The Mudgee Small Farm Field Days, supported by Essential Energy, are expected to attract around 20,000 people to AREC’s site on Ulan Road.

Steve Garland said the Mudgee Small Farm Field Days were originally established to cater for owners of small farms which were becoming popular in the Mudgee district at the time.

The Small Farm Field Days now cater for everyone from backyard gardeners to commercial farmers, with 68 different events on this year’s program and about 140 exhibitors under cover in the Founders Pavilion.

As well as continuing to focus on rural education, featuring livestock, horticulture, renewable energy and sustainable farming and building practices, the Small Farm Field Days also includes lifestyle and recreational displays.

We don’t expect everyone to go home and build a straw bale house, but they can use what they have learned about insulation or passive solar design in their own homes.

“Increasingly people do buy small holdings for recreational and lifestyle and this is represented at the field days,” he said.

Mr Garland said over the last 35 years, practices once considered alternative – such as solar power – had become mainstream.

The growing interest in home-produced food had been evident in recent field days, with sessions on backyard poultry proving especially popular last year, he said.

The poultry displays will return this year, along with beekeeping talks by Tim Malfroy, horticultural displays, a Waterwise Gardening display by Watershed Landcare and cooking demonstrations by Essential Energy.

Visitors to the Small Farm Field Days can adapt the practices they see to their own lifestyle, no matter the size of their property.

“We don’t expect everyone to go home and build a straw bale house, but they can use what they have learned about insulation or passive solar design in their own homes,” Mr Garland said.

New events at this year’s Small Farm Field Days will include an emu display by Emu Logic, with emu chicks on display, and a reptile awareness display featuring an array of snakes and lizards.

Sheep, cattle, alpacas and goats will be back and this year’s field days will also feature an expanded horse section, with lessons on jumping, sporting and dressage by members of the Mudgee Pony Club.

Renowed South African breeder and Mohair producer G.T. Ferreira will be speaking about Mohair production and answering questions.

An expanded health information section will include a “mini pit stop” where the Rural Support Program and Rural Adversity Mental Health Program will offer men a quick health check.

Children will be able to join in the Western NSW Local Health District’s Go 4 Fun program, with games and prizes to be won.

They can also learn how to make their own worm farms, learn how to fish and find out how to train their dog with help from the Mudgee and District Kennel and Obedience Club.