KUBOTA senior product manager tractors Konstantin Blersch said while sales occurred at AgQuip it was not the only reason for exhibiting.
“Field days are a hot topic amongst exhibitors, its a massive effort to shift machines on-site,” he said.
“It’s really a flag flying exercise in the first place, to show your wares.”
Mr Blersch said the majority of on-site purchasers were local, while those travelling are future sales.
“I spoke to five people this morning who are in the market for something, they're not just here for coffee or kick some tyres.
“For people further afield it is a branding exercise where they can follow up when they get home.”
Chris Guy, head of longtime AgQuip exhibitor, Dean Trailers, agrees farmers still want to kick tyres but are less likely to turn up at field days expecting to buy on the day.
“A decade ago we’d sell 14 trailers off the site,” he said.
“Now people do some pre-show research into what’s on the market and what suits their needs, then they come to us to get more specifics and discuss customised requirements before putting in their order.
“If we’ve been doing our job well, we get the sale soon enough.”
Roy Firth, marketing manager for Rapid Plas Australia, said being a local company meant they had both strong sales and interest.
“AgQuip is our field day, because it’s close to us and this is our country,” he said.
“People take advantage of us being at AgQuip.”
Mr Firth said there were also more left-of-field reasons for a company to exhibit.
“We use it as staff training for our staff who are in the office.
“Its good for our guys who are normally talking to dealers to speak to the end user directly.”