Mingenew Midwest Expo: Strong interest in machinery at WA’s first field day of the season

Machinery dealerships in WA’s northern agricultural region fielded a “good amount of enquiries” at the Mingenew Midwest Expo, especially for lower-cost products, even though delivery times have been pushed back 18 months.

With confidence in an average cropping season this year, on the back of a 24 million tonne record harvest season in 2022, WA farmers have continued to break out the cheque book and purchase new equipment, vehicles and machinery, as well as upgrade existing items.

The Mingenew Midwest Expo was the first chance WA machinery dealerships have had this season to showcase their products to the wider agricultural sector.

Redmac Moora branch manager Rob Brandis said while the numbers passing through the Expo last week were slightly down on previous years, two-wheeler motorbikes were selling well and there had been a lot of enquires on other products on display.

“Overall, we have had a good number of enquiries,” Mr Brandis said.

“Supply is still an issue, specifically for tillage equipment.

Mr Brandis said while there were no new quad bikes sold into the market due to overseas manufacturers not wanting to comply with new industry roll-over requirements — those who had them were still using them and spending thousands of dollars in upgrading and repairing them to keep them operational.

“Parts are not hard to get for quadbikes,” he said.

“People are spending thousands to upgrade and repair them, which is great for us.

Bredal territory manager for WA, South Australia and Tasmania Jono Moss said demand for new machinery was strong, pushing out delivery times for Bredal spreaders to August 2024.

Mr Moss said the Bredal F4 linkage spreader, which was new to AFGRI since June, was available at all dealerships across WA.

AFGRI Equipment Geraldton parts manager Max Holliday said a “good amount of people had been through the site during the Expo” with the new machinery models the main attraction.

“There’s been plenty of interest in our new products, especially the John Deere 616R Seed and Spray sprayer,” Mr Holliday said.

McIntosh and Son Geraldton-based regional sales manager Cadeyn Catto said interest in the company’s product range had been good with a “steady flow of people” through the site during the Expo.

“The Expo is a social event that allows people to come together and talk about things in this part of the world,” Mr Catto said.

“It’s important for us to turn up and play our part in the industry and support the community.”

McIntosh and Son’s display featured the new MacDon FD2 Series FlexDrapper, which Mr Catto said was suitable for crops like canola, as well as the new 24 metre Morris Quantum bar, which was the first time it had been on display in WA.

Machinery dealers were quick to report that they would be in attendance to showcase their products at other field days across the State for those who were unable to attend the Mingenew Midwest Expo.

WA’s largest machinery field day — the Dowerin Machinery Field Days will be held on August 30-31 — while the Newdegate Machinery Field Days will be held on September 6-7.