By Kim Choe
The dairy industry has been New Zealand farming's golden boy in recent years, with farmers tipped to receive record payments for milk solids this season.
But at this year's Fieldays another industry is determined to get back in the spotlight.
The wool industry is centre stage and producers say people have forgotten why it was once known as the "king of fibers".
“The insulation attributes, the health attributes, the moisture repellent and amazingly moisture absorbent attributes. It is the most amazing fiber,” says Primary Wool Cooperative director Hamish de Lautour.
Wool farmers struggled for 20 years, with prices sinking to just $2.20 per kilo in 2009. But it's made a remarkable recovery in the last nine months with prices now almost double that.
“It's been really hard going. If you've stuck with sheep and wool, you've had to have a lot of faith to stay there,” says Mr de Lautour.
It's paid off for wool and now the Fieldays organisers hope their optimism spreads to the whole farming industry.
Fieldays is the largest agri-business event in the southern hemisphere, and seen as an indicator of how much confidence there is in the sector. With a record number of exhibitors this year, things are looking good.
Name: assoc. Prof. Stuart locke
“We've had a couple of years of retiring debt. Some will need to continue to do that, but I think about 80 percent of our farmers now have their debt well and truly balanced and are in a position to buy the capital equipment, increase productivity, and look forward to a couple of good years ahead,” says Waikato University’s Business Research Institute associate professor Stuart Locke.
There's no shortage of big-ticket items for farmers to spend their money on this week and for everyone else, there's still plenty of fun to be had down on the farm.
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