Agricultural field days are set to continue and expand in south-west Victoria after the resounding success of an inaugural event at Koroit.
The return of an agricultural field day at Koroit on February 22 has been hailed as a huge success, attracting 55 exhibitors – more than double expectations – and plenty of interest from farmers across the region.
The field day was part of the Koroit Show and co-ordinator Julie Houlihan said it had exceeded expectations.
“We’ve already got exhibitors asking to return next year,” Mrs Houlihan said.
“We will be reviewing it later, but at this stage we’re likely to expand to two days and hold the event on both Friday and Saturday next year.
“The feedback has been very positive.”
The field day fills a gap left by the Sungold Field Days that were last held at Allansford in 2020. The event had run since 1981 and was recognised as the one of Victoria’s premier agricultural field days.
DemoDAIRY Foundation provided major support for the new event’s innovation technical presentations and workshops. The workshops focused on cow tech and precision farming, including cow wearables, virtual fencing, use of drones in agriculture, effluent management technology.
DemoDAIRY Foundation deputy chair and local dairy farmer Chloe Brown said the Foundation was proud to be part of the inaugural event.
“It has been a wonderful opportunity to showcase new technology and farm innovations to a diverse mix of farmers and industry providers,” Mrs Brown said.
“We were keen to support the reintroduction of an ag field day with an accompanying focus on technology and innovation and we look forward to continuing the partnership.”
This has been one of DemoDAIRY Foundation’s most significant projects. The Foundation agreed to contribute up to $30,000 so the field day could present and demonstrate new technologies available to assist dairy farmers and to show the opportunities for young people in the local dairy industry on farm and also with service providers.