30 October 2024

Fieldays® and its renowned Innovation Awards are celebrating their 57th year, marking a longstanding tradition in the agricultural calendar. The Fieldays Innovation Awards deliver a global platform for problem-solvers to showcase their innovation to the primary industries, and the call for entries is now open, inviting innovators from the primary sector to participate, including those in dairy, meat, wool, forestry, horticulture including viticulture, seafood including aquaculture and fishing, arable farming, Agri-tech including food and green tech, and supporting activities like machinery, processing, and manufacturing.

A diverse judging panel from across the industry, including the newest members Emma Poole, Michelle Good, Justin White and Oliver McDermott will conduct judging starting at the end of April when applications close. The Awards will be presented at Mystery Creek Events Centre during an exclusive evening event in June at Fieldays.

With over $75,000 in cash, support, and promotion—including expert advice, product design, development, and marketing and media support—these Awards aim to help grow and develop the winners' products and services and provide solutions for the industry.

Poole, a Waikato-based farmer and vet who made history in 2023 as the first female winner of the FMG Young Farmer of the Year award in the competition's 55-year running will join the judging panel for the 2025 Fieldays Innovation Awards. White and Good drive innovation at Zespri and Fonterra respectively, and McDermott is the founding partner of Blender Design.

Fieldays Programme Manager Steve Chappell said the Innovation Awards Advisory Group and Head Judges were delighted to welcome the new judges to the panel.

“We are so lucky to have this calibre of judges year after year, and these new judges will only add to that skill set.”

Solutions on-farm continue to gain recognition. In 2024, Penny Ranger, a senior student from St. Peter’s in Cambridge won the Young Innovator Award for her invention, Mark-It. Competing in the Early-Stage category, this young entrepreneur developed a drench gun attachment that marks sheep to indicate they have been treated.

Great success stories have come out of the Awards over the years, like UBCO, makers of electric utility vehicles who first entered in 2014 and have been exhibiting at Fieldays ever since. They’ve recently taken a significant step by signing an export contract with Australia Post, showcasing the real impact the Awards can have on supporting growth and opportunity.

In 2024, the competition had the highest number of entries in a decade, a reflection of the growing demand for innovation in the market, particularly in precision farming techniques and robotics.

“If you have an idea or something already in production that can enhance operations in the Agri-industry, we encourage you to enter.  Whether you're a high school student with an idea, or an experienced innovator with a game-changing product already underway,” says Chappell.

There are three entry categories, ranging from the ideas stage right through to products already exporting and ready for buy-in. Prototype is suitable for yet-for-sale NZ-based innovations, while Early-Stage highlights innovations that have moved beyond the conceptual phase and have launched commercially within the last year.

Entries in the Growth & Scale category must have achieved market entry with a product or service in New Zealand and at least one other country within the last four years. These entrants are now ready to take the next step into new international markets.

“Wool and natural fibres were highlighted at the 2024 Awards, and it is exciting to see which trends we’ll see in 2025 for entries and winners,” says Chappell.

The popular People’s Choice Award will return in 2025, allowing visitors to select their favourite.

Fieldays Innovation Awards are kindly supported by Sponsors Map of Ag, Gait International, King St. Advertising, NZME, Sprout Agritech, and Blender Design.

Further details including entry criteria can be viewed here. Awards participants’ entries will be on display during Fieldays 11-14 June 2025 in the Fieldays Innovation Hub and around the event.