ORLANDO, Fla. – North America’s newest farm show lived up to its billing as far as international content goes. It attracted participants from 63 countries. However there were only 7,000 of them.
Many exhibitors had been hoping to see more farmers.
Ag Connect Expo organizers said 2,000 of the registered participants at the Orlando show were farmers, 1,800 were other agricultural businesspeople, 800 were equipment dealers and the rest were exhibitors.
By comparison, more than 300,000 visitors pass through the gates over three days at the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Kentucky, which features 850 exhibitors. However, many attend more than one day.
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Regina’s Western Canada Farm Progress Show attracts 43,000 visitors, with a single day peak of 17,000. The seven day Agritechnica in Hanover, Germany, sees 250,000 visitors paying $100 to see 2,500 exhibitors.
Canadian manufacturers attending the Orlando show said fewer farmers attended than they had hoped, but there were other business opportunities for manufacturers, dealers and component makers.
Adam Reid of Versatile in Winnipeg said the show is a premium event and for a “first year, well, you can expect it might take some time to catch on. The farmers that are here operate significant operations and fit into most exhibitors’ (target market) demographics.”
Organizers said the average producer attending the event farmed 2,900 acres. With many coming from the U.S. Midwest, that was considered to be significant acreage.
Other exhibitors said the event was slower than expected, but one of the wintriest Januarys on record, including snow, heavy frosts and sustained cold temperatures, may have kept some potential participants at home.
“Where are the farmers?” said Zhejiang Weig of Changzhou Han-Sun Machinery Co., who made the trip from China to exhibit some of his company’s equipment.
” We hoped there would be more of them. We did have some good business contacts with dealers. We had hoped for more farmers. We will try again in Atlanta next year. We like the event, but (it) needs more farmers.”
Manufacturers from nearly every continent used the show to introduce their most sophisticated machines and systems and their latest innovations, many of which are a few years from reaching the market.
Agricultural organizations and companies also organized their regional meetings around the show.
Marvin Cooney, a farmer from Stirling, Ont., said he was disappointed not to see more machinery but was impressed with the high level of product knowledge shown by company employees at the exhibits.
“They were the people who run the engineering and product production and development, not just sales reps,” he said. “We also got to sit in some really informative education sessions, too.”
Charlie O’Brien of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) said manufacturers have for several years asked for a professional farming show similar to Agritechnica in Germany, one of the biggest in the world.
“We wanted a show that would take place in a warm destination, a potential holiday spot that was timed to take advantage of a time when farmers are not in the middle of their production cycle,” he said.
Agco chair Martin Richenhagen, who chaired the AEM in 2008, said the show is in response to the fact that the world’s two largest farm equipment shows are in Germany and France, despite North America having some of the most progressive farmers and many leading manufacturers.
O’Brien said the show’s board hopes to eventually develop a co-location plan with a major commodity or agronomy event that would connect the machinery to the rest of the agricultural business world.
“We provided some very advanced, forward looking education events at Ag Connect and will again next year. We had some great speakers and workshops. They were all fully booked by farmers attending this year.
But co-locating with another professional farming event would be ideal,” he said. “We are committed to making this show work.”
Agritechnica is a minority shareholder in Ag Connect Expo, and the two events will be held in alternating years. Next year Ag Connect will be held in Atlanta.
