Twitter makes it clear how much people involved in agriculture have in common, all over the world. Most share similar values and interests and have the same sense of humour.
Websites, blogs and social media now help innovations spread in leaps and bounds. Previously, any number of people would be simultaneously working on similar projects, unbeknownst to one another. Whereas now information can be shared in an instant, results discussed, and progress hunted along immediately.
A plethora of annual agricultural and rural events occur right through the year, all over the world. In-person attendance is ideal but time and money doesn’t allow endless travel – however now it is possible to glean some useful insights from these events, online. Especially via Twitter.
Some of the best known and most sigificant rural events around the world are listed below, in the months they usually occur in. I will continue to add other events as I find out about them. Only the largest events have been listed – ie events that are state-wide, national or international – and regular. This is not because ‘bigger is better’. It’s just not practical to list events of every size, as there are simply far too many. There are pros and cons of large and small events – if travelling, I recommend attending a variety of sizes. A small one-off field day might be the most personable and rewarding event you ever attend! Near the bottom of this page there are some suggestions on how to find other rural events, of all sizes.
My @Agri_Events Twitter account also contains news regarding worldwide rural & agricultural events (congresses, conferences, forums, workshops, seminars, field days etc); Twitter agribusiness forums (agchatoz, agchat, agrichatUK, agchatirl, etc), rural awards & grants (Nuffield Farming Scholarships, Churchill Fellowships, RIRDC Rural Women’s Award, etc) and ag education.
Please do let me know if you have an additions to suggest – to help other travellers and to help event organisers publicise their event.
CALENDAR OF MAJOR AGRICULTURAL EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD:
JANUARY
UK – Oxford Farming Conference, Oxford
USA – National Western Stock Show, Denver (Colorado)
USA – American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) Annual Convention, (in a different state each year)
FEBRUARY
CANADA – Advancing Women conference (women in ag); Calgary (Alberta)
CANADA – Alberta Beef Industry Conference
FRANCE – Salon International de l’
USA – World Ag Expo, (USA’s largest ag machinery expo), Tulare (California)
MARCH
ARGENTINA – ExpoAgro (Argentina’s largest and most comprehensive agricultural exhibition held on a 300 hectare farm in the heart of the pampas, over 4 days.)
AUSTRALIA – ABARES Outlook Conference, run by the research arm of the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources. The Australian Bureau of Agricultural & Resource Economics & Sciences (ABARES) provides research, analysis and forecasts regarding primary production.
CANADA – Calgary Stampede (famous annual rodeo plus other livestock-related events), Alberta
UK – Crufts (the world’s largest dog show); Birmingham
UK – Shire Horse Society Show; (the world’s largest gathering of Shire horses)
USA – International Livestock Congress, run by the International Stockman’s Education Foundation
APRIL
AUSTRALIA – Sydney Royal Easter Show; (Australia’s largest agricultural show; runs for 2 weeks. Floating date between March & April as it is attached to Easter.) Sydney (NSW)
MAY
AUSTRALIA – Beef Australia, (Australia’s largest cattle expo, held every 3 years. Next event in 2018); Rockhampton (Queensland)
UK – Balmoral Show; Northern Ireland
UK – Badminton Horse Trials (3 day event), Badminton)
UK – Royal Windsor Horse Show (Multiple international equine events), Windsor Castle
JUNE
UK – Open Farm Sunday, (UK-wide)
NEW ZEALAND – NZ National Agricultural Field Day; (NZ’s largest agricultural show.) Hamilton (North Island)
JULY
AUSTRALIA – The Australian Sheep & Wool Show; (the largest wool sheep/wool show of it’s kind in the world), Bendigo (Victoria)
HAWAII – Farm Fair
UK – International Cheese Awards; (the biggest cheese fair in the world), Nantwich
UK – Royal Welsh Show; (The UK’s largest agricultural Show), near Builth Wells (Wales)
AUGUST
AUSTRALIA – Royal Queensland Show; (“The Ekka”), Brisbane (Queensland)
AUSTRALIA – Agquip; (Australia’s largest agricultural field day [machinery oriented]), Gunnedah (NSW)
AUSTRALIA – Sheepvention; (sheep show featuring fine wool merinos and heritage breeds of sheep); Hamilton (Victoria)
AUSTRALIA – Lambex; (A relatively new event, run by a committe of growers & staff from sheep industry organisations); SE Australia, various locations.
UK – English National Sheepdog Trials (Many sheepdog trials are held in various locations across Britain, throughout the year.)
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
SOME RECOMMENDED WEBSITES:
EUROPE:
Fédération Equestre Internationale (Equestrian events)
UK:
The Association of Show & Agricultural Societies
IF YOU ARE VISITING AUSTRALIA OR AN AUSTRALIAN TRAVELLING AROUND OUR COUNTRY:
Many Australian primary industry organisations hold seminars/forums, field days and/or an annual conference.
National industry organisation, representing a number of state and industry-specific primary producer organisations:
State industry organisations (in annual conference order):
- WA Farmers (annual conference in February)
- AgForce Queensland (annual conference in March)
- Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF); (annual conference in June)
- NSW Farmers (annual conference in July)
- Tasmanian Farmers & Graziers Association (TFGA); (annual conference in July)
- Livestock SA
- Pastoralists & Graziers Association of Western Australia (PGA); (annual conference in September)
Conservation-related organisations:
- Landcare Australia (Many field days are held throughout the year, across Australia)
- Australian Rangelands Society (National biennial conference, held in a regional area, usually during winter).
Industry-specific grower bodies & commodity councils:
- Canegrowers National organisation representing sugarcane growers.
- Australian Banana Growers Council (Biennial Banana Industry Congress, during the dry season [winter])
- Ricegrower’s Association of Australia (Annual field day in March)
- Cotton Australia (an assortment of training events held throughout the year; particularly comprehensive & useful website)
- NSW Irrigators Council (conferences not held annually)
- Graingrowers (several programmes, mainly aimed at fostering the next generation of graingrowers)
- Ausveg – Australian national body representing vegetable and potato growers (annual conference held in June)
- Dried Fruits Australia
- Summer Fruit Australia (formerly the Australian Fresh Stone Fruit Grower’s Association Inc)
- WoolProducers Australia National body representing Australian woolgrowers.
- Australian Live Exporters Council (Annual ‘LIVEXchange’ conference in November; held in conjunction with Livecorp, in different city locations across Australia)
- Livecorp National body representing Australian livestock exporters. (Holds annual ‘LIVEXchange’ conference in conjunction with ALEC, as above.)
- Australian Dairyfarmers (ADF)
- Australian Port Limited (APL)
- Goat Industry Council of Australia (GICA)
- Cattle Council of Australia (CCA)
- Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association (NTCA) (Annual conference held at the end of each wet season – around March)
Plus others, such as:
- The Australian Sheepdog Workers Association (regular dog trial events throughout the year plus a National Sheepdog Trial event, usually in March)
AUSTRALIAN FIELD DAYS:
The more closely settled the region, the higher the number of annual agricultural field days. Consequently, there are many run in the southeast corner of Australia and the few that are held in the north aren’t necessarily annual. In North Queensland, Westech Field Days are held at Barcaldine every three years, and the North Queensland Field Days at Townsville are held every two years. There is a comprehensive list of Australian Field Days, particularly in Victoria & NSW, on Trade Farm Machinery’s website.
INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL ORGANISATIONS:
Five Nations Beef Alliance – FNBA includes 5 national beef organisations; Australia’s Cattle Council, Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, America’s National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Beef + Lamb New Zealand, and Mexico’s Confederación Nacional de Organizaciones Ganaderas. These 5 organisations represent producers of 30% of the world’s beef.
RURAL WOMEN’S SOCIETIES, IN AUSTRALIA AND OVERSEAS:
Refer to the separate blog post, Rural Women’s Organisations – Australia and other countries. Most of the organisations hold events; either an annual conference or regular get-togethers.
OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION ON RURAL/AGRICULTURAL EVENTS, WORLDWIDE:
There are many rural event calendars online, however there are very few that are comprehensive and kept up-to-date. It is extremely time consuming & often those involved are volunteers. If travelling, I recommend these other sources of rural event information (eg a ‘calendar of events’ or what’s listed in the ‘news’ items):
- Departments of Agriculture
- Farmer organisations
- Agricultural show societies
- Rural newspapers & magazines
- Tourism authorities – national and state tourism authorities are capital city based and of little use when it comes to information relating to agriculture or ag-related events. Tourism bureaus and information centres in smaller towns are usually far more helpful, as quite often there will be some staff members with a rural background and interest. So enquiring locally when you are in the vicinity can unearth great events that have flown under the radar of the large tourism information offices.
If planning to include attendance at agricultural events in travel plans, bear in mind that events occur at particular times of the year due to the weather. In cold climates, indoor ‘speaking’ events are held in winter and outdoor ‘hands-on’ events are held in summer. For example:
- In the US and Canada, many large conferences and other indoor events are held during the coldest winter months, when there is less to be done outdoors on farms, due to inclement weather.
- In the UK, most agricultural shows and other outdoor ag-related events are scheduled during the warmer months, between May and September. (When tourist numbers also peak.)
- In northern Australia, most agriculture-related events are held during the cooler dry season months; between May and September. And due to vast travelling distances and sparse population, quite a few events aren’t held annually, only every second or third year – to ensure a large attendance and make it cost effective.
Many farm tour companies such as Quadrant Australia take groups to visit agricultural events, providing the added enjoyment and usefulness of travelling with a group of like-minded farmers.
Australians who work in agriculture can claim genuine agribusiness travel (eg for educational, input or sales reasons) as a tax deduction. Ask an accountant for details of exactly what is and what isn’t claimable.