Wednesday, 24 September 2025
Henty
Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC

Yiradhu Marang

‘Good day’ in the language of the Wiradjuri people, the Traditional Owners of this land. I pay my respects to Elders, past, present and emerging. 

Blue skies, green fields, yellow canola all around us, wide-open welcome – can there be a better an arena or vista than here at Henty Machinery Field Days? 

For these three days, our State’s proud agricultural heritage and the future of agriculture and agricultural innovation come together here at Henty – drawing an expected 50,000 NSW farmers, regional producers, ag tech exhibitors, innovators and educators, designers and visitors alike. 

As the ‘buzz’ builds all around us, it is a great pleasure to be here in the Riverina Murray region, our State’s largest contributor to agricultural production in NSW.^[1] 

It is especially a pleasure to speak to you here on the ‘stump’, following a good country tradition of former ‘stump’ speakers, including legendary local Member Tim Fischer, who, as Patron, had opened many Field Days and assisted the Field Days cooperative to acquire this site.^[2] To Tim, as to everyone here, Henty Field Days epitomised the hardworking entrepreneurial spirit of the agricultural industry and its exciting future.

That future was in plain sight earlier to me this morning at the Field Day’s hub for digital knowledge sharing, AgTech Alley. At the NSW Department of Primary Industries “Farms of the Future” stand, I had the opportunity to talk to the dedicated staff and to see a model demonstration of how AI is transforming our agriculture future through next-generation drones, integration with remote sensors and digital programs.  

Following a meeting with the 2025 Machine of the Year Award-winner, who was selected from 24 finalists, I then had the opportunity to revel in the sheer creativity of designers and makers at the Natural Fibre Fashion Awards. May I say, the Country Lifestyle Pavilion was enough to make anyone follow in the steps of “treechangers” around our State!

The proud 60-plus year heritage of this Field Days, the depth of exhibitors’ knowledge, willingly imparted to others, and the research and the work that underpins each of the 870 display stands is, quite simply, astonishing. Becoming a ‘one-stop shop’ for both agricultural machinery and mentoring, these Field Days prove that the future of Australian agriculture is both exciting and collaborative.  

The importance of this region and its Field Days event, the largest in southern Australia, will be no surprise to anyone here. Many of you are repeat visitors. 

The invention that contributed to the evolution of this event was the Taylor Reaper Header Harvester, invented by local wheat farmer Headlie Taylor. 

In the summer of 1914^[3], the prototype of the harvester that revolutionised grain harvesting worldwide^[4] went on display at the Henty Agricultural Show. To say it wasn’t an overnight success might be an understatement. In demonstrating it, Headlie tested it on the ultimate hallowed turf – a paddock filled with wheat … that remained filled with wheat!^[5]  

Headlie went back to the drawing board. Following a few years of trials and experimentations, financed generously by the community during war years, a third prototype was ready for testing in the field. An improvement on the stripper harvester, the next trial was enough to convince Hugh Victor McKay, of Sunshine Harvester Works, at that time Australia’s largest agricultural manufacturer.^[6] 

Soon, 1000 machines were able to be rolled out to relieved farmers, who had suffered terrible storms.^[7] In 1924, the first “auto” engine-powered header was launched, which established a one-day one-machine world record by taking 3300 bushels of wheat off 76 acres.^[8] 

The Latin motto “Nil Desperandum” (“Never despair”) which Headlie had emblazoned on the front of his first harvester, captured the tenacity of the rural spirit, as you would know too well. 

It is the mantra that keeps our rural communities going, including this community which, like much of southern Australia is experiencing drought^[9] or, here in Henty, what is technically called “green drought.”^[10] 

With agriculture accounting for over half of Australia’s land use, 74% of our water consumption and $71.5 billion of goods and services exports in 2023-24,^[11] the continuing dedication of those who work or study the land; who research, trial and perfect new sustainable technologies for Australian conditions, requires our whole-of-community support.

Congratulations and thank you to the Henty Machinery Field Days Cooperative and its many partner organisations for bringing us this 62^th edition of Henty Field Days.