MORRIS, Man. – It was too cold and windy to be out on the fields, but it was a great day for dreaming.
Gazing longingly at the massive state-of-the-art tractors, air seeders and harrows motoring around a small field at Ag Expo, farmers like Tim Schultz and Andre Charlot of Ridgeville, Man. got the chance to look, touch and even drive dream machines.
“Pretty nice,” Schultz said with a sigh. “But it’s out of my price range right now.” He joked that he’d probably have to quadruple his acres to be able to buy some of the equipment on display.
Read Also
Volunteers help exotic animal farm rebuild
Exotic animal farm loses beloved camel and pony to huge hail storm that gripped the Brooks, Alta. area as a community member starts a fundraiser to help the family recover from the financial and emotional damage.
Organizers of Ag Expo, the largest indoor-outdoor trade show in Manitoba, had just under 6,000 farmers view more than 280 exhibits. This is the seventh year for the three-day event.
Manager Ron Janke said he was worried a couple of weeks ago that many farmers would still be seeding and would miss the show.
“There was a bit of a panic situation last weekend, then the weather kept sticking around pretty nice,” Janke said.
“I think some of the exhibitors were concerned. Normally we’re fighting the spraying situation, not the seeding.”
Glen Lamb of Newdale, Man. drove a few hours with Dave Clark and Shawn Wilson to check out the event.
“We’re finished seeding and looking for a day out,” said Lamb, who was looking forward to a demonstration on a global satellite positioning. Lamb said he’s used the technology, which pinpoints areas of fields according to various factors such as dryness or soil fertility, in his plane, but not in a tractor.
Jeremy Dueck from Ste. Anne brought his young sons Ryan and Ron, who were a bit small to drive big equipment, but eager to climb inside nonetheless.
Air seeder of interest
“I wish I could drive everything,” Dueck said while waiting to try an air seeder. “It’s a good show, it’s a good day off work.”
For those farmers not in the market for a new air seeder, Ag Expo featured everything from livestock equipment to computer displays to information about starting a food processing business.
“We wanted to see a few new things, maybe get a few new ideas and ask questions about ideas that we have,” said Schultz, adding that he came with specific questions for cell phone and combine dealers.
Ag Expo also hosted a high-profile dairy sale, which last year had the highest sales average in the province at $2,700 and one of the top 15 averages in Canada.
