Organisers have been forced to postpone this year's Wimmera Field Days
Another agricultural event has fallen victim to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Victoria’s Wimmera Field Days announcing its 2022 edition has been cancelled.
It is the second straight year the popular event in Victoria’s north-west has been cancelled.
Scheduled for March 1 and 2 this year, organisers said the event posed too much of a risk for the community “given the widespread impact of coronavirus”.
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Agrifac’s Condor Endurance II won Machine of the Year during the last Wimmera Field Days in 2020.
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“There has been so many aspects to consider, but at the end of the day we have a duty of care to our local community,” event president Sam Eagle says.
“We have exhibitors travelling to the region from all over Australia; it’s not just local businesses attending.
“We were also concerned about the number of volunteers needed to run the event and the potential impact of isolation rules in the lead-up to and during the event.
“We understand it is extremely disappointing for our exhibitors, stakeholders, sponsors, supporters and community volunteers.”
Eagle says the committee left its decision as late as possible, hoping the impact of the omicron virus strain would have reduced enough for the event to go ahead.
The next major field day planned in Victoria is Farm World, scheduled for March 24-27 in the eastern town of Warragul.
Organisers are planning for this event to go ahead and tickets are already on sale.