Federated Farmers Farm Day goes www.farmday.org.nz

“For urban dwellers looking to discover the country, a big step forward has come with the Federated Farmers Farm Day website going live at midday today,” says Don Nicolson, President of Federated Farmers.

The first Federated Farmers Farm Day, to be held on Sunday 1 March 2009, will take place right throughout New Zealand. Federated Farmers Farm Day will give urban dwellers a great opportunity to come onto a farm for the day and see what real farmers do, each and every day. Not a sanitised farm experience, every Federated Farmers Farm Day farm will offer guided walks and feature fun interactive ‘farming’ activities for guests. The launch of www.farmday.org.nz will also enable people to navigate easily to their host farm using embedded Google Maps.

“Given farms can sometimes be hard to find, www.farmday.org.nz features a Google Map linked to each farm. This fantastic mapping feature enables people to generate precise driving instructions to and from their host farm. It makes it easy for people to find a Federated Farmers Farm Day farm and allows people to fully plan their day.

“Another aspect of Federated Farmers Farm Day, in this current economic climate, is to showcase the optimism and innovation New Zealand’s farmers are known for. While there is a degree of doom out there, it does not reside inside the farm gate.

“New Zealand produces something the world needs, food. What Federated Farmers wishes to show is that farming abounds with opportunity, now and into the future. Everyone can ask questions and we hope that people will go away better informed about what we do. Some may even become inspired to become a farmer,” Mr Nicolson concluded.

Federated Farmers Farm Day (to date) will feature eleven dairy farms, one goat farm, seven sheep and beef farms, three arable (cropping) farms, two horticultural farms and two agricultural training centres. The Waikato farm, in Te Aroha, will showcase organic farming techniques. Federated Farmers Farm Day will be in every province, though, North Otago will run their event in the Spring of 2009.

For further information contact:

Federated Farmers president, Don Nicolson, 03 216 7405, 027 226 6331