Agricultural Events

Attend agricultural events for industry insights
By Kim Mainous Attending agriculture industry events can enhance your business. These agricultural trade shows, conferences, conventions, and other events are ideal for obtaining industry-specific knowledge that you can use to improve operations and make smarter decisions about your agricultural operation.
 

It is well worth your time to attend these events. You can talk to industry insiders one-on-one and get tools and information to strengthen your business and increase profits. As you attend agricultural events:

1. Find new sources for products and services through vendors at agricultural trade shows.
2. Maintain contact with existing suppliers.
3. Keep an eye on your competition at agricultural events.
   

Research major agricultural events

Time is money, and you don't want to waste your time by attending agricultural trade shows, agricultural conventions, or agricultural conferences if it is not going to benefit you. There are comprehensive online calendars to help you research which events to attend.
Try: BizTradeShows.com has a listing of the upcoming events, including farming and agricultural events, listed on their website. If you are looking for a specific agricultural conference, ConferenceAlerts.com has listings on their website, and you can also subscribe to receive updates for free.

Find agricultural events to fit your specialty

Don't waste time going to events for agriculture that don't relate directly to your business. You can find agriculture events that are specific to your business needs.
Try: World Dairy Expo is specific for the dairy farmer, focusing on the finest in dairy genetics and the newest in technology. Western Farm Show offers the latest in farm and livestock equipment and resources including large farm equipment, implements, and other products. If you are a woman running a farm, you'll find the Midwest Women in Agriculture Conference helpful, as it addresses the issues that women  face on the farm and off.

Join an agricultural association and attend their agriculture events

Joining and agricultural association can provide you with easily accessible information. Typically, there are different levels of membership for an individual or a company. These also provide an excellent way to network.
Try: Being an association member of International Association of Fairs and Expositions gives you many benefits such as a magazine that is published six times a year, a way to network, and a listing of events in your state or province. AgSafe is another association that has an annual agricultural conference. Their member benefits include a member certificate, a newsletter subscription, a membership directory, notice of AgSafe sponsored events, and discounts to AgSafe sponsored events and other services.

Work an agricultural trade show while attending

Make the most out of an event for agriculture by not only attending, but by hosting an exhibit. This is a great way to get in front of current customers and prospects.
Try: HowStuffWorks offers a guide on how trade shows work. It also has a checklist to help you know what you will need to plan for your booth at the expo. Trade-Show-Advisor.com is loaded with information on how to maximize your agricultural trade show success. Use this website to help you plan your strategy, find trade shows, marketing, booth entertainment, and trade show staffing.

• Take a folder with you to collect the business cards and brochures you get at agricultural events. You can always organize them when you get back to the office. You might even want to include a digital camera and a small hand-held digital recorder to keep track of what you see. You can take a picture to see what a piece of equipment looked like and describe it into the recorder for further reference.