It's a novel move that adds a whole new meaning to the term paddock to plate.
Plans are afoot to convert a country Victorian hotel into a tractor showroom and bar.
The dormant Macalister Hotel in the Gippsland dairy town of Maffra may soon become the place to enjoy a beer while inspecting a new tractor or hay baler.
Detailed diagrams in plans submitted to Wellington Shire Council show a bar, complete with kitchen and beer garden, opening out into a showroom, which has space marked for a "tractor display".
The current hotel facade will be retained.
The business behind the unique concept is Ag Farm Machinery, which established a major machinery dealership at Warragul, 120km west of Maffra, mid last year.
It stocks a number of tractor and machinery brands, including Deutz Fahr, Kioti, Kverneland and the heavy articulated Versatile.
Ag Farm Machinery general manager Colin Fiske hoped the hotel - with upmarket restaurant - and tractor showroom would be open by the end of the year.
"Next to the pub we are going to set up a tractor dealership so you can sit in the bar and look through the glass to the tractor dealership, and why not," Mr Fiske said.
"I think it will be unbelievable. Imagine a farmer coming in on a Friday afternoon and having a few beers and thinking 'hey, there's a tractor in there I might go and buy it'."
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The owners of Ag Farm Machinery, who also own the Warragul Toyota dealership and Lexus of Blackburn, bought the Macalister Hotel business and freehold in November 2021 for $1.16 million. The hotel has not operated since.
When asked how much was being spent on the bar and showroom, Mr Fiske would only respond: "Plenty."
The bar and tractor showroom is a sign of confidence in the town of about 5000 people, despite Canadian dairy company Saputo announcing late last year it would close the town's only dairy factory.
"I think it will be terrific for the town to be perfectly honest," Mr Fiske said.
"You need another tractor dealership in Maffra. That is a busier hub for tractors than Warragul and we do very, very well here. We sell 15-20 tractors a month and we have only been going for five minutes. We think it is going to be terrific."
The Macalister Hotel project follows a former historic Maffra dairy building recently being transformed into a bar and brewery called Maffco, in a nod to the town's original dairy co-operative.
