Western Farm Press Logo

West’s farm shows worth millions

World Ag Expo, other shows a boon to local economies.

Tim Hearden, Western Farm Press

February 29, 2024

21 Slides

The Salinas, Calif.-based Veda Farming sells equipment to growers throughout the West, including seeders, shredders, reverse tillers, rippers and weeders.

The company sets up displays at nearly a half-dozen farm shows each winter. Sam Stoffers, a company sales representative, was talking up customers at the World Ag Expo in mid-February after doing the same at the Colusa, Calif., farm show a week earlier.

The benefit of marketing at farm shows is “just being able to speak with people you wouldn’t otherwise run into,” Stoffer said. “There’s been a lot of people who’ve come by.”

Veda was among more than 1,200 exhibitors using 2.6 million square feet of indoor and outdoor exhibit space at the Tulare expo, held Feb. 13-15. The expo anchors a busy schedule of late-winter and early-spring farm shows on the West Coast. Among the others:

  • The Sierra-Cascade Logging Conference in Anderson, Calif., included a 75th annual forest products and construction equipment expo Feb. 6-8. The annual event includes displays and competitions such as a “backhoe rodeo.”

  • The Spokane Ag Expo and Pacific Northwest Farm Forum, billed as one of the largest farm shows in North America, was held Feb. 6-8.

  • The Colusa Farm Show, whose organizers and local attendees call it “the granddaddy of them all,” celebrated its 59th year on Feb. 6-8.

  • The Southwest Ag Summit, the desert southwest’s premier agricultural industry show, was held in Yuma, Ariz., on Feb. 20-22.

  • The Northwest Ag Show in Salem, Ore., was postponed in mid-January because of fierce winter storms and now is scheduled for March 13-14 at the Oregon State Fair and Expo Center.

  • The Central Oregon Ag Show is set for April 6-7 at the Deschutes County Fair and Expo Center in Redmond, Ore.

Related:Official talks up specialty crop initiative at WAE

The farm shows give growers an opportunity to see the latest in equipment and technology before they embark on growing season and provide a boon to local economies. The World Ag Expo has generated millions of dollars locally and has had a global impact, Fresno’s KFSN-TV reports.

Here are some sights from the World Ag Expo and Southwest Ag Summit.

About the Author(s)

Subscribe to receive top agriculture news
Be informed daily with these free e-newsletters

You May Also Like