FASHION, food and faster ways of doing thing were the themes of this year's Henty Machinery Field Days.

Early gate counts indicated above average Thursday attendance for the final day of the three day event.

HMFD chairman Ross Edwards said overall it had been one of the most successful field days ever with the largest number of sites and site holders and with the addition of new interest areas such as the Farm Gate Produce Market.

“Everyone appeared to be leaving with something – be it a bag of apples, a bottle of wine, a generator or even field bins ready for harvest,” Mr Edwards said.

“We are just happy if the visitors have a great day out, learn something which will help with their farm or business and catch up with a few friends.”

The Natural Fibre Fashion Awards brought to a close three days of an action packed program in the Country Lifestyle Pavilion. Judge, David Tester, head of the Wool Quality program at the Sheep CRC, said the calibre of the 60 entries was high and it was difficult to select the best.

Taking out the overall award of $2000 prize money donated by the Henty Machinery Field Days Co-operative was Albury designer Abi Thompson for a hand dyed 70 per cent wool 30 per cent alpaca felt sleeveless coat.

Inspired by the natural tones of the Australian bush, the back featured an embroidered banksia pod design.

The award for the best knitted or crocheted garment was won by Judy Bond of Buronga, a previous winner and long time supporter of the awards, for her stunning floor length knitted black wool gown featuring a long split in the skirt.

Another Albury designer, Peta Schaefer of Billion Dollar Dreams, took out the millinery award for a large black and red hat accentuated by a large red silk bow and a cherry design pattern.

In a first, the accessories award was won by a lap top/hand bag made of leather by designer Tash O’Hara, a first time entrant.

Back to the farm and the winner of the Australian Tractor and Machinery Association Award for the best Australian made machine at this year’s field days was the Mid-West Industries twin windrowing platform. Made in Dalby, the 50 foot wide machine can be fitted to a tractor to create double windrows in canola and other crops, creating efficiency gains.

The machine is available through Hutcheon and Pearce.

Visiting Thursday’s Henty Machinery Field Days was the Federal Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Senator Joe Ludwig. Senator Ludwig said his visit to Henty was a low profile on, allowing him to “see the latest in agriculture and talk to farmers.”

“While my portfolio has been tough, people in rural and regional areas are fantastic to work with,” he said.

“They’ve been through tough times and through good times in farming and they keep on working hard  to improve Australian agriculture.”

Accompanied by HMFD chairman Ross Edwards, Senator Ludwig inspected the NSW DPI crop variety trials and visited a number of site holders.