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Red Deer Agri-Trade 2017 the best ever for some

Nov 17, 2017 | 9:32 AM

RED DEER — This year’s Agri-Trade show was the best ever for some exhibitors.

The four-day show ran November 8-11, utilizing every square inch of available indoor space at Westerner Park, plus more outdoor exhibits than before.

Show Manager Dave Fiddler says the event was undoubtedly a success, proving the relevance of Agri-Trade’s relationship with the agriculture industry continues to flourish.

“I had exhibitors, two in particular, that said this was the best sales,” Fiddler says. “One of them has been at 14 Agri-Trades, he does seven or eight trade shows a year and he said this was the highest sales he’s ever had at any trade show ever.”

Fiddler says unlike last year, the weather was just about perfect in terms of drawing people to the show.

“It was a little colder — easier to make the decision to go to town and go to Agri-Trade rather than go outside and do some work,” he says. “Farmers in central Alberta and western Canada had an unexpected yield in their crop given the rainfall we had. So yields were good, quality was good and prices were good and it set the stage for business to be done.”

Fiddler estimates $150 million will have been spent between sales at the show and transactions which will take place in the coming year thanks to Agri-Trade.

“It’s why the show has become a must-attend event for companies involved in the western Canadian agricultural marketplace,” he says.

This year’s attendance was among the strongest in recent memory with 33,381 attendees walking through the doors. There were over 470 exhibits and 90 international visitors from the UK, Australia, Mexico, Brazil and China.