Farm show returns to big crowds and changing industry

For the first time since 2019, the agriculture industry gathered in Woodstock, Ont. for Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show.

It is the largest show in the province, and crowds were bigger than expected.

“All that pent up, whatever you want to call it, is here today and I think we're pretty excited now that they’re here. Just to be able to celebrate the industry.” said Doug Wagner, president of the show.

Spread out over 330 acres at the Discovery Farm in Woodstock, the top names in agriculture and the newest innovations were on display.

“It's kind of interesting to see some of this new innovations coming down the pipe in so many directions. And yes, agriculture has changed quite a bit in the last three years,” said Wagner. “And of the biggest changes, is the innovations made in robotics.”

“There's just a wide variety of robots coming into plant, fertilize, spray. You name it for a wide variety of crops,” he added.

Robots that run on battery, solar energy and hybrid models were demonstrated and the demand for the technology will only increase as labour problems in the industry persist.

“We absolutely see these helping with the labor challenges in agriculture, not just from the being able to do tasks that people don't necessarily want to do, but also changing the type of work that's necessary on a farm,” said Jason Gharibo of Haggerty AgRobotics.

The future may include a fleet of robots tending to the soil and even harvesting crops.

And if the leap in technology over the past three years is any indication, that future could be sooner than we expect.