Outdoor Farm Show demonstrates the importance of Canada’s farming sector

Three-day agricultural fair provides an important opportunity to connect directly with the amazing people and companies who keep Canada’s food supply so strong and sustainable.

Never let a little rain dampen your enthusiasm or expectations.

Arriving to the 330 acres of Woodstock’s Discovery Farms on an early morning Tuesday to torrential rains, the muddy ground and cool September winds left me wondering what I had gotten myself and the marketing team into for the next three days. However, as with most weather in Canada, if you don’t like it, just wait an hour. Sure enough, the sun broke out fairly quickly to kick off another successful agricultural show. 

Featuring over 30,000 guests and 550 exhibitors, Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show is one of the country’s most important agricultural fairs. We were excited to be back after a few pandemic-related years hiatus.

Farming requires a huge investment to contribute so much to Canada's economy

Seeing all the farm equipment up close was amazing. New Holland Dealers of Ontario were kind enough to let us pretend to drive a combine that was large enough to dominate everything else with its sheer size. Climbing atop these giant fertilizer and harvesting machines gives perspective to how much capital investment goes into successful farming operations. It is no small enterprise. If a family is going to spend $750,000 to $1 million on a brand-new harvester, it only makes sense to spend a little bit more to give it a safe and secure steel building to protect it from the elements and help save on insurance costs. 

The Summit Steel Buildings booth was located within the central Zehr Insurance Ag Biz pavilion, between a Brantford spring manufacturer – apparently these simple yet fascinating devices are critically important to maintain and operate farm equipment of all types – and Huplaso, a New Brunswick fertilizer company that’s creating an organic version from volcanic Basalt ash suited for crops and livestock. Between food talk and comparing our travels across the country, we had a large number of interested people visit our spot. Of the people we spoke with at our booth, the vast majority were looking for steel buildings to use as workshops or to store harvest materials. 

The sunny weather held out for the rest of the exhibition’s duration, giving us a chance to explore the entire show – comfortable shoes were essential based on how large the physical layout was. I took a few breaks each day to explore and didn’t even see half of what was being offered. It’s an amazing representation of what is available to Ontario’s agricultural community. The knowledgeable people and the scale of business at the show was really astonishing.

Whatever a farm operation needs, it was to be found at this show. Exhibitors included equipment to house livestock, all sorts of new feeds, machinery of all types, mini home builders and representatives from so many different agricultural associations covering every conceivable crop or product. I had a great conversation with the team at Veal Farmers of Ontario and learned so much, including the new diagnostic tools being used to identify high-risk calves at birth.

Technology was a huge theme. Show exhibitors offered everything from solar-powered robotics to innovations in plant and harvest feeds. Live animal demonstrations and helicopter crop-dusting entertained the crowds between “talking business”, locating snacks and grabbing free promo materials (BKT’s soccer and rugby balls made from recycled tires where the most popular items at the show). 

Read CTV News London coverage of Canada's Outdoor Farm Show 2022.

The people were great to meet, the other exhibitors provided industry insight and the location was perfect to demonstrate how valuable the farming and agricultural sector is to the Canadian economy. We’ll definitely be back to Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show next year to showcase the value of our custom-made steel building solutions.