home the prestigious accolade, with National Stockyard System taking out the highly commended title for its Stabiliser 200 cattle yard design.

Watch our video review of the Tow and Fert Multi 4000 fertiliser spreader

Machine Of Year Winner Neil Parker
2014’s Machine of the Year winner Neil Parker of Tow and Farm.

Thirteen machines have been entered into this year’s awards, including Davimac’s tracked chaser bin and Haze Ag’s fertiliser spreader.

An additional accolade is the Australian Tractor and Machinery Association Award for the best new Australian-made machine, which will be presented on Thursday September 24. The award was won by Coolamon Steelworks last year for its 50-tonne capacity chaser bin.

Another highlight of the field days is the Agri-Centre which features a display and program of speakers based on a nominated theme each year.

This year, the theme is Prosperous Farming in the International Year of Soils and a string of experts have been scheduled to speak on the topic over the three days.

This includes keynote speaker and host of ABC’s Gardening Australia Costa Georgiadis who will open the program on Tuesday and will outline his deep commitment to improving Australia’s ecological well being.

Producers interested in new varieties of crops and grains should pay a visit to the agronomy plots which will demonstrate current and soon-to-be-released canola, wheat and barley varieties and showcase perennial pasture mixes.

In addition to agriculture and machinery, HMFD also shines a light on rural lifestyle and fashion with competitions and fashion shows arranged throughout the three days.

For vintage machinery fans, there will be a display by the Henty and District Antique Farm Machinery Club featuring pre-1940 machinery including a rare 1917 International Harvester Mogul 10.20 tractor.

Other programs visitors can look out for at the show include cooking demonstrations by past Masterchef contestants Courtney Roulston and Michael Wheldon, music performances, sheep dog trials and more.

Gates are open to the public from 8am to 5pm daily, with tickets costing $20 for adults, $5 for children 12 to 18 years old and free admission for children under the age of 5. 

Look out for TradeFarmMachinery.com.au’s coverage of the 2015 Henty Machinery Field Days.

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