Today marks the return of the self-proclaimed "Biggest little farm show in Canada". Postponed over the last two years, the 36th annual St. Jean Farm Days runs today and tomorrow (January 11th and 12th) at the St Jean Centennial Hall.
Organizer, Brunel Sabourin, says they are happy to be able to once again put on this event. Because it's one of the first farm show of the year, he noted it's quite popular with farmers and others in the industry.
"We start off right in January so it's a bit of tune up to some of the bigger shows for some of the industry people that are exhibitors," he explained. "Following the holidays, farmers are getting back into the groove of starting to think about the upcoming growing season, so it's a great chance for everyone to meet and network."
With a full speaker program slated for the event, Sabourin says producers will be able to hear about relevant topics to their business.
"We close both days with a market outlook," he said. "Given everything that's going on in the world today I'm sure there will be some things to learn, give us an idea of which direction the commodity markets are going in the next year. We've got a fertilizer outlook this year. Given the high price of inputs, that's a timely topic. We're talking about some new pests that have made their way into Manitoba, namely Soybean Cyst Nematode, Vertascilium Stripe in canola, we've also got some herbicide-resistant weeds that we're starting to see more and more of."
As well, over 50 different exhibitors are slated to set up at the event - ranging from seed retailers, financial institutions, agronomy, grain companies and equipment dealers.
Each day is started off with a Continental Breakfast at 8 a.m., followed by a lunch put on by the local Knights of Columbus service group. A wine and cheese networking event will close out the day on Wednesday.
Started by a group of local farm families in 1986, Sabourin says the 3rd generation now has its hands in helping to organize the host the two-day event.