Chairman's Message
Over the years Agfair has developed into the biggest biennial event on Broken Hill's calendar and draws patrons and exhibitors from all parts of Australia. With Agfair 2008 behind us plans are now under way to make 2010 an even bigger and more entertaining event.
The 2008 event had 300 exhibitors in attendance and saw approximately 10,000 patrons through our gates. The newly designated entrance points helped with traffic congestion and allowed patrons much faster access to the site, and the new perimeter fence further enhanced our site security. Most exhibitors reported good trading, although tough conditions for graziers was still evident in the Western Division, the greater emphasis on entertainment helped to draw more patrons from outside of the agricultural industry and boosted sales.
Agfair 2010 will mark our event's 20th year of operation and the partnership of the Rotary club of Broken Hill and the Pastoralists Association of West Darling is still going strong. The Committee’s debriefing meeting identified a few areas that needed improvement and we are now in the process of addressing these matters to make for an even smoother running event next May.
Broken Hill and the district is currently undergoing a downturn in the mining industry due to low metal prices and the world financial crisis. However there are still some promising projects on the horizon with Uranium One commencing construction at its Honeymoon Mine site in early 2009. Bemax has commenced the expansion at its Snapper deposit and Epuron is still confident that construction of the Silverton wind farm will commence in early 2010. Hopefully we will also see some good rains in the region prior to Agfair in May and we can all enjoy the benefits.
I look forward to welcoming you to Agfair 2010 and wish you well with the opportunities that it will present.
Kevin Taylor
Agfair Chairman
