PHOTOS: STEPHEN JAQUIERY"They’ll have to think of other ways to start conversations," Mr Henderson quipped. Ardie Field, 2, from Hillend, near Balclutha, was keen to check out the mud at Southern Field Days. In officially opening the event, Mr Henderson encouraged those attending to "spend heaps" and put cash into the exhibitors’ pockets so the Otago-Southland economy could keep going "around and around and around". A large crowd attended the first day of the three-day long Southern Field Days at Waimumu, which this year features more than 700 exhibitors. But that signified that when rural New Zealand — "the backbone of this country" — stood up, the whole of New Zealand took notice and that power should never be underestimated.

Source: Otago Daily Times February 11, 2026 15:57 UTC