The wait is over: Canada’s Farm Show is here.

The 45th edition of the show kicked off yesterday afternoon with a “sneak peak” outside of the Saskatchewan Legislative Building.

Agriculture Minister David Marit, Regina Mayor Sandra Masters, CEO of the Regina Exhibition Association Limited Tim Reid, and representatives from Viterra and South Country Equipment were present for the news conference.

In front of the Legislature was a John Deere X9 Combine with Canada’s Farm Show decals on its side; Cari Bode (Boh-dee) with South Country Equipment, one of the exhibitors at the show, said it has “leading-edge technology to do it more efficiently and more sustainably.”

She adds information collected from the combine “enables producers to manage crop production and make informed, data-driven decisions throughout the harvest process” as well as cameras and sensors on the machine “allow it to work more hours of the day and adjust to changing conditions automatically and on-the-go without operator intervention.”

Minister Marit says he looks foward to the latest innovations in Ag Tech that will be showcased at the 3-day event.

“The opportunities are endless right now in the Province of Saskatchewan in the ag sector,” Marit said.

“We’re also an exceptional source of information and research & development…if you want answers on agriculture, in dry-land farming, we really are the place to be,” said Regina Mayor Sandra Masters of the Queen City being an agri-business hub. “In terms of Canada’s Farm Show 45 years in we’re incredibly proud of this show, we’re proud to showcase this to invite all of these folks into our community, but really also to be a place where a hundred million dollars in business gets done.”

CEO of REAL Tim Reid says the overall economic impact is significant in Regina. Going back to pre-pandemic numbers, he says the “economic wind” is about 90 million dollars in terms of restaurants, hotels and future visits to the City.

More than 20-thousand visitors and about 350 exhibitors from Canada and around the world are expected at Canada’s Farm Show.