You could almost guess Red Deer, Alta., was set to host Agri-Trade just by looking at the forecast: snow, blizzard conditions, followed by a deep freeze is the basic recipe for just about all the major winter agriculture trade shows.
Not easily daunted, RealAgriculture field editor Kara Oosterhuis was on location at AgriTrade this week to walk the rows of new equipment and technology and check the pulse of the farm-level optimism.
Oosterhuis says that the crowd and the enthusiasm at the show is the most similar to pre-pandemic levels, and it feels good to be bumping in to familiar faces and digging in to what’s new and neat for the 2023 growing season.
Here are four key take-aways Oosterhuis gathered from attending the show (hear more below):
- Order equipment and parts early: some supply chains are still 12 to 24 months behind, with no real end in sight
- Hold on to existing equipment until you have the replacement handy: Don’t sell while you shop. Rentals are slim to none, too (so try not to let anything burn, please)
- Optimism is maybe a little to strong a word, but attendees certainly are feeling hopeful for the season ahead
- There are some frustrations out there regarding input prices and supply chain issues, but there is some momentum too on decisions, i.e. fertilizer purchases
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