About the Australian Rural Education Centre.

AREC is a self funded, not for profit organisation that is best known for organising the Mudgee Small Farm Field Days event.

Today AREC is located on a 53 hectare parcel of land about 2 kms from the heart of Mudgee, adjacent the Mudgee Airport. Our site has a dedicated exhibition area that is fully serviced with power and water. There are a number of permanent demonstrations on the site and a number of permanent site users such as the Mudgee Mens Shed.
We have some very substantial pavilions able to accommodate large events.

Field Days History
Back in 1977 there had been some large division of land in the district into small farming blocks and as a result there where quite a few ‘new chums’ coming to grips with living on a rural land and enterprises of an agricultural sense.  The local office of  NSW Department of Agriculture  were fielding many enquires for information across many topics. Agronomist (Gerry Hennessy) & Horticulturist (Clarrie Beckingham) along with Mike Cox of the Beef Promotions Committee  got together  to run a field day at the local show ground to solve the information problem.

These new “small farmers”  were in one almighty hurry to know how to build a fence, milk a cow, rear a calf, sow pastures, build yards, mark calves, tan hides, make gates, ride horses, train working dogs, rear hens, butcher a lamb, bake bread etc and do it all in 2 days! It didn’t matter that it took most career farmers a lifetime to acquire these skills, these guys were in one big hurry and still are.

The event was very successful and plans were put in place to continue the field days under a separate organisation “the Mudgee Small Farm Field Days co op” The event is now the premier field days event in Central NSW.

The initial idea, education and information, is still the driver behind the event today and visitors to the filed days can still access many free demonstrations, lectures and seminars on subjects as diverse as farm management to rose pruning!

Today AREC plays host to a number of community events, sustainable building training and provides excellent, flexible hire facilities from small conference to a site capable of host very large Caravan Rallies, Machinery Musters, Equestrian events, with camping and powered sites for hundreds of people.

For more information contact us. 

Get involved – become a member.

Our members are a vital part of the organisation. They not only make our events happen, but also have the opportunity to get involved as apart of our volunteer board and help manage our activities. Members enjoy working together as a part of a big team and enjoying the occasional social get together with other members. With the Mudgee Small Farm Days being our single biggest event our volunteers work side by side with hundreds of other community volunteers to make it Mudgee largest annual event.

Give us a call or pop in to the office on Ulan Road – and have a chat about getting involved.