It was an impressive debut for the Chatham-Kent Farm Show at the John D. Bradley Convention Centre in Chatham.
The event, held Jan. 29 and 30, won rave reviews from exhibitors and farmers who took the opportunity to see what’s new in farm technology and catch up with old friends.
“We’re extremely pleased with the turnout that we’ve had, certainly within the first three and a half hours,” said Stuart Galloway, show producer for 20/20 Show Productions.
Based on the early results and positive feedback, Galloway said that the event would be back again next year.
“It’s farmers that are attending this show and that was the intent because we did it during the week when farmers hopefully have some free time in the winter,” he noted.
According to Galloway, the event was designed to give the farm community of southwestern Ontario its own show with local suppliers and companies.
“This is certainly a show that is creating commerce for Chatham-Kent and southwestern Ontario because there’s a lot of business transactions that are taking place at the show,” said Galloway.
While Ed Monforton of Amherstburg said the show is smaller than London’s farm show, he thought the Chatham event was a good show.
“The only thing is I ran into a lot of people I haven’t seen for a long time,” he joked.
It was the same experience for Dan Dalgleish, who farms near Wheatley.
“I thought it was a good opportunity to see a lot of my neighbours I haven’t seen all winter,” said Dalgleish. “There are a lot of good exhibits, a lot of representation from local dealers and seed companies, and a good opportunity to touch base and see what’s going on.”
The exhibitors, who reported a steady flow of traffic through their displays, were also impressed with the turnout
“It’s fantastic. They’ve done a good job organizing it,” said Terry Stevenson, communications manager for Southern Cooperative services. “It’s a good turnout by the farm community so far.”
“Judging by the amount of trucks in the parking lot, there’s a pretty good attendance,”
said Chad Prangley of Devolder Farms.
With lower grain prices than the last two years, Prangley noted that sales for big-ticket items seem to be running behind last year.
“People are waiting. There’s not as many big purchases made across the board,” he said.
Bob Thirwall, an agronomist with DeKalb, said the prices might cause some farmers to plant more soybeans than corn this year.
However, he added the mood is still optimistic.
As for the show, he said the timing seems to be a good fit between the Southwest Agricultural Conference in Ridgetown in early January and the London farm show in March.
“A lot of guys I talked to said it’s good for them; there’s not much going on and thought they would make a day of it,” said Thirwall.
Kim Cooper, Chatham-Kent’s agricultural specialist, was encouraged by both the turnout and the response of the exhibitors to the show.
He noted that one visitor told him that having a farm show in Chatham again was long overdue.
“It’s something as a municipality and a region to have a show to bring more enthusiasm, more information and speaker sessions and I think the overall format has been very good so I’m quite excited.” said Cooper.
