‘Ag Days’ set to go in Barwick

Everything is in place for the Rainy River “Ag Days” and Trade Show to go Friday and Saturday at the Barwick Hall.
Kim Cornell, former chair of the Farm Management Club, said other than a few last-minute changes with some of the guest speakers, planning the two-day event has gone fairly smoothly.
Guest speakers will cover a wide range of topics, from financial planning, presented by Don Campbell of Saskatchewan, to stockpiling forage results by Gord Scheifele, research program co-ordinator for Northern Ontario with the University of Guelph.
Telford Advent also will be speaking on the abattoir business plan, “Where We’re Heading.”
“I think we’ll build up on last year’s number of booths,” Cornell said, noting about 10 were set up at last year’s trade show.
Having more booths also allowed for more information to be displayed at the trade show, he added, and was far more time efficient than having a speaker come in on each topic.
The booths will be set up on the surface of the curling rink as opposed to around the sides of the hall’s large meeting room.
This will allow the public to view the booths without disturbing the guest speaker, Cornell said, not to mention being able to leave the booths up during the Rainy River Federation of Agriculture’s spring dinner/dance Friday night.
“The benefit is it may attract people down to the booths during the dinner and dance,” he said, and perhaps generate a little business for the “Ag Days” exhibitors.
Rural organizations ranging from 4-H to district cattlemen were approached when organizing “Ag Days,” both for direction and donations to cover costs.
“My sense is most of them have contributed,” Cornell said.
“Ag Days” also will feature once again the 1998 Seed Fair and Forage Competition, which was incorporated into last year’s event.
All entries must be at the hall between 8-10 a.m. Friday. The judging report for the forage entries will start at 3 p.m., followed shortly by the seed judging report.