Crowds were down on usual at the 44th South East Field Days at Lucindale with producers and the wider community feeling the financial pinch.
But organisers the Lucindale Lions Club still believe the event was a success giving the "challenging economic times".
The first day of the event, Friday was one of the quietest in years with about 6000 attendees, down from the usual crowd of 8000 to 10,000, The following day was better with about 10,000 patrons coming through the gate.
Field Days chairman Kevin Baker said the lower attendance was a "sign of the times" with the Wimmera Machinery Field Days at Horsham last month also reporting lower gate takings.
He said there was a "tremendous roll up" of exhibitors from around Australia with 483 exhibitors- more than 2023 - and not far off the 500 plus seen prior to COVID.
The AgTech tent which was new in 2023 was full to capacity with 35 exhibitors.
Mr Baker said that more than 90 per cent of exhibitors he spoke to were very positive about the event's organisation and facilities.
"Some of the exhibitors had very good enquiries while others didn't. I know of one large business which sold $800,000 in machinery last year but this year struggled to make $100,000 in machinery sales," he said.
"With the record prices we have seen and the government incentives for tax write offs a lot of people brought forward their spending and now many of them don't really need anything."
Aside from the many volunteer groups which rely on the field days as a valuable fundraiser the Lucindale Lions Club also make donations each year from the profits.
This year more than $15,000 was given out, including $5000 to the Australian Lions Foundation.
Mr Baker said they could not have asked for better weather over the two days.
"We are grateful it wasn't the previous weekend with those 40 degree plus days or the crowds would have been way down, if we had got this weather a couple of years ago we would have been over run with people," he said.
Midlands Stockyards' Paul Dongray - which won the best farm machinery and stock handling exhibit- noticed a lack of confidence with many farmers "keeping their hands in their pockets".
This was also the case with Wagin Woolarama the previous week in his home state of WA.
"Friday was very quiet for us but we had enquiries on Saturday and gave out 100 brochures which hopefully will become orders throughout the year," he said.
"Sheep producers still need to handle their sheep and want to do it with as little stress as possible."
One of the exhibitors bucking the trend was Wild Hyde clothing and apparel in the Lifestyle Pavilion. Owner Georgia Amos estimates they sold 30-40 per cent more stock than their first field day in 2023.
She says donating one of the lucky gate prizes had increased the foot traffic through her site but also believes her brand is gaining more recognition. There are only a few sizes and styles of Wild Hyde T-shirts and shorts left unsold.
"It may have also been because in the cold mornings people started out in warmer clothing and then they came and stocked up on T-shirts and shorts, by the time the afternoon came around I definitely saw people who had changed into these cooler clothes," she said.
