New Zealand agricultural history. Whatawhata Hill Country Research Station. Joe McLean

 

By Dr Clive Dalton

(Whatawhata Research Station scientist 1968-1979)

Joe McLean - research station farm manager

Joe McLean

Research on hill country farming needed
In 1952 Joe McLean went to work at the ‘Ruakura Hill Station’ where his father was a fencer. The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries had purchased the block to do sheep and beef research to help farmers increase production after WWII. The station of 2000 acres of rough hill country on the Raglan deviation, had been cleared from native bush in earlier times, but a lot of it had reverted to scrub, bracken and gorse due to lack of investment and technology. 

In 1952, the farm had virtually no fences, and even the boundary fence was in disrepair, and there were no decent farm roads or tracks to get around the property.  Joe said the Ministry of Works had the job of solving the access problems – and they had all the gear and expertise to do an excellent job.

Horse power

Horses were used to provide transport for men and materials around the farm, and fence battens and wire were packed out on pack saddles on the horses.  To save work, strainer posts were cut from the large Totara stumps left over from the initial bush clearing, and they were easy to saw and split for fence battens. Chainsaws were not available at that time.

Fencing

Fencing and fence maintenance took up a large amount of Joe’s time, as did the demands of scientists for subdivision for their increasing number of trials to improve and manage pastures.  There must have been hundreds of miles of fence in the station.

Top dressing by air 

Fertiliser had been spread by hand on hill country up to the 1950s, when Ossie James pioneered top dressing first using tiger moth planes, and then much later, the American Fletcher arrived in New Zealand which was a leftover from the Vietnam war.  As a result of the 1939-45 war, there were many young men with flying experience who were keen to enter the developing top dressing industry.

To increase pasture production, the hills were starved of productive grass and clover species (seed spread from the air), which then needed lime and phosphate to help them grow.   Ossie James who was a great personal friend of Joe McLeans had the solution by flying on superphosphate and lime on to the hills.

Joe helped Ossie develop the hopper to hold the fertiliser under the plane, and the bunker to hold and protect the fertiliser from the weather, as well as the loader fitted on the front of a truck or tractor to fill the hopper on the plane.

A lot of this development was don the neighbouring Alf Moore’s airstrip and on other Raglan airstrips.

Joe had many wind-blown rides in Tiger Moth planes, sitting in seat in front of the pilot.  Joe’s boss and the first station Superintendent was Ted Clarke, and Ted’s son Dr Neil Clarke, who was brought up on the station, remembers his Dad relating how he had a rides in a Tiger Moth holding on the spars of the wing, to point out to the pilot which bits of the farm he wanted topdressing.

 In the 1970s, under Director Dr Doug Lang, Joe designed and oversaw the building of an airstrip on the station with the advice of James Aviation.  It was in the middle of the farm to save flying time and fuel.  It has a spectacular take off down a steep hill and a similarly impressive landing for empty planes coming up hill again.

The electric fence

The other great innovation, which helped to revolutionise hill country farming, was the development of the electric fence at Ruakura Research Centre by Doug Phillips, and then it’s commercialisation by Bill Gallagher. Bill consulted Joe on many aspects of hill country fencing in the early stages, and methods of erection.

Gallaghers purchased sawmills in Australia to mill the hard native Jarrah timber for fence posts, which they marketed as ‘insultimber’.  The wood was so dense that current couldn’t flow in them, but they were heavy to handle and were overtaken by plastic.

Due to the steep topography, in the initial clearing, the bush had been left in some of the gullies, which Joe said in later years had been a good idea to prevent erosion. Slips were a common feature of steep slopes in wet winters on the Maeroa ash soils.

In getting power to outlying paddocks, it was always tempting for farmers to run wires, high in the air across deep gullies, rather that take the fence down one steep side and up the other. These high wires were lethal for top dressing planes and had to have visual markers hung on them.  But even so, they were still dangerous and nobody was more aware of this than Joe McLean.

Water supply

Joe spent endless hours developing and maintaining the farm water supply, which became essential once more paddocks were needed for trials. Joe designed a complete farm water reticulation scheme, and carefully mapped it so pipes could be found by others and for future planning.  Water had to be pumped from main creeks to water tanks on top of hills for gravity feed to the rest of the farm.

It was a familiar site to find Joe crouched on a roadway by the side of a small hole he’d dug, 'rolly' cigarette hanging in the side of his mouth, and a small fire in the hole heating a plastic pipe to make a watertight joint.

 Then when more houses were built on the station in the 1970s and 1980s as staff expanded, Joe had their water and septic tank needs to worry about, as well as other maintenance issues.  There was always problems and complaints from tenants about water quality, which came from a main creek out the back of the farm, and which was very weather dependent, as after heavy rain was not good to produce clean washing. New families arriving had to accept a few weeks of gut problems until they ‘got adjusted!

On one occasion a large Friesian cow had fallen down the hill into this main creek and ended up on it’s back, very dead.  There was no way it could be pulled out, so Joe had the solution through his loyal staff member and fencer Jack Jones. Jack had ‘contacts’ at the Te Pahu quarry and a few sticks of gifted gelignite into the cow solved the problem beautifully, leaving a pristine creek in a matter of a mini seconds. You had to look hard to see any evidence of the cow on the surrounding hills.

 The homestead and hostel 

The old Homestead sign rescued by Ray Armstrong

The single men at the station were housed in the hostel’s six rooms under the eagle eye of Mrs (Ma) Smith. She fed them like fighting cocks, and provided food for shearers and visitors from all parts of the world who came to see the station’s work.  Joe was her right-hand man – and dealt with all her needs and complaints.  There were also a smaller single women’s quarters and Ma Smith made doubly sure they were kept well separated.  Ma Smith had good hearing and was very alert to squeaking spring beds!

Joe McLean was revered by a whole range of station Superintendents and Directors, as research expanded. The station changed to be controlled by a Director and dropped the title of the Ruakura Hill Station to be the Whatawhata Hill Country Research Station around 1967. 

As stated above, Ted Clarke was the first Superintendent, followed by veterinarian Dr Gordon Edgar, then Ian Inkster (‘overweight Ian’ Joe called him) and then Dr Doug Lang as the first Director with more independent administrative powers.   Doug was followed by station scientist Graeme Hight, and then Dr Peter Rattray who saw the station wind down.

A famous scientist was Dr Monika Wodzika Tomaszewska whose husband Matthew Wodzika was a shepherd on the farm and sadly died a young man. Monika moved to Ruakura after his death and I took her place, joining the staff from UK in 1968.

L to R:  Clive Dalton. Doug Lang and Minister of Agriculture (and Raglan MP) Doug Carter, visiting the station in 1975.  Photo by Ruakura photographer Don 'whiskers' McQueen taken at the top yards

 Sheep yards and cattle yards

Joe oversaw the building of endless sets of sheep and cattle yards all over the farm, doing both the planning and building. When Joe started at the station, there were no cattle yards, and the first set he built was at the woolshed by the Raglan road.  This building also included the main office, smoko room and scientists offices and lab.

Shepherds complained endlessly about how long it took to get stock from the back of the farm to the yards for routine handling, so pressure was on Joe in the early 1970s for a large new set of sheepyard as well as a cattle yard in the middle of the farm with the luxury of a covered roof.

The new woolshed 

New woolshed and yards in the centre of the farm. Location for Open Days

 The Ministry of Works got the contract to build a new woolshed, but the allocated money ran out before it was fully finished. Joe finished the job by using many small requisitions for material (with Doug Lang’s encouraged approval), without approval by the Research director (Dr Wallace) at Ruakura.  Joe and Doug were masters at this ‘art’ of getting around public service regulations.

 Joe had designed a cover for the new sheep yards but the Ministry of Works wouldn’t approve it, as it had to be made to stand a one-in-a-hundred year cyclone, so it ended up with massive laminated beams and decimation of the budget.

The swimming pool on the station was a classic joint venture by Doug and Joe.  It was officially a fire prevention reservoir for the houses! Photo below shows the Dalton kids (outside pair) and Peterson kids (centre pair) ready to dive in - about 1967.

Joe often joined the station kids for a well-earned swim at the weekends - there must have been 20 kids around the pool at any one time - and they always had friends from town to come and enjoy the fun.  Every kid on the station learned to swim in the pool

 Joe also had to manage the hygiene and testing of the pool and do all the ordering of chemicals. It was one of the few fire safety resevoirs with such high health standards -but no bureurcrat ever questioned this.

 Annual Field days

At the annual Field Day in Ruakura week in June, there would regularly be 1000 farmers who would trek their way (by foot and on wheels) up to the top yards to see scientists reporting their research. Even buses were driven up the one lane track to the terror of many passengers. 

To relieve visitors and staff from the suicide track, Joe oversaw the building of a new track down from the yards so a looped one-way traffic system could be used. This again was another McLean major engineering job.

Dog motels

The ‘dog motel’ was another masterpiece of Joe’s work. Before the top yards were built, the dogs were housed in kennels right outside the old woolshed and offices, and their barking and smell were always a challenge to conversation with visitors to the station, especially those from MAF head office in Wellington. 

So Joe had the job of designing a new set of kennel motel units for the 20 dogs, and it was a masterpiece of design and construction.  There was a spring coming out of the steep hill above the kennels, which Joe channeled into the motel to provide a constant supply of clean running water.

At Field days, Joe knew that farmers came to criticise, but they also quietly came to copy Joe’s ideas. Nothing made Joe happier.

Neil Woods - station engineer

Joe was greatly assisted in his innovative ideas by Neil Woods who was the workshop engineer. Difficult challenges took time, and impossible ones took a little longer for Neil who invented and made a mind-boggling range of gear.  These included bridges to be dropped across creeks, cradles to do laparoscopy on sheep, trailers to carry bulls, gates of all sorts and sizes, cattle stops galore, and a classic loading ramp with counterbalance weights so it could fit any size of truck deck. 

Paper work

Joe had an amazing admin load to keep the paper work going.  This was endless with materials needed by everyone on the station – right down to the meat from the Ruakura abattoir for the dogs.  All these orders required Joe to make a weekly trip (and more if needed), to the store at Ruakura in the station van or truck.  Beside the requisition book on Joe's desk was an official government ash tray made of Bakelite, full to overflowing with buts.

Weather station

The weather station was another of Joe’s responsibilities with daily collection of data to be sent to the Met office in Wellington.  Rangi Wood (Neil’s wife) did the reading, but Joe was her stand-in and had to supervise the data and make sure it got to Wellington each month on time.

Gorse 

Gorse was the biggest pest on all the Raglan hills, and spraying it was an annual battle which Joe did himself, and then supervised contractors like Bill Binder who worked at the station for decades.  They never won the war!  Bill Binder's spray unit was an old army troop carrier, which carried about a mile of hose that Bill dragged through man-high blocks of gorse.  His skin was permanently pink from the dye in the 245T spray. Bill lived well into his 90s so he must have had a strong tolerance of carcinogens.
 

 Retirement

Joe ended his days in retirement with his wife and lifelong supporter Molly, living on the station, looking out on all his hard work, but with the satisfaction that he had made a major contribution to New Zealand hill country research and farming.  We put him in twice  for a New Zealand honour , but he refused to accept one. That was the calibre of the man – he never wanted public recognition or thanks.  His death was sadly mourned by hundreds of those who had worked at the station over many decades, and from all parts of the world.

At the opening of the new buildings on the station around 1980,(which were subsequently moved to the Ruakura campus),  there was a station gathering at which I read my poem, and presented Joe and Neil Woods with ‘The Whatawhata Long Service Medal’ for their contribution to research.  It was a polished brass cow tag that we used before plastic tags were invented.  They should both have had real ones.

An Ode to Joe McLean, 
Farm manager for over 40 years service. Died 2008

By Clive Dalton 

The fence is down
The creek is blocked
The water's all aflo,
We're heading for a balls up
If we can't find blardy Joe.

The rails are on
The posts are in
But the concrete's drying slow,
Jock's bringing in the blardy cows
For God's sake send for Joe.

The shearing's due
The shed's not ready
The Min. of Works are slow,
We'll never finish it ourselves
Just leave the job to Joe.

The track has gone
The hillside's cracked
Any minute she could go,
We'll lose the whole damn'd paddock
We'd better send for Joe.

Jack's cut the pipe
The water's brown
The nappies ‘ill never clean,
Carol's talked to Rangi
And she's after Joe McLean.

A run cow’s died
She's in the creek
She's poisoning the domestic flow,
Jack's blown her out with jelly
Who showed him - it was Joe.

The weather's right
The fern's been lit
Back Range is all aglow,
Oh shit - the fire's in the bush
Jeeesus - send for Joe.

Ruakura’s phoned
They're seeking blood
The requisition's not been seen,
They're asking who approved the job
We all said - Joe McLean.

For all of us
Who spent time here
There's one thing we all know,
That we owe a massive vote of thanks
To our idol we call JOE!

And when that day
St Peter calls
Cos' his gorse has begun to grow,
He’ll open up the pearly gates
And say - Come in mate, you must be Joe!

Further reading
Farrelly, Elizabeth, J. (1986).  Whatawhata Hill Country Research Station.  An historical review.  Ejay Enterprises.  

Communicating with farmers: Using effective displays & exhibits

By Clive Dalton & Geoffrey Moss

Getting a farmer's attention - what stops crowds nowadays? Models, challenges, puzzles, pictures and posters, demonstrations and displays. A 'must-read' guide to persuasion and effective communication when facing the rural business-person.

How is YOUR exhibit or display going to be noticed in this lot?

Displays and exhibits have always been a popular way to get information across to farmers. Rural folk like to ‘see’ things in preference to reading about them. Modern technology should make displays and exhibits more effective, but they will still fail unless some basic principles (discussed below) are followed. Failure can mean a massive waste of time and money, and frustrated providers and receivers of the information.

What’s the target?

How many of these people will come to your exhibit?
How many will just walk on by?

Get this clear before you start:

• Who is the audience?
• What is the message?
• Is a display or exhibit appropriate?
• How much space have you got?
• Where will your exhibit be?
• Who is going to design it?
• How much time have you got?
• Who will staff and service it?
  
• What is the budget?
  

The question about the budget should always come first, but it’s amazing the number of people who start planning and making displays with no idea of what it’s going to cost, and where the money is coming from. See "Further reading" for how to set out a detailed budget.

The type of audience needs a lot of thought. The most important issues are age and sex. If you want to change things on a farm, you need to think about who is going to cause that change and make decisions about your message back home on the farm. Who do you think will even dare raise the question for discussion.

Where your exhibit will be is often related to how much you paid for the site. Make sure you inspect the site before you start designing anything

Examples
One good example was messages on ‘producing clean milk’ which we in MAF aimed at male dairy farmers for 30 years, when we should have aimed it at the women on the farm who knew all about hygiene and who were zealots for cleanliness. We missed misjudged the target.

Another good example is the generation gap, where son thinks the new idea is great and will make millions, and Dad declares it won’t work and they cannot afford it in any case. Who do you have to convince?

Seating
At field days when farmers are expected to walk around a series of displays, and stand to listen to the messages at each point, somewhere they need to sit down, especially if the older generation will be in your audience. Seating need not be expensive and farmers are quite happy to sit on hay or straw bales.

What seems to happen is that when have paid a few hundred dollars per square metre for a stand, they see it as a waste to fill some of their exhibition with seats. It’s not a waste.

When legs and body get tired, the brain switches off, so remember this about your audience.

Space is an important issue as you may have to pay for it. At major events space is usually sold in 3m x3m units, and this can cost a few thousand dollars. So it must be used effectively. If people don’t stop at your stand, at these prices you really have wasted money.

 This display has included nice seats. Why are there no farmers?

Has their  investment been worthwhile?  How would they measure that?

Why a display or exhibit ?
Answer this question in your priority order. Don’t have any more than three answers.

• Meet clients
  
• Teach
• Show and tell
• Demonstrate a product
  
• Motivate
• Bring about change
• Create awareness
• Offer a service
• Improve your image
• Make a sale
  

Promoting an ‘Image’

An expensive corporate stand with glossy brochures.
Who is it really for? What's the farmers' take-home message? Why are there no farmers there? Why are the allstaff talking to each other and not  soliciting passers by?

This is a legitimate reason for and exhibit so some organisations can meet their clients. There are plenty of examples in farming like pest control and environmental organisations.

But how often do you see a massive display, covering mega square metres and lit up like an ocean liner where corporate organisations have spent tens of thousands of dollars. I can only conclude it was to make them feel good, as there was no ‘take home message’ for farmers, other than a fancy brochure that got binned around the corner. The enclosed corporate pen may survive.

The message - to be effective
When thinking about your message, think about human behaviour. A bit of animal behaviour can be useful thinking of humans as animals and not vice versa. Effective messages must be:

• Simple
• Interesting
• Informative
  
• Stimulating
• Have a memorable ‘take home’ message
• Topical
• New
  

The outcome of all these are to:

• Cause action
• Make a sale
  

Time limits
Remember the 30-second rule. It’s supposed to takes about 30 seconds to create an impression, and about 90 seconds to capture an audience – so time is not on your side. TV advertising is cutting down concentration time to even shorter times, and there are complete cooking programmes now which only take 60 seconds.

How to STOP your audience

A good crowd stopper - 'show and tell'.

The exhibitor is enthusiastic about his product and it shows.

At events where people are free to move around, unlike a seated audience, the first job is to stop them walking past. So it’s possible for exhibitors to spend a fortune on their exhibit and few folk stop to see it. People like sheep are a flocking species. They will stop to see why others have stopped.

So think long and hard about what makes people stop, so they will come into your area. Use these singly or in combination:

• Something new
• Something with a 'wow' factor

My tractor is the bigger than yours!

• Action – things that people can see, hear or smell.
• Noise. This attracts people but in very noisy environments like large field days, your noise may have to be louder than your opposition to attract attention and may put people off.
• A crowd creates action with someone talking on a loudspeaker as others may think they could be missing out on something. But a packed stall where no more can get in will put others off as they can’t see anything.
• ‘Giveaways’ create action – but do this carefully as some folk don’t like being ‘accosted’ to take something even if it’s free. The pretty girl trick is used to get males to take material and this can get sleazy and not for farming events.

 Balloons and toys are always popular.  Sadly this wee girl hasn't read the notice - the toys are for sale!

• A quiz with prizes – heard over a loud speaker. Seeing others winning certainly attracts others, no matter how small the prizes are.
• Humour – cartoons, with added action if the cartoonist is drawing new ones.
• Smells and tastes – free food or drink samples are always a winner, as people think it will save them money buying food.
• Flashing lights – these used to attract rural folk but it’s probably been overdone. Rural folk have had enough of this.
• Personalities - Comedian/singer/sport’s personality. A well-known performer will draw a crowd but there will be a large fee involved. Make sure you know what they are going to say and do, as some famous sports personalities in the past have been a disaster, assuming that rural folk like filthy jokes. They don’t.
• Animals. These always attract people.
  

Ideas for displays or exhibits
Here are a few principles to remember to stop people and get them into your area.

KIS principle – keep it simple

A sheep breeder's small area shared with others to reduce costs.

One big picture, few words, one chart, some sheep - a good simple message.

There’s nothing worse than when every available space is filled with clutter, so that if there ever was a message, - nobody is able to crack the code. Such exhibitors must be worried about what they have paid, and don’t want to waste a square inch of it.
Remember that ‘less is more’ and the brain likes space around things. Have one big clear message if possible and certainly never ever more than three.

A poor and un-manned display.

Why would anyone stop to read and leave their details?

Have new information
If you have nothing new, then most folk will walk past in their search for something they have not seen before. People don’t have time to waste on old news.

Types of display or exhibit

1. Contrast and compare
This is a good idea if the comparisons are real and meaningful and not a mass of small figures on spreadsheets in complicated coded jargon. Figures must be easy to see. In comparisons, make sure you don’t upset any commercial sensitivities which will end you in court.

2. Models

Scale model of woolshed used by salesman to show what the finished job would look like.
Much easier to visualise than a builder's plan.

These were popular in years gone by and worked well e.g. model woolsheds and farm dairies. Electronics can now be incorporated with models for greater impact. Models are expensive to make and have to be carefully handled. If they need to travel they need damage-proof boxes and clear instructions inside the lid for assembly, and return.

3. Challenges - puzzles and quizzes

A test of dexterity or skill will attract both young and old

These must be relevant to your message, and the risk of ridicule by giving the wrong answer is not high. Make the questions relevant to your topic that are not ambiguous and create discussion or debate. Have some easy and some hard questions. Have some pathetically easy and see how suspicious folk are, e.g. How many wires are there on a seven-wire fence?

You will need a quizmaster who should be a bit of a comedian to get people enjoying themselves. The problem always is that so many hands go up together that you have to pick somebody as you can rarely see who was first. Make sure you pick people from around the crowd, and some children who will answer for their parents.

4. Pictures
Pictures are supposed to be worth a thousand words, and if they are really good they’d be worth more. Today with digital technology there’s no excuse for poor pictures. Here are some points to consider.

• Only the highest quality pictures will do.
• Don’t use old pictures – take new ones.
• Photos should be relevant to the display.
• Use large shots (eg panoramas) for backdrops.
• Avoid a mass of small prints covered in plastic.
• Use a few large prints for impact.
• Keep captions large and short.
• Leave plenty of space around pictures.
• If you use a ‘slide show’ make sure there is room for all to see and they don’t block the crowd flow. Make sure the technology works and you have backup.
  

5. Live exhibits
Live animals always create an interest but remember these points:

• Display animals should be good specimens.
• They should be quiet and be happy to be tightly confined or tethered.
• They should be clean and well prepared.
• Animals need feed, water, shade and shelter.
• They need enough space to be comfortable.
• At the end of the day in a small pen, they may need to be taken to a large rest area where they can exercise.
• It’s a good idea to have two teams of stock so each only spends one day at the exhibit.
• Make sure the animals cannot be teased by small children or can cause injury to the public.
• Make sure you know how to contact a veterinarian at the exhibit.
  

6. The ‘peep show’.
This always arouses interest through curiosity, but inevitably it can cause congestion with people waiting to have a look, and probably losing patience and walking away if they have to wait long. So it’s important to have more than one viewing place.

This concept can be extended to the Aladdin’s cave or ‘chamber of horrors’ where people have to go into a dark entrance way with low lighting in the area to see the exhibit. Give this careful thought as it may scare children (or attract them) and it may be a great venue for pickpockets!

Humans are like sheep and are generally loathe to enter a stand if they cannot see a way out, so have a clear flow in your exhibit and go sparingly on the dull lighting.

7. Working demonstrations

These are always winners provided there is:

• A good commentator.
• A good sound system that does not fail.
  
• An interesting message.
• Plenty of action, e.g. more than one activity at the same time.
  

8. Poster displays
These are used at conferences or meetings where there is too much information to be given as spoken presentations, so some authors are offered wall space to present their findings or show their product. They are not easy to get right, and you see some very forgettable examples. Consider these points:

• The venue. So often it’s the foyer which people race through going to other ‘important’ places, and it’s the place where morning and afternoon tea are served. After being locked up in the formal sessions and being desperate for a drink, there’s often little chance of anyone even talking to you.
• I have seen many scientists jut print the paper they would have read, and stick it on the wall! Keep the words to a minimum and use the ‘newspaper principle’ of the inverted triangle – get you message in the first paragraph.
• Use big attractive photos with well-written captions. Copy the ‘photo essay’ principle.
• Have extra information as an attractive handout.
• Make sure you are there when your clients are there.

9. The un-manned stand
This is to be avoided like the plague, as the chances of stopping people is very low. However, if circumstances dictate that this is your only option, your only hope is to use large pictures with massive impact, and very few words. You have got 30 seconds or less to make passers-by hesitate and maybe read one headline. The place to leave their contact for more information needs to be very clear.

10. Graffiti boards
When farming was in the doldrums in the 1980s at the MAF display at the National Fieldays we put up some massive blackboards for people to express their feelings. It was an amazing success, and there was a crowd there all the time reading and writing.


General points to remember

• Have a good simple and clear message.
• Don’t try to say too much.
• Make it topical.
• Use simple language.
• Limit the number of words.
• Proofread your words and double check your data.
• Use upper and lower case – only use capitals for HEADINGS.
• Don’t use fancy fonts.
• Rectangular shapes are better than squares.
• Round off figures to whole numbers or at most one decimal place– and use charts with colour.
• Have neutral backgrounds and use bright colours for your message.
• Put more extensive information in a brief handout.
• Use people who are good communicators on the stand.
• Get them to be proactive and make first contact with the people – but don’t be too pushy and aggressive. Farmers hate that.
• Any questions they cannot answer – get contact details and make sure these are followed up immediately after the event.
• Staff should be dressed appropriately for the event. Farmers are now very suspicious of people in suits, wearing black slip-on shoes and a mobile phone permanently stuck in their hand!
• Staff on a stand should be talking to customers and not to each other.
  

What kills an exhibit?

• No message
• Grotty presentation
• Clutter
• A person sitting on a chair on their mobile phone.
• Staff on the stand in huddles talking to eachother.

The farmer in red is waiting till the staff have finished their conversation to get some help!

Note staff in the background doing the same.

Mobile phones

Sadly these are now part of our lives and it isn’t going to change. There is nothing which sends out a more negative message than when you pass an exhibit, and there’s a person (usually a man) sitting on a chair or standing on his mobile- talking loudly or texting. No wonder his has no customers as the body language is saying ‘please don’t disturb me as I’m too busy to talk to you’.

If you need a phone on your exhibit, then make sure users goes behind a screen to use it out of sight of the public. They don’t need shout so the whole place can hear.

The human body
Tiredness is such an important issue to be aware of at large events with few places to rest. It can affect your message as the state of peoples’ concentration level (mental energy and blood sugar) when they get to your exhibit can make a big difference about what they take home.

Farmers are early risers so you will get their full concentration from 7am until morning tea when energy drops a bit. After that they go well till lunch (noon till 1pm) then will last them until mid afternoon. After this they get itchy feet and want to get home. In any case, accompanying family will have had a enough and will be tired, often to the point of exhaustion.

This is a high-risk time for your handouts as they can so easily be deemed as junk mail and go into the bin on the way out. Keep whatever you write brief.

'At the end of the day'
Have an honest review to ask:

• Did you achieve your objectives?
• Was your money well spent?
• How do you know?
• You had better find out
• Will you repeat the exercise?
  

Further reading
Read Chapter 6 "Persuasive Displays' in 'Persuasive Ways' by G Moss, available on website www.mossassociates.co.nz