Andrew Gee, Federal Member for Calare at the Australian National Field Days at Borenore in 2019.
The Australian Government has announced a $2.7 million boost for agricultural field days to ensure they can continue to showcase innovation and support regional communities after the pandemic.
Federal Member for Calare and Minister for Decentralisation and Regional Education, Andrew Gee welcomed the $2.7 million announcement, which is in addition to the $36.3 million previously announced to support agricultural show societies.
“I’ve been fighting hard to get the agricultural field days included in COVID-relief measures. We’ve already got ag shows sorted and it’s only right that we extend relief funding to these crucial country institutions,” said Mr Gee.
“Both the Australian National Field Days at Borenore and the Mudgee Small Farm Field Days were cancelled this year. My concerns were that without support, our field days may have found it difficult to re-start.”
“Our field days play a vitally important role in supporting agriculture and our farmers. They also provide an enormous economic boost to our region, drawing people from all over Australia,” said Mr Gee.
“This funding supports not only the larger agricultural field days but also the smaller regional ones which play a tremendous role in supporting on-farm innovation, productivity and profitability,” Mr Gee said.