Peggy Revell
Hoping to find inspiration and ideas to bring back to Rainy River District, the Rainy River Future Development Corp. once again is organizing and partially funding a group trip to the Canadian Western Agribition in Regina.
“The Canadian Western Agribition is very much an agricultural show—kind of like the Royal Winter Fair [in Toronto], “noted Angela Halvorsen of the RRFDC, who is co-ordinating the five-day trip from Nov. 23-27, which people still can register for.
“But it’s more agriculture and probably a little more focused on the beef and cattle side of things, the ranch-type style—more western,” she added.
The RRFDC has seen anywhere from 15-25 people from the district participate when it has organized the trip in the past,” said Halvorsen, giving locals a chance to network and see what producers are doing out west.
“We do a little survey of what people found out there, and what people think might be able to be brought back to the district,” she explained.
For example, one of the things Halvorsen herself has looked into is the use of alpaca fibre, which is hypoallergenic and can be used for products just like sheep’s wool.
Others have attended Agribition to try and look for sales of their beef cattle, or bull and breeding sales, she noted.
“There’s that kind of networking that goes on,” Halvorsen remarked, noting some have attended several times in order to go back and speak with the people they’ve met there.
“Even things like getting packaging done differently to be more attractive,” she said, referring to ideas people from the district have taken back from the exhibition.
“So just little things can come out of it, too.
“You don’t necessarily have to be from the farming community—there’s lot of other things that go on, as well,” Halvorsen added.
“There’s a huge trade show and, of course, all kinds of places to shop right on the site.”
There are different cattle shows, horse shows, cattle sales, demonstrations, herding dog competitions, chuck wagon races, sheep shows, and rodeos every night.
“So it’s almost like a mini-Calgary Stampede in many ways,” Halvorsen noted, adding people can check out the event’s website at www.agribition.com for a complete schedule of events.
And Agribition won’t be the only stop along the way. The group also will visit the Food Development Centre in Portage La Prairie, Man.
“[This] is a place where you can get some of your products developed,” explained Halvorsen, noting the facility does things like product testing, making food labels, helping with research for ingredient lists, and barcode labelling.
“So we’re going to do a tour of that facility to kind of break up the trip about halfway, and give people a chance to see what goes on there and some of the success stories that they’ve had in the past,” she reasoned.
Participants will leave on the Wednesday, using that day to travel to Regina. Then they can attend Agribition on the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday before returning home on the Sunday.
The RRFDC is partially sponsoring the trip through its Local Initiates Fund by paying for transportation (at this point either by bus or vans).
Participants are responsible for other costs associated with the trip, such as food and lodging.
As part of organizing the trip, the RRFDC has reserved a block of rooms at a Regina hotel at $154.99 (plus taxes) per night, noted Halvorsen, with a shuttle available to take people to and from the exhibition.
“We do actually suggest that people share a room because it can be costly,” she stressed, noting they will need to know participant numbers by next Tuesday (Oct. 25) as that is as long as the hotel will hold onto the block for them.
Participants also would be responsible for covering entry to Agribition, which costs $15 for a day pass or $40 for a three-day pass.
Halvorsen said she is looking into getting a group rate.
Those interested in more information, or booking a spot, can contact Halvorsen at 274-3276.
