LANGHAM, Saskatchewan – July 23, 2018 – Ag in Motion™ has once again exceeded attendance expectations, welcoming 30,335 people through the gates over the three days of the show. Wednesday, the middle day, was the biggest ever single day for the show. Attendance was 11,425 – more people than the entire first Ag in Motion, just four years ago.
Tens of thousands of farmers took in large field demonstrations of air seeders and tillage equipment, viewed the latest seed and crop protection technology displayed in 32 acres of crop plots, livestock handling and equipment demonstrations, knowledge based programming, individual demonstrations hosted by exhibitors, ride and drives, and more.
This year, 459 agricultural companies attended as exhibitors, an increase of over 50 from 2016. This number has more than doubled from the 209 exhibitors that were part of the first Ag in Motion in 2015.
“Ag in Motion has quickly become a staple show in Western Canada. We’re seeing it in the numbers of attendees and exhibitors, as well as in the feedback we’ve received from farmers, agricultural companies, sponsors, partners and other stakeholders,” says Rob O’Connor, Show Director.
Another area of growth this year was industry partnerships.
Ag in Motion partnered with STARS Air Ambulance, Morris Industries, Bayer Crop Science and dozens of others to host the inaugural Field of STARS event, which raised over $530,000 for the vital air ambulance service. An additional donation from the Canadian Canola Growers Association brings the total to over $630,000.
This year’s Innovations Program was run in partnership with Saskatoon Regional Economic Development Authority (SREDA), and attracted 36 entries across four categories. Winners were announced on Monday, July 16 at a reception in Saskatoon hosted by Agricultural Manufacturers of Canada. Categories and winning companies and innovations were as follows:
- Agricultural Equipment Category: Schulte Industries with the DHX Disc Harrow
- Plant and Soil Science Category: NRGene with GenoMAGIC
- Animal and Livestock Category: College of Agriculture and Bioresources – Department of Animal and Poultry Science with a method of converting Fusarium-infected and vomitoxin-contaminated wheat into chicken feed
- Agribusiness Services Category: CropPro Consulting with SWATBOX
Adjacent to the 320 acres of show site, another 320 acres features a new applied research farm project. A wheat crop was seeded, cared for and will be harvested this fall through a partnership with Bayer Crop Science, Morris Industries, Nutrien Ag Solutions, Stoller, Versatile and AGI. The intention of this project is to show how tweaks to inputs impact yield and therefore the bottom line. Stay tuned for results this fall, and an expanded program in this area in 2019.
“The Ag in Motion show site is a unique venue that becomes ‘home’ to hundreds of companies and tens of thousands of farmers each July, making it an ideal place for companies to form these partnerships for events and programs that will benefit the agricultural industry,” continues O’Connor.
The entire Ag in Motion team thanks the companies, farmers, partners and other stakeholders who have contributed to this year’s success. Planning has already began for 2019, including new demonstrations, events and more infrastructure improvements.
Ag in Motion was held in Langham, Saskatchewan on July 17-19, 2018. Next year’s Expo will be held July 16-18, 2019. For more information, visit aginmotion.ca.