CAMARADERIE is the glue that binds the Wimmera Machinery Field Days committee together.
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Despite the enormous feat, farmers throughout the region both young and old come together to return to the field days year-on-year.
Tom Blair has served on the committee and its predecessor since the very early days. At this point, he happens to be the oldest member.
I tell the fellas that at some point I need to retire, but they say, no we need someone old, Mr Blair said.
Mr Blair has been a farmer for way over 60 years.
He said the committee allowed him to be part of something.
The range of ages on the committee has helped bring something different each year, he said. The day itself is very important because lets face it the way machinery has grown and the community has to be a part of the things to come.
It is exciting and amazing how it keeps getting bigger.
While Mr Blair has considered stepping back in a couple of years, he said he would always want to be involved with the field days in some way.
Farming is very much part of my life and it is really good to come to field days and be a part of it, he said.
Bryan Matuschka has been a committee member for 18 years and is a past president.
Like many other committee members, Mr Matuschkas son Jordan was lending a hand at the weekend working bees. He said every pair of hands makes a difference and it was important to have his familys support.
It is great to be a part of the field days. Its a chance to give back to the community and obviously, were all interested in agriculture and want to promote it in the region, Mr Matuschka said.
However, it was the committees camaraderie that made the field days so enjoyable for Mr Matuschka.
We have farmers from all of the Wimmera who are on the committee, so you get an insight into what is going on in different areas, he said.
It is great to be a part of the field days. Its a chance to give back to the community.
- Bryan Matuschka
Mr Matuschka said the field days had grown in leaps and bounds since he joined the committee.
The field days was a group of farmers wanting to do agricultural demonstrations. Now its more static displays, but we have new technologies coming on board and that is very important for the future of farming, he said.
Andrew Bell joined the committee 15 years ago to give back to agriculture, but it was the people that kept him involved.
We are a big group, but were single-minded in what we want to do, he said. Everyone is friendly, happy and we all get along really well. It brings a lot of people in the district together to look at the new innovations in agriculture and have a catch up as well.
Seeking to keep field days fresh
One of the Wimmera Machinery Field Days committee’s newest members has backed a focus on changing the event to attract a more diverse crowd.
Luke Rethus, 37, has been part of the committee for about a year.
But hes no stranger to field days, having helped as a volunteer on working bees for the event during recent years. His father Geoff and brother Tim are also members of the committee.
I would come out occasionally and would help my brother or my dad on a working bee, so its nothing new to me, and I thought, why not be on the committee? he said.
I can help out and try to put on an event for Horsham, because volunteers are hard to get, and also its a bit of a networking thing as well.
Theres a social side, too. Youre meeting people you dont always get time to meet when youre out here working.
Mr Rethus said it felt good to be part of the committee particularly given the work members were going to ensure the event stayed pertinent to the Wimmera into the future.
I think we need to experiment. Like any event, youve got to be fresh, he said.
Youve seen things like the motor show in Melbourne going to only once every two years. Theyre having challenges with that event. So you have to keep reinventing yourself, but also not forget the original roots of the event.
Mr Rethus returned to the family farm five years ago, after working in Melbourne as a trained engineer for Telstra.
Its a similar path to that of the events other new committee member, Bungalally farmer Dan Mibus.
I think we need to experiment. Like any event, youve got to be fresh.
- Luke Rethus
He joined at the same time as Mr Rethus, having previously worked at the Department of Sustainability and Environment.
Mr Rethus said the opportunities in agriculture convinced him to return to the Wimmera.
The average age of farmers is quite high and theres a lot of technology coming into the industry at the moment, so it seemed like a good time to come back, he said.
The field days committee comprises about 30 members from farming and industry backgrounds.
Evolving with the times
About this time eight years ago, Kalkee farmer Graeme Beddison was one of many squelching around in his gumboots, furiously pumping water from the Wimmera Machinery Field Days site.
The day before field days opened, Longerenong recorded 40 millimetres of rain.
It came two months after the Wimmera had experienced its worst floods on record in January 2011.
We didnt open the gates until after lunch on the Tuesday that year, he said.
It ended up coming together pretty well, but we always knew there would be a show going on of some kind. We never thought about cancelling.
It remains the most difficult event the 29-year veteran of the field days committee has helped prepare.
Its emblematic of the mentality of the committee no matter what happens, the show must go on.
Now one of the longest-serving committee members, Mr Beddison has seen some impressive innovations and big changes in the events growth during his time.
He counts Autosteer and GPS as the biggest technological changes to farming he has seen on display.
I always liked the field days and I always used to come and have a look, and when Colin Worth asked if Id be interested in joining the committee, I just jumped at the opportunity, he said.
Mr Beddison said he was amazed at the growth of the event during his service.
We have had to upgrade everything to try to keep them up with expectations of patrons.
- Graeme Beddison
We had a much smaller office over where the new one is, and everything was done by volunteers, he said.
When I first started, I used to help in the fashion parade. We volunteers used to model the clothes.
Mr Beddison said Occupational Health and Safety measures had also meant changes to preparations.
We have had to upgrade everything to try to keep them up with expectations of patrons, he said.
Its really hard. There is a lot more cost to run the show now than what it was then. Probably the money we spent in those days was only a small amount compared to what we have to spend now, and for less return really.
People expect more comfort with an exhibit than what they did when I first started we used to just have a urinal which ran out into the paddock.
It was called the Schmidthouse because Graham Schmidt built it when he was president. Now people expect proper toilets.
The change has all been for the better, though, and Mr Beddison said the focus on getting more people from non-farming backgrounds through the gates was what held the field days in good stead.
You cant just rely on farmers to turn up; you have to cater for non-farming people in Horsham and beyond the region, he said.
Committee’s connections to family
Tim Rethus has found a funny side to working alongside his brother Luke and father Geoff on the Wimmera Machinery Field Days committee.
Its really good. We can really skew the voting, he joked.
The familys relationship with field days began in 1993 when Geoff first joined the committee.
Tim followed in 2014 after returning to work on the family farm near Horsham.
Tim said he joined the committee at the recommendation of someone outside his family.
Geoff Moore recommended I come on, and Dad said nothing he just stayed out of it, because its ultimately up to the committee, he said. We know what each of us is going to say, going into every meeting so you wait for whoever had the ideas to say them rather than you. Its not really a problem.
The committee were happy to let my brother Luke on as well. We just have to respect you dont try and override everybody else. Its about being fair.
Tim said the committee was keen to have Luke join them last year, following his experience in the corporate world in Melbourne.
If you have people who are in the right mindset, theyre just too much of an asset not to have so you just really want to get on anybody thats useful. Its such a great opportunity to talk and get ideas thrashed around, he said. If someones got some talent, you dont just want to eliminate them based on nepotism.
Luke said joining the committee meant being part of a community again.
I was looking for something to be part of again, and from what my brother and father said and being part of it anyway it was an easy decision to go and ask if I could be on the committee, he said.
Luke said the trio took care to make sure their personal affairs didnt influence the day-to-day business of the committee.
Just as we have our own disagreements in normal life, I may not agree with something Tims putting forward on the committee and thats just normal, Luke said.
We see ourselves as part of a committee rather than siblings.
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