Heavy morning showers didn’t deter strong crowd numbers from pouring through the gates of the Innisfail Showgrounds for the 2016 Innisfail Agricultural Field Day held on Thursday, April 14.
A late rush of nominations saw an eclectic array of 95 exhibitors fill the grounds over 137 sites which covered all interests and needs; from farm machinery to gourmet coffees.
The field day was pulled back a month from the 2014 date to escape the wet season but as event organiser Wayne Thomas said the rain has also been late this season.
“It was looking like we’d have perfect condition earlier in the week, but you can never account for which way the weather will turn,” Mr Thomas said.
“But despite the big drop we got early on, the skies cleared up pretty well afterwards for most of the rest of the day,” he said.
He said even with the wet start the bi-annual event dubbed the “biggest, littlest field day in the north” had once again proven to be a success.
“I’ve got a lot of praise for the exhibitors, they went to a lot of effort to really make their sites stand out, which must have been a major reason why we got such good numbers through the gate.
He said the aim of the Innisfail event is always to provide a good mixture of attractions so that their is something of interest to everyone.
“We have an entire section aimed specifically at the ladies which includes fashions, orchids, tupperware and makeup just to name a few.
“We also try and cater for all aspects of agriculture so someone who has no interest in machinery but might be wanting some expert advice on soil health is covered and vice versa.”
Mr Thomas said he’s had quite a few inquiries regarding turning the event into a two-day field day,but he said he’s pretty happy to leave things how they are.
“I’ll put out a survey to the exhibitors soon to see what the general consensus is, but I’m not convinced that two days would be a good idea.
“Large scale field days can hold enough exhibitors to cater for a wider audience than what Ithink is appropriate for here.”
Prior to gates opening to the public, Queensland Sugar Limited hosted a breakfast followed by an information session covering a wide range of cane related information with an up-to-date outlook of the World Market.
The session covered a variety of topics including: new varieties that are showing promise in north Queensland; the advantages and disadvantages of nitrogen nutrition; the latest findings regarding harvesting best practices and how to reduce cane loss, improve cane quality, and reduce stool damage;and an update on where research is at in regards to the mysterious yield reducing Yellow Canopy Syndrome.
