See more than $200 million worth of machinery on show gates open from 8am to 5pm Tuesday to Thursday 19 to 21 September for this agribusiness super event
It’s one of the biggest outdoor events in Southern Australia and one of the biggest agricultural events on the calendar, the Henty Machinery Field Days are scheduled for Tuesday to Thursday the 19 to 21 September and will showcase more than $200 million worth of agricultural machinery and products to the nation’s farmers.
To top that off, event organisers will celebrate the 60th birthday in 2023 with a program full of the latest in agricultural technology plus entertainment for the family. It will be the largest exhibition of businesses in the event’s history.
HMFD chief executive officer Belinda Anderson said the event has become an institution on the farming calendar and had over its 60-year history, evolved into the nation’s agricultural shop front.
“In 2022, the field days were one of the nation’s single biggest agricultural events, drawing a record crowd of 70,000 visitors. The event has a proud heritage and the HMFD Co-operative has never lost sight of the primary reason for its existence – to showcase the agricultural industry,” Belinda Anderson added.
A visitor survey in 2022 revealed that 90% of visitors felt the 2022 Henty Machinery Field Days had met their expectations. With many aspects of the event meeting high levels of satisfaction including the venue, atmosphere and organisation.
“The field days will have all the usual attractions including the prestigious Henty Machine of the Year Award, the working sheep dog trials, Country Lifestyle pavilion, Farm Gate Produce Market, Baker Seeds agronomy trials, helicopter joy rides, live entertainment, outdoor monster fish tank, the Natural Fibre Fashion Awards and vintage farm machinery display,” Belinda Anderson continued.
“The 2023 event will further enhance the visitor experience with displays and features reflecting on the 60-year heritage of the field days,” Belinda Anderson concluded.
The official opening on Tuesday 19 September will include the presentation of the prestigious Henty Machine of the Year Award while Greater Hume Council will sponsor the Best Australian Designed and Manufactured Machine to be presented on Wednesday 20 September at 10.30 am.
In recognition of NSW’s prominent role in AgTech, the 2023 Henty Machinery Field Days will mark the resurgence of the Agri-Innovators Award in partnership with Farmers2Founders.
This expansion aims to celebrate and champion the ground-breaking advancements in agriculture.
The award categories are Agritech Innovation of the Year, Emerging AgTech Innovation, Innovative Producer Award, and Female Innovator of the Year, and winners will be announced on Thursday, September 21 at 11am.
National and international agricultural and commercial businesses will be eligible for the HMFD Exhibitor Awards at the 2023 field days.
Awards will be presented on Thursday 21 September to the winners of the Best Outdoor Large Commercial, Best Outdoor General and Best Indoor Exhibitor sites (Country Lifestyle and Farm Gate Produce Market).
At Country Lifestyle, the stage will be the focus of fashion parades featuring garments from exhibitors daily at 11am and 2.30pm plus a mini parade of clothing from the 1960s, paying homage to Henty’s 60th birthday. It will be a step back in time with recipes, cookery and lifestyle tips from the 1960s.
Designers with a flair for converting natural fibres into wearable art will compete for more than $5500 worth of prizes, including the new Business Development Award: Australian Made Fibre sponsored by JMP Developments, Wodonga, for $500.
The Henty Natural Fibre Fashion Awards showcase designs using at least 70% natural fibres with parades daily at 1pm and the winners announced after 1pm Thursday.
The Farm Gate Produce Market will be a hive of activity of gourmet products direct from regional producers whilst outside on the sound stage is the talented regional duo Happy Hour.
Competition is expected to be intense this year at Henty as the nation’s best sheep dogs and their handlers gather for the Working Dog Trials which are proudly supported by Hypro.
The display by the Henty and District Antique Farm Machinery Club members always draws a large crowd of both young and old visitors and will include tractors, tillage machinery, stationary engines, farm equipment and vintage motorcycles that would have been on show at the inaugural field days in 1963.
For the machinery enthusiasts, there will be a one-off display of the world’s rarest tractors.
Upton Engineering at Corowa was built on the collection of ex-disposals army vehicles, tanks and spares to convert into bulldozers for scrub clearing, but ultimately produced one of Australia’s most famous tractors.
Upton tractor collectors will be bringing their machines from Corowa, Albury, Swan Hill, Ardlethan, and Mudgee.
Field day visitors can see lure and bait fishing techniques demonstrated from one of the biggest mobile fish tanks in the southern hemisphere, the Berkley Super Tank, in the 20-minute shows.
Part portable fishing show, part mobile fish tank and educational program, the 12,000 litre Berkley Super tank is designed to give the public a fish-eye view of the world of angling.
The Henty Machinery Field Days site will benefit from $651,000 in funding received by Telstra under Round 2 of the Regional Connectivity Program to build a new 35m tower to replace a temporary small-cell Telstra service, with the new tower to be completed for the 2023 event.
There will be an ATM courtesy of the ANZ Bank on site 567.
Pre-purchase early bird tickets until 18 September by heading to the visitor’s page on www.hmfd.com.au and click on Buy Tickets. Online prices are $25 + booking fees for adults and $8 + booking fees for children 12 to 17 years old. Children under 12 years free when accompanied by an adult.
Gates are open from 8am to 5pm, with prices for online and gate entry being adult gate tickets $30 inc fees (cash), card $30 inc fees + card charges, children 12 to 17 years $10 inc fees (cash), card $10 inc fees + card charges and children under 12 free when accompanied by an adult. Online tickets can be purchased while in the queue at the gate.
2023 Henty Machinery Field Days – official program
Day 1 Tuesday 19 September 2023
8am: Working Dog Trials proudly supported by Hypro, start in the dog trial arena.
8am: Champion axeman and men’s health advocate David Foster appears at Atlantic Oils site. Block P Sites 698-699
9am: Riverina Helicopter’s joy flights begin at the heli pad.
9.30am: Country Lifestyle program begins at the Country Lifestyle pavilion.
9.30am: Farm Gate Market Produce pavilion program begins at the Farm Gate Produce Area.
9.30am: 2023 Media Challenge gets underway with a tractor pull at the Hutcheon & Pearce site. Block M Sites 489-498
9.45am-10.45am: Acoustic duo Happy Hour’s Col Anderson and Anthony Melton entertain at the Farm Gate outdoor stage.
9.50am: Media Challenge fleece throw at the Riverina TAFE site. Block N Sites 562-563
10am: Berkley Super Tank angling show opens with tips and tricks every hour on the hour; Droneland Australia drone demonstration at machinery demo area.
10.20am: Media Challenge whip crack at The Stump.
10.30am: Australian Army Band Kapooka acoustic ensemble performs at The Stump.
10.30am: World champion Stihl Timbersports athlete Brad De Losa talks all things chainsaws at the Hutcheon & Pearce site 489-498 Block M.
10.40am: Media Challenge scone eating at Country Lifestyle.
11am: Official opening and presentation of the 2023 HMFD Machine of the Year Award at The Stump.
11am: George the Farmer performance at Hutcheon & Pearce site 489-498 Block M; fashion parade at Country Lifestyle and salute to the 1960s mini parade; Circus star Marcela Scheuner will dazzle at the Farm Gate outdoor stage and Harvey Norman drone demonstration at the agronomy plots.
11.30am: TEKtalk at the TEKFARM Agritech Innovation Hub. “The future of farming: Exploring innovative AgTech solutions”
12 noon-1.30pm: Acoustic duo Happy Hour perform at the Farm Gate outdoor stage.
12.15pm – 1pm: Australian Army Band Kapooka acoustic ensemble performs at The Stump.
1pm: 2023 HMFD Natural Fibres Fashion Awards parade with prize money of over $5500 across all sections. Competition to be judged on Thursday.
1.30pm: Official launch of the new Telstra 4G and 5G mobile base station on site.
2pm: Circus star Marcela Scheuner dazzles at the Farm Gate outdoor stage; George the Farmer performance at Hutcheon & Pearce site 489-498 Block M and XAG Australia drone demonstration at the agronomy plots.
2.30pm: World champion Stihl Timbersports athlete Brad De Losa talks all things chainsaws at the Hutcheon & Pearce site 489-498 Block M.
2.30pm: TEKtalk at the TEKFARM Agritech Innovation Hub. “Beyond Barriers: Overcoming challenges in AgTech Adoption on farms”
2.30pm: Country Lifestyle exhibitor fashion parade and salute to the 1960s mini parade.
5pm: Helicopter joy flights finish. Gates close. After 5pm: Daily draw of the gate prize sponsored by Lowes Petrolem.
Day 2 Wednesday 20 September 2023
8am: Working Dog trials, proudly supported by Hypro, start at the dog trial arena.
8am: Champion axeman and men’s health advocate David Foster appears at Atlantic Oils site. Block P Sites 698-699
9am: Riverina Helicopters joy flights start at the heli pad.
9.30am: Country Lifestyle program starts at Country Lifestyle Pavilion.
9.30am: Farm Gate Market program begins at Farm Gate Produce Area.
9.30am: Official dedication to one of the world’s rarest tractors, Upton, at the agronomy plots.
9.45am-10.45am: Acoustic duo Happy Hour’s Anthony Melton and Col Anderson entertain at the Farm Gate outdoor stage.
10am: Berkley Super Tank angling show opens with tips and tricks every hour on the hour; Droneland Australia drone demonstration at machinery demo area.
10.30am: Winner of the Greater Hume Council Award for the Best Australian Designed and Manufactured Agricultural Machine at The Stump.
10.30am: World champion Stihl Timbersports athlete Brad De Losa talks all things chainsaws at the Hutcheon & Pearce site 489-498 Block M.
11am: Country Lifestyle exhibitor fashion parade and salute to the 1960s mini parade; George the Farmer performance at Hutcheon & Pearce site 489-498 Block M; Circus star Marcela Scheuner will dazzle at the Farm Gate outdoor stage and Harvey Norman drone demonstration at the agronomy plots.
11.30am: Hutcheon & Pearce 70th anniversary celebrations on site at 489-498 Block M.
11.30am: TEKtalk at the TEKFARM Agritech Innovation Hub. “Tech farm revolution: embracing AgTech for sustainable agriculture”
12pm-1pm: Acoustic duo Happy Hour entertain at the Farm Gate stage.
12.30pm: Yanco Agricultural High School drum corps entertain at The Stump.
1pm: 2023 HMFD Natural Fibres Fashion Awards with prizes totalling over $5500 across all sections. Competition to be judged on Thursday.
1pm: The Scots School Albury pipe band performs at The Stump.
1.30pm: NSW Farmers’ Association president Xavier Martin speaks at The Stump.
2pm: George the Farmer performance at Hutcheon & Pearce site 489-498 Block M; and XAG Australia drone demonstration at the agronomy plots.
2.30pm: TEKtalk at the TEKFARM Agritech Innovation Hub: “AgTech Showcase: Discovering the latest tools and techniques for farming success”
2.30pm: Country Lifestyle fashion parade and salute to the 1960s mini parade.
2.30pm: Circus star Marcela Scheuner dazzles at Farm Gate.
2.30pm: World champion Stihl Timbersports athlete Brad De Losa talks all things chainsaws at the Hutcheon & Pearce site 489-498 Block M.
5pm: Helicopter joy flights finish. After 5pm: Daily draw of the gate prize sponsored by Lowes Petroleum.
Day 3 Thursday 21 September 2023
8am: Working Dog trials, proudly supported by Hypro, start at the dog trial arena.
8am: Champion axeman and men’s health advocate David Foster appears at Atlantic Oils site. Block P Sites 698-699.
9am: Riverina Helicopters joy flights start at the heli pad.
9.30am: Country Lifestyle program starts
9.30am: Farm Gate Market Produce pavilion program begins.
9.30am: JBS Equipment national launch of JBS E Series manure spreader at site 209 Block E.
9.45am-10.45am: Acoustic duo Happy Hour, Anthony Melton and Col Anderson, entertain at the Farm Gate outdoor stage.
10am: Berkley Super Tank angling show opens with tips and tricks every hour on the hour.
10.30am: Winners of the HMFD Exhibitor Awards announced at The Stump.
10.30am: World champion Stihl Timbersports athlete Brad De Losa talks all things chainsaws at the Hutcheon & Pearce site 489-498 Block M.
11am: 2023 TEKFARM Agritech Innovation Award winners announced at The Stump; Country Lifestyle exhibitor fashion parade and salute to the 1960s mini parade; George the Farmer performance at Hutcheon & Pearce site 489-498 Block M, Circus star Marcela Scheuner dazzles at the Farm Gate outdoor stage and Harvey Norman drone demonstration at the agronomy plots.
11.30am: Murrumbidgee Primary Health Network – Connect Your Way at The Stump: Chatting with Bruce about mental health.
11.30am: TEKtalk at the TEKFARM Agritech Innovation Hub: “AgTech adoption made easy: practical strategies for farmers”
12 noon-1.30pm: Acoustic duo Happy Hour, Anthony Melton and Col Anderson, perform on the Farm Gate outdoor stage.
1pm: Judging of the 2023 Henty Natural Fibre Fashion and Accessories awards at Country Lifestyle.
1.30pm: Working Dog trials finals and presentation, proudly supported by Hypro.
2pm: George the Farmer performance at Hutcheon & Pearce site 489-498 Block M; Circus star Marcela Scheuner dazzles at the Farm Gate stage and XAG Australia drone demonstration at the agronomy plots.
2.30pm: World champion Stihl Timbersports athlete Brad De Losa talks all things chainsaws at the Hutcheon & Pearce site 489-498 Block M.
2.30pm: TEKtalk at the TEKFARM Agritech Innovation Hub: “Data driven farming: leveraging data for decision making on farm”
5pm: Helicopter joy flights finish. Gates close. After 5pm: HMFD Gate prize draw sponsored by Lowes Petroleum.
