General Manager of AREC, Steve Garland said thanks to unusually good weather and great products the MSFFD were, for the 31st time, a great success

Mr Garland attributed the success, “to there being so much too see and do over the two days.”

“It’s amazing to see the innovative products on display, and new exhibitors were registering with us right up until Friday, which was good to see,” Mr Garland said.

According to field day organisers, numbers through the gates where higher than in 2007 for both Friday and Saturday days, however they were unable to give the exact numbers.

The straw bale house construction proved to be one of the most talked about exhibits, with a never ending stream of intrigued visitors crowding around the structure, which was built over the two days.

“The building of the straw bale house and the composting demonstration were incredibly popular and were the big standouts.”

The field days also hosted a number of product launches, one of which was the national launch for a new innovative fencing product, known as Clipex.

“This product will revolutionise fencing for the future, we were lucky to have them on board.

“Farmers really are doing it tough, and need as much help as possible, and there were some fantastic products on display which are definitely going to be big in the future.”

The unveiling of the ‘new look’ fashion parade was crowned a success by exhibitors in the pavilion; however some visitors said it was a bit difficult to understand the new concept.

“Making the transition from the old format into something new was always going to be a challenge, especially for the audience to grasp the change.

“The new format was successful; however we’ve seen what needs to be altered to make it even better, it was a learning curve,” Mr Garland said.

“Organiser Siobhan Loughnan did a great job, and we now know what we can do better next year,” Mr Garland said.

“Overall, numbers were up, exhibitors were happy, visitors were happy so all in all there were a lot of happy people.”