HMFD exhibitor awards reward excellence

Cocktails, tillage machinery, education and interior design were among the winners of the 2022 Henty Machinery Field Days Exhibitor Awards.

The awards were presented by HMFD CEO Belinda Anderson to the winners of the Best Outdoor Large Commercial, Best Outdoor General and Best Indoor Exhibitor sites – Farm Gate Produce Market and Country Lifestyle.

This year’s winners will be announced on Thursday, September 21 at The Stump at 10.30am.

Short-line agricultural equipment distributor Muddy River Agricultural, Mooroopna, Vic, won the Best Outdoor Large Commercial in 2022 while education and research institution Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, took out the Best Outdoor General.

Premium gift company My Hygge Home won the Best Indoor site in Country Lifestyle and first-time exhibitor Tony Sanderberg, Wollongong, with his Kick Ice Cocktails was awarded Best Indoor Site at Farm Gate Produce Market.

Mrs Anderson said the field days co-operative prided itself on providing a showcase with a modern professional image, and the latest in agricultural machinery and technology.

She said the exhibitor awards encouraged site holders to strive for similar ideals during the field days.

The 2022 judges Daryl Thomson and Bec Clancy covered the 14km of external shop front plus the indoor sites, assessing visual presentation, display, layout and innovation.

They inspected sites ranging in frontage from 3m to 180m.

Mrs Clancy said the Muddy River Ag site had great visual presence and presentation with eye catching white picket fencing, a defined entrance, flagpoles, marquee and good signage.

“Charles Sturt University had a large, interactive site with good signage, defined areas for the different departments, they offered information sessions to attract people to the site and face painting at the entrance,” she said.

“Kick Ice Cocktails had great display of a mini bar with a neon sign, palm trees and the host was wearing an Hawaiian shirt in the theme.

“My Hygge Home had a black and white themed display with display racking and products well set out.

“We are seeing exhibitors put a lot of thought into their site design, being innovative to catch the consumer’s eye, attract them into the site and engage with them.”

Steve Robertson, Muddy River Agricultural’s NSW territory manager, said the site design was a team effort after exhibiting at many field days. 

“The organising committee at Henty has been so helpful and friendly – we have done a lot of field days and Henty is right at the very top.”

Charles Sturt University Marketing Business Partner Faculty of Science and Health, Belinda Doherty, said the site’s footprint had increased from a small shed to a larger shed with a Global Digital Farm, soil sensors, drones, dung beetle research system, Wi-Fi Hub, and undergraduate and post graduate course area.