Dowerin Field Days draws big crowd in boom times

WA farming has never been in better shape, judging by the thousands who descended on the Wheatbelt town of Dowerin in unusually warm temperatures yesterday for the biggest event on the State’s agricultural calendar. The Dowerin Field Days, now in its 55th year, showcase Australia’s agricultural sector, while also providing an important forum for farmers to communicate their needs to machinery makers. Although organisers won’t have final visitor numbers until late today, they say optimism has been a key note of this year’s event ahead of forecast weekend rain. National Farmers Federation board member and Tammin farmer Tony York said visitors he had spoken to were enthusiastic given last year’s excellent grain-growing season, a reasonable outlook for the current season and good livestock and grain prices. “People are still living in the afterglow of last season and are feeling confident about farming,” he said. Afgri Equipment’s sales manager at Moora, Phil Whitely, said his business — which sells John Deere machinery and other brands — had received strong inquiries, but farmers were still waiting to see whether rain eventuated over the weekend before committing. “It’s a waiting game at the moment,” Mr Whitely said. “People are waiting to see what happens with the rest of the season and are looking to rain at the weekend, but overall there is reasonable confidence given (agricultural commodity) prices are good.” Darkan farmer and local inventor Ray Harrington reflected on how machinery had changed since he planted the first of his 56 crops back in the 1960s. He said tractors had gone from 60 horsepower to 600hp, while seeders had increased in size from 2.4m to 24m. “Headers in those days would harvest 60 tonnes per week, not 60 tonnes an hour as they do now,” Mr Harrington said. Dowerin Field Days chairwoman Nadine McMorran said the two-day event grew out of a meeting of the Dowerin Progress Association in May 1964 to discuss a way to raise money to build a dam to reticulate the town’s ovals. Five decades later, it is one of the biggest agricultural gatherings in the country and supported by more than 700 exhibitors.