A TRAINING centre will be available to the Australian National Field Days by next year thanks to a grant from the federal government.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The $614,000 project received a $308,000 grant through the building better regions fund.
The community learning centre will include a large, multipurpose training room with audio-visual equipment, a media room with access to live-streaming and podcast equipment, a kitchen, first aid room and toilets.
To be located next to the office building, field days manager Jayne West said the seating capacity for the centre would be 170 people, including tables.
"We've got a great facility and we've got lots of sheds, but we don't have a purpose-built building that's comfortable in winter and summer," she said.
"We needed something that was a little more than a shed with modern facilities - when those tanks are gone, there's an amazing view out west."
Where the building will be located...
She said there had already been interest from the banking, machinery product and livestock sectors.
"They can actually pen sheep, they can have machinery here demonstrating onsite as well as having a comfortable facility to have their lectures and conferences," she said.
Member for Calare Andrew Gee said building the facility would allow it to be used more often.
"The field days site is used on some occasions for agricultural information days, but really it's quite limited because the facilities here are reasonably basic," he said.
"For some of these information days they would like to hold, you need to be out on a site - you can't do it in Orange or Molong."
- READ ALSO: Wives speak out at Field Days
- READ ALSO: Past, present, future showcased as Field Days get under way
- READ ALSO: Pig prodigy steals the show
Mr Gee said the field days committee was keen to involve young people in agriculture and school groups would be targeted.
"If you want agriculture to advance in this region, this is the type of investment we really should be backing because that's exactly what it's going to do," he said.
The Australian National Field Days is the oldest annual agricultural exhibition in the country.
DO YOU WANT MORE ORANGE NEWS?
Receive our free newsletters delivered to your inbox, as well as breaking news alerts. Sign up below ...