International drawcard

International exhibitors are drawn to Fieldays by the lure of the business possibilities at the biggest agricultural show in the Southern Hemisphere. Major international exhibitors for this year include Ireland, Australia, and Korea.

Enterprise Ireland trade representative Treza Gallogly said the organisation will celebrate its ninth year at Fieldays. “Throughout this time, we have grown and improved on our presence at the event and also developed strong relationships with the Fieldays team.  

“This year, six of our Irish client companies will be exhibiting on the stand and there are also a further 11 Irish companies exhibiting at Fieldays on their own distributors’ stands.”

The Fieldays International team provides assistance to the international exhibitors including the use of interpreters. The team is increasing its promotions in emerging markets like Latin America and Asia.

Gallogly said Fieldays helps the Irish companies. “[Fieldays is an] ultimate launch platform for Irish companies to showcase their cutting edge technology and innovative agri-business solutions to the NZ market and helps to build on the strong ties between Ireland and NZ in this sector. The flow of information goes both ways of course.”

Enterprise Ireland is the government organisation responsible for the development of Irish enterprise. “Our support of clients starts in Ireland, where Enterprise Ireland work with companies from the early stages of their development.  Once they reach a stage where they’re ready to export, Enterprise Ireland help assess which countries they are likely to do well in, and assists them to reach their potential in those countries.”

Fieldays International is similarly oriented to support New Zealand agri-tech companies, and provides information and advice to those companies that would like to start exporting.

. “We participate at several international agricultural trade show, where we promote New Zealand agricultural industry and Fieldays.

“We support NZ exporters at international trade show all over the world. For example we have five sites at the World Dairy Expo, Madison, Wisconsin, USA, that we allocated to New Zealand companies exporting to the US market.”

Any exporter sceptical about the genuineness of an overseas buyer can check with Fieldays International, thanks to the organisation’s vast network of contacts.

Ireland and New Zealand have many similarities, including total population, and the importance of agricultural sector in their respective economy, and Gallogly said that the farming practices are quite similar as well. “We find that our clients’ machinery and technology are taken up well in New Zealand and suit the New Zealand climate and geography.

“As an example, Ireland have been housing cows for many years, and this practice is now taking off here in New Zealand, especially in the South Island where the climate is colder.  Ireland supply cow barns, rubber matting, cow cubicles, waste disposal machinery, milking machines and many other products for this type of farming,” she said.

“Ireland’s farm machinery suits the New Zealand farmer, and the sale of baling machinery and slurry and waste machinery is very successful here. The strength of the NZ dollar also gives farmers higher buying power to purchase products from Ireland.”

High sales and increase in the brand awareness top the priority list of the Irish exhibitors. Some of them have been selling their products in New Zealand for several years now. Irish companies on the Ireland stand include the likes of Kennan, HiSpec Engineering, and Samco Agricultural Engineering. Apart from them, Major Equipment, Abbey Machinery, Dairymaster and others will also have a presence at Fieldays. Major Equipment made their debut last year, and signed a deal with a local distributor.

Gallogly says Enterprise Ireland is in it for the long haul. “We are committed to this event, and hope to continue our relationship and presence in the years ahead.”