FOR the past forty years, just like a giant supermarket, the gates of AgQuip field days have been swung open to the public without much fanfare.
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But things were slightly different this year, with a large crowd of politicians, media and excited visitors gathered for an official opening on Tuesday.
Rural Press Events general manager Barry Harley said it was fitting to finally have a launch for the event.
“It's exciting to have an opportunity to launch something as mammoth as AgQuip,” Mr Harley said.
Gunnedah mayor Owen Hasler officially opened AgQuip, which has gone on in the past three days to attract close to its target figure of 100,000 and a few well-known faces, including actor Michael Caton and singer Adam Harvey.
Mr Harley said while a wet Tuesday had meant numbers through the gate were down on that day, the sun smiled on AgQuip yesterday, it was a “cracker” day today, and he believed the number of visitors would be close to the 100,000 mark.
AgQuip 2014 has included a few other new additions – a larger variety of food and an international pavilion.
“On Tuesday, we might not have had the quantity, but the quality was there,” Mr Harley said.
“And yesterday was just a beautiful day. The results are still coming in but we've been told the inquiry rate is just extraordinary, and the sales are quite good.”
He said organisers were “very, very pleased” with this year's event, and happy the support was still there for AgQuip after 42 years of operation.
