WOODSTOCK, Ont. – It was an epic three days for farmers in southern Ontario September 11-13.

Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show – the premier outdoor agricultural showcase – took place those dates at Canada’s Outdoor Park in Woodstock Ontario. The show itself spanned more than 200 acres, with 750 exhibitors showcasing their farming equipment, new seed and crop technology, and everything else in between.

This year, the show celebrated its 25th anniversary, so the show was a special one for organizers.

According to Amanda Macfarlane, the communications manager for the farm show, it was expected they reach their highest attendance ever – more than 44,000 visitors over the course of the show.

“We are pretty excited to be celebrating 25 years this year,” she said. “Our audience here are farmers. And all 750 exhibitors are going to benefit farms and farming in some way…Our point of difference here is we’re outdoors. Farmers work outdoors, so we are outdoors. This environment allows them to best see the equipment outdoors. Our field demos allow them to compare up to 20 pieces of equipment side by side to determine which would be best for their operations. But it’s not just that. Here they can walk down one lane and check out a tractor from one company, and walk down another lane and check our two or three more from another company.”

The 200 acres also allows for farmers to test drive up to 20 trucks at one time so they can make an informed decision when it comes time to choose a new tractor to buy.

“This outdoors style also allows us to do things such as truck ride and drives,” Macfarlane said. “We have Toyota and Ram on site…so farmers can get into the vehicles and see how they feel on the road.”

To commemorate 25 years, Macfarlane said every day from 12 p.m. – 2 p.m. free doughnuts are given away. The show also added a new component called the Innovation Showcase.

“The Innovation Showcase is new this year. Research show the main reason why they attend farm shows is to see new technology and innovation and we know our exhibitors bring new products here to launch…so and we know they are reaching the farmers,” Macfarlane explained. “So the objective is to connect those two groups together and let the farmers see what they’re looking for or what they they didn’t know existed.”

Exhibitors and attendees alike enjoyed the show.

“We’ve always sold something at the show,” said Koos Auret, a sales representative at Trans East Trailers. “We’ve been back at the show for nine years now, and we’ve either always sold or gotten really good leads and sold something after the show when we come here. And the traffic here at the show has been really busy, so that’s good.”

Richard Brooks of Easy-Kleen Pressure Systems was also having a good show. By the morning of the second day, the company had already sold three units.

“We’ve come to the show for 20 years,” he said. “And it’s always a good show for us. You get to meet a lot of people here too, which makes it nice.”

“It’s always a good show,” added Bryan Watson, product specialist at Transit Trailer. “We’ve never had a complaint with this show…shows are a necessity. We always have a good time down here. We always sell a lot of farm equipment and grain equipment while we’re here. So we come back every year.”