Lynette Evans asked for one thing to make this year’s Western Canada Farm Progress Show complete, and she got it – lots of it.
Rain began falling on opening day and fell throughout the four-day event.
Evans, who is the show chair, and exhibitors weren’t complaining.
Standing under a tent, water streaming from a dip in the roof, Elaine Regier, from Laird Manufacturing, said she couldn’t remember similar weather in 18 years of exhibiting.
“They’re in a better mood than we ever thought that they’d be,” she said of the farmers attending the show, and that’s because it was so dry before the show began.
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Thoughts of drought were cast aside in many parts of the province. Regina itself received about 85 millimetres of rain from Wednesday to Saturday. Broadview received the most, at 192 millimetres.
“Up until this rain things looked pretty bleak,” said Denis Bergeron, who works in product development for Harmon International Industries Inc. of Saskatoon. “We didn’t expect (the show) to be very rewarding.”
Instead, the rain brought out serious buyers, he said. Their local dealer had sold three air hoe drills by Friday afternoon.
And Mark Taylor, of Caradon Metal in Saskatoon, said staff were happy to be getting product knowledge out, even if it was cool and rainy.
“As farming goes, so do we,” he said.
He, too, said those attending the show were in a great mood.
Evans said attendance was up five percent on the opening day, which is traditionally slow. Thursday’s attendance was up 15 percent.
Figures were unavailable for Friday and Saturday, although the grounds appeared less busy on Friday afternoon. At least one event, the antique tractor parade, was cancelled that day due to the weather.
“We used every bit of space we had,” Evans said. “The precision farming seminars seemed to be going well and the exhibitors were happy with the people coming to their booths. The rain was just a bonus.”
