Fieldays 2019: First day done and dusted

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It’s so exciting to be back at Fieldays this year, showing how we can help empower small businesses in the agri sector to run their business smarter. As the largest agricultural event in the southern hemisphere, Fieldays is the perfect opportunity for farming teams to stop, take a breath and evaluate their farm processes and management – and we love being right at the heart of all of it.

Xero and Figured have been coming to Fieldays since 2014, when we launched our Farming in the Cloud initiative. We’ve come to show the community that cloud technology can make running your business simpler, smoother and faster. By using our tools you can connect all key players of the business – the farmer, the accountant, the farm consultant and the banker, through the use of a single, online ledger.

From Isuzu trucks on a dirt track, to mechanical bull rides, to the health and wellbeing tent offering all sorts of free consultations – the event grounds have something for everything. Be sure to come along to Mystery Creek if you’re in the area this year.

The #sustainable Xero stand

As our third year as a principal sponsor of the event, our stand is located in the Main Pavilion, and was designed with the idea of communities of purpose in mind. We created a welcoming space where our agri customers can come and chat to us and others in the community about their pain points, and how they can use our tools to combat those.

We are joined by the Figured team and together, showcasing the most comprehensive and effective farm and financial management solution available. It’s exciting to see how far we have come in the last six years and what our cloud platforms have enabled us to do to make life easier for small businesses within the agri sector.

We care about the environment as much as we do about your finances, so this year our stand follows the theme of sustainability. All of our disposables (coffee cups, water bottles, toys) are compostable or sustainable, and we’ve replaced our plastic animals with edible ones – come have one as a treat!

We are also joined by Ozone Coffee Roasters from Raglan, who definitely drew the crowds and kept the stand buzzing all day.

Sustainability

The theme of Fieldays this year is sustainability – of the environment, the community, the mind and your finances. We believe that using the right technology can have a big impact on productivity both on your farm and behind the scenes, ultimately leading to a more sustainable farming business. By getting your finances in order, it makes it easier to focus on sustainability elsewhere in the farm.

It’s not just business sustainability we are passionate about – we believe in sustainability across the board, and in particular of the mind. Wellbeing is a big focus for us because we know the issues Kiwis face on a day to day basis – particularly in farming which can be such a volatile industry. Things like weather conditions, production predictions, and workload can add significant stress to farmers.

We’re leaning in and trying to do our part by launching our first initiative in the mental health space- the Xero Assistance Program (XAP). On pilot it provides 5,000 Kiwi small businesses, their employees and their families access to face-to-face, phone and online counselling.

Highlights

One of the highlights of the day is hosting some of our awesome partners. We got to take them up in a helicopter to have a look at the Fieldays grounds, drive Isuzu trucks around a beaten track, and explore the stands together. It’s always so valuable spending time with our accounting and bookkeeping partners who help look after the agri community with us.

Another highlight was Rural Catch of the Year. It was our second year hosting the Rural Catch on site, where contestants had to battle it out and interpret financial statements to impress their banks so they could be loaned money for a herd of cows. Using Xero and Figured, they showcased what their business’s profitability and success will look like forecasted over time, and used this to back up their pitch. It was a lot of laughs while they Figured out how to make their mark on the judges.

Alongside our trusty Xeros on stand to answer any burning questions, we’re also hosting small business sessions dedicated to how you can become a Xero Hero yourself. It’s been inspiring seeing the engagement we’ve had with small business owners keen to get down to the nitty gritty of Xero so they can run their business smoother. We’ve also got a competition wall where you can nominate your business (or your friend’s!) to win a free Xero subscription for a year!

Come grab a hot drink, a cow-shaped biscuit, and let’s talk numbers.

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