Faces new and old: Final day of Agfest draws in thousands

It was all happening on day three, with sheep dog trials, four-wheel drive demonstrations, cattle handling and plenty of tractors for children to climb and be photographed in.

Tasmania's biggest agricultural field day welcomed back many veteran exhibitors, such as the NRE Tas tent - celebrating 40 years of participation - and Simon Martin Whips and Leathercraft with 20 years under his belt.

For some, 2024 marked their first year at Agfest, such as Wendy and Lyle Davis' Bass View Timber Creations which took home the best small site award.

Buy once, buy forever

Mr and Mrs Davis relocated from New South Wales to Lulworth in 2019 and said their business initially began as a bit of fun.

"It started out as a hobby, which got out of control, and now we do this full time," Mr Davis said.

"This is our first year at Agfest and [we're] loving it.

"It's been a great weekend, and to win the small site award on top of that was just unreal."

The couple said they they "couldn't even guess" how many people have passed through their site, and they're planning on coming back next year.

Mr Davis said encouraging people to buy quality, long-lasting wood pieces that stand the test of time was what inspired him.

"We need to get back to buying something once, buying forever," he said.

"You would hand that down to your kids, which they'd hand down to their kids, and [so on] - because it's going to last a lifetime.

"There's no big factories involved, no big fancy machines; it's just me and an eight by eight-metre shed at home."

Keeping it local

Another local business quickly becoming an Agfest regular is Truffles of Tasmania, who have returned for their third year.

Louisa and Geoff Anderson relocated to Needles, Tasmania from the Northern Territory and bought the truffle farm in September 2021.

"We've just loved being here and meeting new and old faces and reconnecting with local stallholders," Mrs Anderson said.

"The economy has been really difficult, [and] we know firsthand what it's like with rising interest rates and costs.

"We've really tried to offer some good deals and discounts and products that people can afford."

Mrs Anderson said they have been exercising their five truffle hunting dogs to prepare for the upcoming season.

"You can book a tour and we take you out and you can hunt, harvest and take fresh truffles home," she said.