Primex Field Days has wrapped up in Lismore, closing a three-day run that drew students, landholders and the general public into the timber industry for the agricultural showcase’s first staging in the Northern Rivers. A wide forestry programme drove much of that traffic, run across 21 to 23 May by the North East NSW Regional Forestry Hub.
Securing the annual event was a coup for Lismore, which hosted Primex for the first time in 2026 after years in which the showcase had built its name elsewhere on the North Coast. Primex owner Bruce Wright set out the preparations for the Lismore staging in an interview with Talking Lismore ahead of the gates opening.
The hub’s programme ran the breadth of the sector across the three days, moving from valuing the forest on a private landholding and the workings of carbon credits through to high-value hardwood furniture and the restoration of degraded landscapes. Crowds of students moved through the forestry exhibits and pressed speakers with challenging questions throughout the event.
Hub manager Nick Cameron said the response from younger visitors had been the standout of the three days, with secondary students drawn to forestry careers and primary-aged children captivated by the working machinery: “The primary students loved watching the equipment demonstrations,” Cameron said.
Andrew Hurford, chair of Timber NSW and chief executive of the Hurford Group, said the reaction from students and the general public pointed to a high level of social licence for the forestry sector. Exhibitors ranged from plantation growers SuperForest Plantations and Hurford Forests through to Koppers, whose timber utility poles carry much of the Australian electricity network, alongside sawmillers producing flooring and decking.
Organisers expect the forestry presence to return when Primex next runs, with the hub reading the Lismore turnout as a measure of public appetite for the industry’s story. Three days of full exhibits and a steady stream of students have given the sector a strong case for a permanent fixture on the Primex floor.
For more information about the Primex Forest Industries Dinner, click here for Wood Central’s exclusive coverage from the dinner.
