CONTRACTORS, farmers, exhibitors and stakeholders applauded the inaugural HarvestFest field day held at Moree Showground on Tuesday and Wednesday.

HarvestFest 2025, a national, two-day event created by Australian Custom Harvesters and supported by Moree Plains Shire Council, showcased machinery and services, knowledge-sharing and industry updates.

All major header manufacturers exhibited machinery and conducted walkarounds and talks, while agricultural and farm equipment manufacturers exhibited chaser bins and field bins, the latest technology, and parts and services.

Badengi Engineering principle Bruce Monie displayed a 110-tonne field bin, 40-tonne chaser bin and four comb trailers at HarvestFest.

“I think it’s a great concept, and something that has been overdue in Moree for a long time, probably since the days of MATE – Moree Ag Traders Exhibition,” Mr Monie said.

“I think they’ve got it right; they’ll get it tweaked and I’m sure it will grow over the next couple of years and become even better.”

Mr Monie said holding the field day two months prior to harvest enables contractors to inspect crops in Queensland as well as north-western New South Wales.

“This is getting to the pointy end for deliveries for us, but coming up to harvest gives a few of the contractors from all over the place an opportunity to have a look at the crops they’ll later strip,” Mr Monie said.

“Some of the blokes I’ve spoken to have come from places like Forbes and further south. They can go and have a look at the crops they’re going to strip in six or eight weeks’ time. That really suits them, and they can get a bit of a feel about crop sizes,” he said.

Harvest contractor Simon Upton, from SAU Contracting, said HarvestFest covered plenty of machinery and associated services and technology.

“There are all brands here, which means we can do some comparing with what we’re already running – and, with the brands we’re running, it’s good to talk to the tech guys,” Mr Upton said.

“It’s good to be able to talk to these guys and learn about the new technology. Days like this means we’re getting up to speed with anything that’s new, which means we can add to our operation.

“In this game, it all comes down to efficiencies and minimising any downtime,” he said.

With farm machinery and technology forever evolving, Mr Upton said field days like HarvestFest enabled contractors to keep one row ahead.

“That’s the idea of these type of days. Whether you a ‘green’ person, a ‘red’ person or a ‘yellow’ person, it’s good to see all exhibitors here,” he said.

Mr Upton said favourable weather conditions and exceptional rainfalls in recent weeks points to another bumper harvest.

“With the rains we’ve had, it looks like being another good harvest,” Mr Upton said.

“The real cream on the cake will be spring – flowering time – and the way things are, we won’t need big falls to have a repeat of last year.

“We’re not out of the woods yet, but we’re on the promising side and there’s an upbeat feel in the district. Let’s hope that can carry through to flowering time in the spring,” he said.

Stakeholders attended a dinner and industry talks focused on what lies ahead for the harvesting industry in Australia, with Australian Custom Harvesters holding its Annual General Meeting on Wednesday.

The AGM featured a key presentation from the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator about transporting headers across Australia.

Australian Custom Harvesters’ president Damian Talbot said numbers were strong at the inaugural event.

“We’re getting good feedback from everyone,” Mr Talbot said.

“This has exceeded my expectations, and the local people buying tickets just to come in and have a look around – the general public – is more than I expected, too.

“We had plenty of exhibitors, and the talks about all the machines every hour or so really worked well.

“We’re looking forward to next year. With the success we’ve had, I’m pretty certain this will be an annual event,” he said.