REGINA — It seems that Canada’s Farm Show has found its spot on the calendar.
Last week’s event was the first time in its 48-year history that it was held in March, as it was held in June previously.
Show director Carla Vipond told reporters on the third and final day of the Farm Show that she heard a lot of positive feedback from exhibitors and attendees.
“My gauge of success is talking to farmers, exhibitors, and sponsors,” she said. “I’m certainly hearing from our exhibitors that they’ve had record sales – they’re writing lots of quotes, they’re hearing words like, ‘we are absolutely surprised,’ and to me, from a Farm Show organizer standpoint, that’s exactly what we need to do. We’ve obviously been following what’s been happening on social (media) with a lot of our farmer guests because we listen to that and in addition to the conversations that we’ve had here, people are just so glad they came and so glad they took in the show and are already excited for 2026.”
During the morning of each day, there were groups of Grade 5 to 8 students touring REAL District as part of Agriculture in the Classroom Saskatchewan’s ThinkAg Career Expo held Tuesday and Wednesday. Students also flocked to the Agricultural Manufacturers of Canada (AMC) Mobile Skills Lab to try their hand at operating various farm equipment via virtual reality.
There were a pair of pre-show events leading up to the Farm Show – the Jelly Roll concert on Sunday and the welcome reception on Monday night. A highlight of the welcome reception was the inaugural winners of the Innovators Recognition Program. The winners were:
• Emerging Innovator: Jeremy Matuszewki, President, Thunderstruck Sales and Marketing
• Farmer Innovator Award: Colin Roosengren, Roosengren Farms & Co-Founder of Campresso
• Community Innovator Award: Sara Shymko, Executive Director, Ag in the Classroom – Saskatchewan
• Visionary Innovator Award: Wilf Degelman, Founder, Degelman Industries
Another award handed out was the Saskatchewan Outstanding Young Farmer Award going to Brady and Lindsay Funk from Wymark.
Vipond feels the pre-show events and a philosophy change to bring more fun and excitement made a difference. She used the Young’s Equipment Farmhouse Lounge as an example where farmers and exhibitors were able to connect and make new friendships.
The Launch Pad at Canada’s Farm Show was the site of, among other things, an address from Premier Scott Moe, a number of presentations related to technology, product launches, roundtable discussions of the provincial budget and the Canada-U.S. tariff situation, and announcements such as the latest cohort of the AgTech Accelerator Program and a partnership between Startup TNT and Farm Credit Canada.
Canada’s Farm Show has emphasized AgTech in recent years, and Vipond feels it’s here to stay.
“I think the shift that we really took this year is innovation for farmer. Farmer was at the heart of absolutely every single decision we made and we talked a lot with farmers, we talked a lot with our industry partners who have great relationships with farmers and tried to bring in programming and exhibitors that not only touched on innovation, which is infused throughout our show, but really was meeting the needs of what farmers were looking for particularly at this time of year,” said Vipond.
She announced the dates for next year’s Canada’s Farm Show: March 17-19, 2026.
