Chat to the many trade stand holders at the East Coast Farming Expo, and you quickly discover there’s a common theme . . . for all of them it is all about connectivity, that face-to-face chat that is so important on so many levels.

It’s a chance to reconnect with existing customers, educate potential about products and services, and enjoy time with like-minded people.

The 2023 Expo, which focuses on sheep and beef farmers, will be no different, and promises to showcase a raft of innovative products and services over two days (February 22-23) at the Wairoa A&P Showgrounds.

For Robert Mi, head of engineering and geographical information systems at Aerolab, it is all about looking to the future to find better, smarter and safer ways of farming.

Aerolab pride themselves in bringing the next generation of remote sensing, drones and technology into the agriculture space.

They’re bringing their exciting new heavy lift drone to the Expo. It can lift 45kg of liquids and solids for spraying spreading. Aerolab has a two-pronged promotional approach – smart forestry measurement using drones and large agricultural spray drones and robots.

“Many farmers have been using smaller drones for a while now, for checking sheep and cattle, amongst other uses, but we want to introduce them to the next step and use drones to solve other problems. We add more ways to help manage farms and crops,” says Mr Mi. 

The drones are popular to be used in areas that are too steep for traditional methods. “It is a lot safer and more efficient to use a drone in these situations. They are now at the size where they can replace traditional equipment in many cases.”

Aerolab’s new X-AG drone comes from the world’s only ag-focused drone tech company. “It’s definitely been a learning curve for customers and the market, but everyone we have sold to or demoed for is always very excited to be able to do more than they have  before.”

This is the company’s first time at the Expo and the team is looking forward to it. Aerolab is a smart robotics and agri-tech company that also offers solutions to better manager and understand farming operations.

Cloud Farmer gathers that vital day-to-day operational data like stock records, health and safety issues, time sheets and more. Business manager Katie McCabe says the innovative app cuts down the admin time for farmers allowing them more time out on the land and less in the office.

It’s a business that has thrived on word of mouth and many times when one farmer on a road gets it, others follow creating little pockets of Cloud farmers all over New Zealand. The beauty of Cloud Farmer is that it doesn’t require service or reception to work

The company was created by Gretchen King in 2013 and continues to garner favour in the rural community. The team love nothing more than heading to the likes of the East Coast Farming Expo to catch up with clients.

“This is a great event for farmers where they are exposed to a really high quality of speakers and trade exhibits,” says Ms McCabe. “This is a chance for us to talk to our clients and review their farm system with a help desk on the spot. Our app is straight forward to use and built by farmers for farmers.”

Ms McCabe says it always great to see farmers having a day off the farm to support initiatives like the Expo.

It’s the second year Wools of New Zealand has attended the Expo. National wool manager Simon Averill says it is an opportunity to catch up with many in one space. “With farmers living rurally it is not always possible to visit everyone as often as we would like,” he says. “Having events that are targeted at our rural community and their interests means you have the ability to catch up with a lot in a short time frame. These events bring a real community and family energy with them. It’s a great bunch of people talking about and doing what they love most, and an opportunity to have frank discussions, think tanks and bounce ideas off others.”

All regions had slightly different concerns and faced different impacts and getting together at the Expo would give a feel for the community and a further insight to trends.

“It is an opportunity to connect with our growers and talk about developments at WNZ and the industry as a whole,” says Mr Averill. “It gives us a real sense of where rural New Zealand is focusing and what issues and concerns the industry faces.”

In July WNZ launched its first consumer carpet to the onshore retail market and will be showcasing their range of New Zealand wool carpets at the Expo.

“Rural New Zealand has certainly been some of our first followers,” says Mr Averill, “purchasing new wool carpet from our range for their homes.”

Tom Fitzgerald, the Bay of Plenty and East Coast territory manager for Gallagher, is looking forward to his first Expo. He’ll have a range of products there, including the company’s cloud software, as well as the new wireless load bars and weigh scales.

“We’re all about making weighing and NAIT compliance far more simple,” says Mr Fitzgerald has been with the company for four years now and in his current position for two years now. “A huge part of what we do is to save time for farmers.”

The wireless load bars came through feedback from their clients who said 50% of their problems were from cables, so Gallagher produced a bluetooth solution.

“An Expo like this is a great chance to engage with our clients on a bigger platform. It’s an important placed too for people to engage with other farmers and keep everyone up to date with what is new,” he says. “You always need to keep learning and getting better.”

Live demonstrations are the best way to go for tech company Farmgate, according to managing director Andrew Sing. “We offer a new product solution that isn’t found anywhere else, and find that with new tech and products, the best way is to be face-to-face with real customers.”

Live demonstrations easily show how the company is solving one of their biggest problems –increasing rural theft. “It also gives us a chance to get real feedback and keep learning.”

Farmgate was started 18 months ago and in the past year has been working to bring the  FarmARMr solution to market. The product combines high-tech German cameras with artificial intelligence to read number plates of vehicles arriving and leaving rural properties, with a barrier arm closing to any unauthorised and stolen vehicles but staying open for known vehicles. FarmARMr is solar powered and uses 4G connectivity.

“The Expo is a chance for us to hear stories, share new products and get face-to-face with our rural communities,” says Mr Sing.

As well as the new FarmARMr, Farmgate will have other products at the Expo. 

For more information, tickets or anyone interested in having a trade exhibit at the Expo, head to – www.eastcoastexpo.co.nz .

WHAT: East Coast Farming Expo

WHEN: February 22-23, 2023

WHERE: Wairoa A&P Showgrounds

MORE INFO: www.eastcoastexpo.co.nz