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CHAPTER 6
THE HARVEST DAY IS ONE
OF THOSE EVENTS THAT
ONE SHOULD NOT MISS,
BECAUSE THIS IS WHERE
EVERYTHING IN THE AREA
OF AGRICULTURE IS
HAPPENING IN THE SPACE
OF THREE DAYS.
– Mnr Japie Grobler,
Chairperson of NAMPO; 1996.
THE NAMES OF VARIOUS OF HALLS AT NAMPO PARK
COME FROM THE HISTORY OF THE HARVEST DAY
•
Donkerhoek Hall
(farm of Mr Hannes van Wyk, where the first
Harvest Day was held)
•
Hopefield Hall
(Mr Moos Haddad’s farm, where the Harvest Days
of the Free State were presented)
•
SAMPI Hall
(predecessor of Grain SA)
•
NAMPO Hall
(predecessor of Grain SA)
•
Fanie Ferreira Hall
(last Chairperson of SAMPI and first Chairperson
of NAMPO)
•
Roodebank Seed Hall
(Mr Flip Viljoen’s farm, where the Eastern
Transvaal’s Harvest Days were initially presented)
The success of the Harvest Day was confirmation that SAMPI had a unique recipe.
To demonstrate a variety of tractors and implements under working conditions on a
non-competitive basis at one venue addressed an urgent need of maize producers.
Although the organising committee had to work resourcefully to convince mecha-
nisation exhibitors to take part, the concept of the Harvest Day was rapidly gaining
ground – to the dismay of SAMSO and Co., but to the benefit of a unquenchable
spirit of solidarity that was taking root in the ranks of SAMPI.
From 1969 this popularity led to additional harvest days on a regional basis under
the banner of SAMPI’s Central Harvest Day Committee, namely one on the Eastern
Highveld (today Mpumalanga) and one in the Western Transvaal (the current North
West). The Harvest Day that was held near Standerton was initially presented on the
farm Roodebank of Mr Flip Viljoen. Later it moved to the farm Uitgezocht of Mr Tienie
Louw in the Hendrina district. At Ottosdal it was presented on the farm Rietvlei of
Ms Annie Lombard. By 1972 the three Harvest Days boasted an attendance of more
than 11 000 producers at the various venues.
First national Harvest Day
By 1972 a Central Harvest Day Committee was formed to oversee the regional
harvest days. Mr Janneman Venter, Chairperson of the committee, visited the USA in
1972 to investigate the Field Showmodel, and in collaborationwith themanufacturers
he planted the seed for presenting one Harvest Day, but on a larger scale.
It became a goal for SAMPI to make a permanent harvest day venue the annual
centre for agricultural mechanisation in South Africa. The suppliers of mechanised
equipment and implements also said that one central exhibition and demonstration
effort was more affordable and effective than three separate harvest days. A decision
by the committee inOctober 1972 to combine the three harvest days into ‘onemassive
presentation’ from 1973 and to present it at one central, permanent venue, led to
A controlled mechanisation demonstration during the Harvest Day in 1972.
By 1972 the regional harvest days were al-
ready established. This is the poster from
that year.
“
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