THE WIMMERA Events Centre at Longerenong, near Horsham, hosted its first machinery exhibitions since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 last week.
The Wimmera Machinery Field Days committee hosted a small demonstration day featuring a handful of major machinery dealerships at the Events Centre, home of the field days last week.
"It was only a relatively small event that we put together with on short notice but there was a lot of interest there," said WMFD committee president Sam Eagle.
"We had around 160 people coming through and having a look so it shows there is a real appetite from farmers to get out and have a real look and kick some tyres rather than just browse on the internet," Mr Eagle said.
"The committee is really thrilled with the quality of machinery the exhibitors managed to bring in, it included some really cutting edge gear," he said.
James Gardner, Emmetts John Deere, said there had been good interest in the machinery the company had displayed.
"We've had some good seasons here in the Wimmera and this year is also looking OK so there is some optimism about and people are keen to get out and have a look at things once again," Mr Gardner said.
The Wimmera Machinery Field Days event in March 2020 was the last major rural event to be held before COVID-19 inspired lockdowns took hold.
Both the 2021 and 2022 editions of the field days were called off, but Mr Eagle said organisers planned for the iconic event to return bigger and better than ever.