In just three short years the San Antonio International Farm & Ranch Show has made its mark as a premier trade event attracting a diverse group of agricultural producers and exhibitors from across Texas, the U.S., Canada, Latin America and from as far away as Europe.

In spite of its international appeal, the show is a focal point primarily for Central and South Texas producers looking for the benefit offered by a major producer-oriented event without having to travel out of state.

“We’re expecting larger crowds than last year since drought conditions have improved,” says Lyle Larson, one of the two primary organizers of the event.

In previous years, Larson said Texas producers who attended the show accounted for nearly 1.5 million acres of agricultural property, including 119,000 crop acres and nearly 1.4 million livestock acres producing over 112,000 head of cattle. Producers from Mexico and South America will also make the trip to San Antonio to attend the show.

When the gates open to the grounds of the famous Joe Freeman Coliseum this Thursday, Nov. 8, organizers say they expect as many as 5,000 attendees will filter in to participate in seminars, stroll through the exhibit area and attend Friday and Saturday night’s Texas State Championship Tractor Pulling Extravaganza.

“We developed this show to primarily attract professional agricultural producers, farmers and ranchers who are looking for a trade show that offers what they need in terms of education and one that showcases the latest in technology and equipment that will help them on the farm or ranch,” Larson said. “We are marketing the show to a very targeted group of agricultural professionals who can benefit the most.”

Exhibitions include state-of-the-art technology in farming and ranching equipment, including tractors, combines and harvesters, as well as global positioning systems and new cattle management tools and technologies. There also will be numerous booths and exhibits by farm, ranch and dairy suppliers, and agriculture and agribusiness service providers.

Show exhibitors include some of the biggest names in agriculture—John Deere, Holt, Case and Massey Ferguson—and numerous smaller businesses.

“We have a number of planned demonstrations including live cattle and deer handling demos and special programs on hydraulic fracturing and how the new oil boom is affecting Texas property owners,” he added.

Texas AgriLife Extension will present their latest research on fracking and will also be staging special workshops on brush and weed control as well as drought tolerance and seed development.

The entire event takes place at the Joe Freeman Coliseum and grounds in the largest indoor ag-related, climate controlled facility in Texas.

"Bringing South Texas and Mexico a world class Farm and Ranch Trade Show has long been a dream for many of us, and I am excited to finally see it all come together," Larson said.

"This show will provide all of us farmers and ranchers the latest advances in products, technology and applications in an easy-to-reach location, while at the same time providing a wonderful and entertaining backdrop of San Antonio for our families to enjoy," says Jeff Lynch, Larson’s partner in the endeavour..

Event sponsors include StaTite Fence, Holt Agribusiness, Alexander Livestock, Southwest Livestock Equipment, Moreales Feed & Supply, Lyssy and Eckel Manufacturing, The Wind Engine, Tuttle Motor and Hardware, Wylie Case IH, Grassworks Weed Wiper, Hondo Ag Supply Marathon Oil Corporation, the Texas Corn Producers Board and IronWolf.

The show runs Nov.8-10 in San Antonio. For more information:

http://www.farmandranchexpo.com/