No Henty or Elmore field days this year

After initially announcing plans to push ahead with an event this year amid the escalating COVID-19 outbreak in New South Wales, Henty Machinery Field Days (HMFD) organisers eventually concluded that the field days cannot and will not proceed as planned.

However, the committee hopes to move the event from its original dates of September 21 to 23, 2021, to March 2022.

HMFD chief executive officer, Belinda Anderson, said the risk of holding an event in current conditions is too high, with the virus already making its way into regional areas of NSW.

“HMFD has been advised that we are able to operate under the 4sqm rule, however, NSW Health has strongly recommended the event be rescheduled,” Anderson said.

“We also have considered the possibility of introducing the Delta strain of COVID-19 to the area and the impact this would have on our community. This was a risk we were not prepared to take.”

Anderson said border restrictions also played a significant part in the decision to cancel the September event, with 50 per cent of exhibitors booked in from interstate.

“Six weeks from the event seems like a long time but an event of this size does not happen overnight, and we owe it to those businesses committed to the 2021 event to give them fair warning,” she said.

“The majority of visitors come from within a three-hour drive of Henty signifying there is a great representation from Victoria.

“Snap lock downs will still be possible in September and HMFD cannot risk a repeat of what was seen in Victoria and Queensland on the eve of major agricultural events.”

Prospective dates of March 15 to 17, 2022 have been set for the next field days, and organisers will be in touch with key stakeholders and exhibitors soon to discuss the option.

Similarly in Victoria, another leading agricultural event – Elmore and District Machinery Field Days- which is supposed to take place from October 5 to 7, 2021, has been cancelled for the second year in a row.

The organising committee cited similar reasons as Henty field days’ for the event’s cancellation, which are border restrictions and the health and safety risk to the community.

“The Committee left the decision to cancel the event as late as possible with the hope that the COVID-19 situation might have eased, but due to the government restrictions, uncertainty around running events and the current outbreaks, the decision was clear,” said Elmore field days President, Scott Nichol.

The Elmore Field Days has been running annually since 1964 and has only been cancelled once before the pandemic - in 1975 due to flooding.

“We hope that everyone continues to stay safe and well and we plan to be back bigger and better on October 4 to 6, 2022,” Nichol said.

“The Elmore Field Days would like to thank everyone involved in the field days for being so supportive and understanding during this unprecedented time, including our exhibitors, committee, members, sponsors, community, volunteers, and the public.”

The announcements follow a series of event cancellations in recent months due to the ongoing pandemic, including the popular Royal Melbourne Show in Victoria and Ekka in Queensland.

AgQuip, originally scheduled to be held in Gunnedah (NSW) in late August this year, moved its dates to November.

SEE ALSO: 2021 Australian farming field days calendar