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CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS
MAY 2016
2
L
ast year’s Grain SA’s Nampo 2015 Har-
vest Day was a great success, carrying
on the tradition of the past 50 years
with hundreds of manufacturers vying for the
attention of the important agricultural mar-
ket. One thing that few readers may know,
is that Nampo is one of the largest privately
owned exhibitions in the world, and the larg-
est show of agricultural machinery and live-
stock in the southern hemisphere.
This pretty much explains why every year
thousands of people come from all over
the country to be part of the experience.
Bothaville serves one of the richest
agricultural communities in the country and
is regarded as the centre of the Free State
Maize Route.
The first Harvest Day took place in 1967 with
eight exhibitors and a total of 230 visitors.
This modest beginning was the inception of
an agriculturally focused, needs-driven trade
show which grew year on year to reach an
excess of 650 exhibitors and an anticipated
visitor level of more than 70 000 people in
2016.
Since 2010, Nampo has been transformed
into static exhibitions and virtual displays
on the stands of the exhibitors, staffed by
specialists and marketing personnel. As
commercial farming ventures have started
diversifying for the sake of sustainable prof-
itability, the Harvest Day organisers have en-
sured that the choice of exhibitors and the
facilities have kept pace with new develop-
ments and latest trends in farming technolo-
gy to the extent that every aspect of farming
receives exposure.
Most of the major truck and earthmoving
manufacturers will be present at the show
in large numbers this year and it will be in-
teresting to see if the number of new imports
from the East will be more evident than in
previous years. With global markets under
pressure, Africa still offers large develop-
ment potential, especially for well priced
agricultural machinery. Subsistence farming
is on the rise so the demand for less compli-
cated, smaller equipment to replace the tra-
ditional equipment has been the backbone
of agricultural development in many Eastern
countries.
Trailer manufacturers and heavy machinery
will be very much in evidence in 2016 as
farmers use larger and ever more produc-
tive machines for their soil preparation and
will likewise be using larger trucks with more
specialised trailers to move their produce.
Year after year, the importance of the Nampo
show to manufacturers grows as they strive
to reach the exclusive agricultural mar-
ket that depends on their products. There
are few opportunities for manufacturers to
showcase their products and Nampo is with-
out doubt the biggest and most successful.
The dark, lengthening shadows of drought
conditions currently enveloping the agricul-
tural sector appear to have had minimal ef-
fect on the enthusiasm and mood for Nampo
2016, from exhibitors, farmers and visitors
alike.
Pierre Sanson, Editor
COMMENT
NAMPO HARVEST DAY
celebrates 50
th
anniversary