It didn’t seem like many farmers avoided Manitoba Ag Days this year, despite good weather, the long pandemic gap and the new $20 admission charges.
There was a palpable air of excitement among farm families wandering the halls and hallways of the sprawling indoor farm show. Exhibitors seemed eager to talk in person with farmers again. Speakers brought their insights and advice.
Trade show hawkers were back hawking their lubricants, safety gear, grain monitors, drones and other assorted tools of today’s farming. Organizations and associations were reminding farmers to renew memberships and come to conferences. Manufacturers were proudly showing off their newest models of tractors, combines, sprayers and planters.
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Over the years, some iterations of Manitoba Ag Days have seen few dignitaries other than the provincial agriculture minister appear to speak, but this year farmers were shown a political guard of honour bringing their regards.
“The disruptions of the last few years have shown us that even as everything else was turned upside-down, we could count on one thing: the farmers. There was always food,” said lieutenant-governor Anita Neville.
Premier Heather Stefanson brought much of her Progressive Conservative party’s caucus to the show, as had former premier Brian Pallister before.
“It’s been a few years since we’ve been here in person, but it’s so great to be back,” said Stefanson.
“Farmers are the backbone of the province.”
The new admission fee didn’t stop thousands of young farmers, children, students and Hutterite colony youth from attending. Exhibitors seemed happy with the admission charges, hoping that it would sort out the wheat from the chaff and give them more time to talk with serious farmers rather than those who turned out for a free show. Apparently non-farmers are more likely to grab handfuls of promotional pens and other materials.
Associations and companies held meetings throughout the complex, often with packed rooms. The Dome Building, a heritage structure built for the Dominion Exhibition over a century ago, hosted a sold-out breakfast attended by hundreds of Assiniboia Community College students, instructors, staff, alumni and agricultural leaders, at which the provincial government’s $10 million funding for the Prairie Innovation Centre was celebrated and the decades of service of recently retired provincial agriculture deputy minister Dori Gingera-Beauchemin was recognized.
Brandon’s hotels were booked-up, the restaurants were packed and the city felt like it normally does in mid-January. Things were a bit different, but much the same, and that seemed to be what most wanted.
