The two-day event at Speed will be on Wednesday and Thursday.

The event will feature more than 300 exhibitors and about 8000 people will attended.

Mallee Machinery Field Days secretary Andrew McLean said everything was ready to go for the event.

“We’ve had one last minute site cancellation, which we haven’t quite filled at this stage, but all the other sites are full,” he said.

“It might be more sites than we have had for a little while, with lots of big machines.”

Mr McLean said he hoped the site would dry out after wet weather earlier this week.

“The Speed Lions Club members are joyful about it raining – they are all enjoying a bit of mud and sunshine,” he said.

“Hopefully the site will all be reasonable afterwards, once the rain stops.”

A range of machinery and new equipment will be on display at the field days, along with demonstrations, tools, clothing and craft.

Mr McLean said he hoped a good season so far would mean farmers at this year’s field days were more confident than they have been the past few years.

“People will be more confident about the season finishing a bit better,” he said.

“Whether they have the money in the bank to spend or not is another story, but we will wait and see.

“Quite often, no one writes the cheques out on the day, it’s more about follow-ups as a season continues.

“The machinery dealers might end up with a good season as well.”

Mr McLean said one set-back with this year’s event was the company that supplied gophers for hire had pulled out.

“However, we have negotiated with the company that supply them and we will definitely have gophers there,” he said.

“They are a good option for people who might have trouble walking around all day – people can stop anywhere they want for a chat or a coffee and then keep going.”

Dodgshun Medlin agriculture adviser Danny Conlan will officially open the field days on Wednesday.

Mr Conlan was a recipient of the 2016 David Roget Mallee Sustainable Farming Excellence Award.

He said more farmers were now looking at the bigger picture rather than doing the same thing and hoping for the best.

“Farmers have become better at managing change,” he said. “With better access to information, we can see what benefits change can bring and have the confidence to make those changes.”