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AS the overnight rain clouds dispersed over the horizon, thousands of farmers arrived for the first day of the Elmore Field Days.
Company banners lined the tracks with machinery carefully placed on the lawns as continued demonstrations kept farmers entertained.
Each had their own reason to walk throughout the vast site, from organising the purchase of large scale irrigation equipment, to catching up with old mates.
Horse breeders Laurel and Marty Miles came up from Monegeetta, south of Lancefield, to find specialist equipment to improve their farm.
"We're here to look for a solar gate opener," Mrs Miles said.
"The reason we came up to Elmore is because you can see everything in the one place. We're trying to catch up with what's on the market."
Having everything in one place worked both ways too, as emerging businesses vied for the opportunity to make inroads into their respective markets.
Kelly and Adam Ellerton, of Ellerton Seed Cleaning at Goornong, hoped to gain new clients for their new business.
"This is our first time here," Mrs Ellerton said.
"At the moment we're just trying to meet everyone, there's been a bit of interest but there's still a while to go yet.
"Adam's worked on building machinery in the past, so we thought we'd have a go at starting our own business."
Not everyone was looking to buy or sell either, with some hoping to get a taste of rural life, and others looking to reminisce about the 51 years of the Elmore Field Days.
John and Rhonda Hicks traveled south from Deniliquin to walk through the 700 sites.
Mr Hicks said having previously farmed at Heathcote, there was always a familiar face or two in the crowd.
"We like catching up and talking to farmers. We met five people we knew almost straight away," he said.
Others traveled up from Melbourne with a possible view to a seachange.
