Uncertainty has farmers seeking new ideas

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This article was published 22/07/2023 (901 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LANGHAM, Sask. — Opening day at the annual Ag in Motion show here this week was the kind of day that most outdoor-event planners dread.

It rained. At times during the day, sheets of water poured off the tented exhibitor booths. Guests either picked their way around or plowed right through the rivulets of water pooling in the streets of this three-day pop-up city located 30 minutes northwest of Saskatoon.

However, no one complained. Attendance on opening day neared 10,000, which was on par with previous shows. Exhibitors and the organizers of the speaker sessions liked how farmers ducked in for a break from the rain and lingered to listen or chat more than they might have on a sunny day.

It’s been dry across Western Canada. Too dry. The Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada drought monitor program categorized 76 per cent of the country’s agricultural areas as “abnormally dry” as of late June. Much of Western Canada is in moderate-to-severe stages of drought. Crops in many areas are suffering.

Some analysts say the story of this year’s yield has been written, based on the conditions and rainfall we’ve had so far.

It just remains to be told. Many anticipate yields will be lower than hoped, although not as bad as 2021. The markets, meanwhile, are being their usual unpredictable selves.

However, if anything, all the uncertainty is making farmers even hungrier for new ideas.

Ag in Motion, owned by the same company that employs me, is all about showcasing innovation in agriculture. Other industry events have a similar mandate, but this show is unique in Western Canada because it all happens outdoors.

The concept, combined with a large footprint allowing for field-scale demonstrations of the massive seeding and tillage equipment, has proven popular, despite the vagaries of weather.

Companies such as the German-based farm equipment manufacturer Claas came to this year’s show to debut its efforts to tap into the North American market for high-horsepower tractors designed to pull the massive air seeders used by farmers here. It’s the first time this 110-year-old company has launched one of its products outside of Europe.

Claas hopes to give North American-based manufacturers a run for their money with the Claas Xerion 12 tractor series, a line specifically tailored to deliver what farmers from here look for in a tractor.

Game-changing ideas come in small packages too. Sales were reportedly booming this week for e-bikes that allow a farmer to quietly scoot around the farmyard or run back and forth from the field. As utility vehicles go, they are far more portable; they can be folded up and easily loaded for transport. They do less damage when used to inspect a standing crop. Plus, they cost a fraction of what it would take to buy a quad or side-by-side.

The show also showcases older technologies that are becoming new again. Concepts such as the “stripper header,” which slices only the seed heads off the standing crop, leaving the rest of the plant standing to capture snow moisture through the winter, first came to market in the droughty 1980s. They are catching more than a passing glance again now as farmers look for ways to take advantage of whatever moisture they can get.

Seed-development companies have carefully tended plots at the site since spring to show farmers their top-performing varieties and what’s in their pipeline. Companies that sell products to control insects, diseases and weeds take the same approach.

And then there are the “outside-of-the-box” exhibitors promoting ideas or processes for how farmers can solve some of their production challenges without buying a packaged solution.

It’s all a little overwhelming, but it’s also exhilarating.

For just a day, farmers left behind their worries about having enough feed for the livestock this winter or whether they can fill the crop delivery contracts they might have signed last winter to be where people are encouraged to dream big.

Laura Rance is vice-president of content for Glacier FarmMedia. She can be reached at lrance@farmmedia.com