The Western Canada Farm Progress Show celebrated its 30th year with a significant attendance increase, show manager Rob O’Connor said June 25.
The final tally showed an 8.5 percent hike over last year, and numbers within the 10-year average of between 35,000 and 40,000.
This is the fourth consecutive year of growth and the numbers don’t include all the people who attended the two new evening concerts.
O’Connor said more than 5,100 people listened to Willie Nelson and more than 4,300 attended Paul Brandt’s show.
“I was expecting by Friday to be really, really slow,” O’Connor said after phenomenal attendance the first two days, but instead the Friday numbers were the highest in five years.
Read Also
Farmers urged to be grain-safe this fall
Working around grain bins comes with risk, from farmers falling to drowning in grain: Experts have five tips to help avoid grain-related accidents this harvest.
He said he’d like to think attendance keeps going up because organizers are providing what farmers want.
This year the show added the Heartland Women’s Expo. O’Connor said he got good feedback on how to take that to the next level.
“We could maybe have some training sessions.”
Women who didn’t grow up on a farm or who did but don’t have certain skills could learn, for example, how to drive a combine or a grain truck.
As well, he’d like to implement more programs for those farming between 10,000 and 20,000 acres.
“As we saw in the last census, that demographic is getting bigger,” he said.
Another huge draw this year was the Century Family Farm Awards, held during the show by Information Services Corp. of Saskatchewan to honour families farming their land for 100 years or more.
The event had to be closed off after 400 people, twice as many as expected, packed the venue. ISC honoured 77 families at the show. In total, 367 families qualify for the award this year.
