Tedd (left) and Tanner (right) Maldener check out some equipment at the 2020 Ag Expo and Seed Fair on Feb. 28 at Exhibition Park.
Over 7,000 people visited Exhibition Park for this year’s Ag Expo and Seed Fair, according to the venue’s programming manager.
Avery Hardy said the event is one of Exhibition Park’s most popular and has run for a more than a century.
“In one iteration or another it started back in 1917. [That] was the very first one. There were a couple of breaks there with the world wars and name changes here or there, but some form of it has been happening since then,” said Hardy.
The competition is stiff for spots during the event year after year, according to Hardy.
“We’ve got 350 indoor exhibitors and nearly 350,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor exhibitor space, in the four pavilions, as well as machinery row outside,” said Mike Warkentin, chief executive officer for Exhibition Place, referring to the back area of the parking lot where all the farm equipment too large to fit inside was displayed.
Hardy said one of the biggest reasons people visit Ag Expo is to connect with their product representatives right before the growing season begins.
“Ag Expo is actually a huge social occasion because we’re kind of at the tail end of the off-season of farming. This is an opportunity for everyone to get together in one place,” said Warkentin.
Hardy said the past few years have been difficult for agriculture in southern Alberta, so it’s very important to visitors that they can find an advantage by using new technology.
One of the event’s new additions was the South Grow Innovation corner. Each day of the expo, industry experts gave talks about ways the region is differentiating itself from the rest of the world.
“It’s been a challenge too — certainly for dry farming because of the drought these past few years. So, it’s been a little bit harder. Last year particularly was hard getting the crops up,” said Hardy.
Despite a rough couple of years for farmers, interest in the expo continues to grow, according to the programming manager.
“So many exhibitors already are asking how do I get bigger next year? How do I get in next year?” said Hardy.
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