He is also the only present-day director to witness the last time the major event had to be called off for two years in the early 1970s.

The rural sector had stumbled on hard times when wool was worth only 30 per cents per kilogram and cattle were struggling to make $40 a head.

"It wasn't a drought, but it was a very dry time," he said.

But since they made their return and transferred to their present site in the mid-1970s east of Henty the event has grown to become one of the biggest of its kind in Australia.

Mr Edwards, who served as field days chairman from 2007 until last year, said the board was left with no other choice when it cancelled the 2020 event late last week.

"Nobody could envisage what has happened here. It is a worldwide disaster isn't it? he said.

"As directors it was the only responsible thing we could do.

"No.1 is our staff, No.2 is our members and then there is the exhibitors and their staff, the volunteers and the people who come through the gate.

"There is a lot of machinery manufactured in France, Italy and those sorts of places and to get it out of those countries at the moment is nigh on impossible."

Vennings, a family-owned, South Australian-based bulk grain handling machinery manufacturer, has been attending the Henty field days for more than 30 years.

"It's a huge call, but unfortunately it's a necessary call," manager David Venning said.

"Their target audience ranges from young farmers, their families to retired farmers who are keen to keep doing what they want to do.

"But they are people at risk and they've got to be sensible about that."