The Oxford County Junior Farmers ran a bus trip to the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Kentucky from February 11th to 14th. Participants on the trip spent two days walking the largest indoor farm show in America, covering 1.2 million square feet. Several companies made official debuts of their new products, providing lots of shiny iron for us to look at.
It was promising to see a large number of Ontario-based agricultural manufacturers at the show, as well as several attendees from Ontario. It sure is a long ways to drive to meet people from your own neighbourhood! It was easy to strike up a conversation about agriculture when joining other attendees at a table for a quick rest break. We also learned a lot about different crops and techniques that aren’t common in Ontario, including burley tobacco, peanuts, cotton, and pivot irrigation.
We were fortunate to attend Friday night’s Championship Tractor Pull. It was a real highlight for everyone, as the Oxford County Junior Farmers proudly hosts the Embro Truck and Tractor Pull. We would like to thank Steve Johns with Syngenta Canada for getting us tractor pull tickets.
This trip had been talked about and dreamt of for a few years, but became a reality this year as an excuse to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Embro Truck and Tractor Pull. Not everyone on the trip knew each other when we left, but on our drive we had lots of time to catch up on the farming news and get to know one another.
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For more information please contact:
Drew De Bruyn, Louisville Bus Trip Coordinator, Oxford County Junior Farmers
519-608-3095|dibblevirginia@gmail.com
Oxford Junior Farmers is an affiliated club with the Junior Farmers’ Association of Ontario. The clubs work to build future rural leaders through self-help and community involvement. Junior Farmers is open to youth aged 15 to 29 from rural and urban backgrounds with an interest in building leadership skills and community involvement. Oxford JF currently has 27 members, and is involved with several projects throughout the year, including food booths, the distribution of the Real Dirt on Farming magazine, and the Embro Truck and Tractor Pull.
