Drayton Farm Show ‘a sure sign of spring’
By Lorie Black
DRAYTON – This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Drayton Farm Show.
“It began in 1981, but a few years were missed due to the pandemic,” said Drayton Kinsmen Club member and show chair Ray Kuper, who grew up on a hog farm and worked at a dairy farm as a teen.
He said the event was well attended last year, “but it used to be even busier.
“It started out as a farmer’s night. They’d have a speaker and a banquet, then they added the farm show to it.”
But the dinner was “getting to the point where it was costing money. It wasn’t feasible anymore.”
Over the years, the farm show dates have been pushed forward.
“We didn’t want to run the same week as the London Farm Show, and then we want to work with Drayton Minor Hockey. If teams get in the playoffs, they need the ice longer,” said Kuper.
It takes two full days to set up for the show and Kuper noted club officials have streamlined the process over the years and they receive help from high school students who need their volunteer hours.
“The arena staff are really helpful too – the township has been accommodating for us,” he said.
“Last year the Drayton Legion’s ladies auxiliary helped at the door, and want to again this year. It takes about a dozen people running on shifts.”
The Mapleton Historical Society, which will again
have a booth this year, has created a special collection to honour the Drayton Farm Show’s 40th year.
“It’s a tribute to the Kinsmen for everything they have done over the past 40 years,” said Shirley Hutton, current president of the Mapleton Historical Society. Community projects, MRI campaign
Last year’s show netted over $28,000 and funds raised at this year’s event will again be distributed to Cystic Fibrosis Canada and community projects such as the Palmerston and District Hospital Foundation MRI+ Campaign.
This year, the Kinsmen will be displaying the Polaris Sportsman 570 Trail Edition ATV they are raffling off. The draw will take place on Sept. 13, and all proceeds from the raffle will go to MRI fund.
“The farm show is the culmination of months of work and a project we take great pride in,” said Kinsmen and local farmer Gary Van Ankum.
“To have a project like the Drayton Farm Show run for 40 years and still be our biggest fundraiser is truly a testament to our community and our exhibitors, who make our show a success.”
‘Mixing and mingling’
The show is so popular with exhibitors, that Kuper has a waiting list this year.
It is also popular with the local Mennonite community.
“They are very supportive; they bring whole families. It’s an outing for them,” he said.
“It’s mixing and mingling, a social event. We just went through winter. People want to get out and talk to every-
one.”
He said vendors know that, and as much as they want to show off new innovations, “they want to come out
and support the community.”
He added, “The kids get to climb all over the tractors and sit in the cabs. It’s a fam ily event.”
Serving up treats – Marg Driscoll, left, and her son Neil Driscoll of Driscoll Farms at the Drayton Farm Show. Submitted photo
By Lorie Black WELLINGTON COUNTY
– The Drayton Farm Show isn’t just one of the most successful agri-business showcases in the province, it’s also a place for the agriculture community to connect and socialize, says one local farmer.
“I think the big part of the farm show is the community piece now,” said Centre Wellington dairy farmer Janet Harrop.
“All your neighbours farmed [but] that’s not so much the case anymore,” she added.
In the past, shows would be a place to chat with dealers about purchasing decisions and plans for the year.
“There would be more
deals made at the farm show, whereas now, with social media and online research and that type of thing, it tends to be more of where they go to get ideas,” Harrop said.
Harrop and her husband Ian are life-long dairy farmers and crop 350 acres of corn, soybean, wheat and alfalfa at Harrcroft Acres in Centre Wellington.
The days are busy for the family, including their son Ryan, who also works fulltime on the farm.
The number of cows milked at Harrcroft each day has increased in the past two decades, from 65 to about 120.
“We don’t have a lot of downtime,” Harrop said.
The pandemic also underscored just how isolating farming can be.
Farm shows can provide some reprieve from the routine of daily chores.
“You do see some of your neighbours, and some other people in the industry that you’re part of,” Harrop said, adding shows provide a chance to find out how everyone is doing.
Farm shows all happen around this time of year, before the weather truly warms.
“Once the weather warms up and the fields start drying up, we’re busy,” Harrop remarked.
The Drayton show provides access to several local vendors at once, and Harrop said farmers “really try to support local businesses as much as we can.”
The show also draws a crowd from outside the county as well.
“We’re so fortunate here. Half an hour, at the most, you’re at pretty much any dealer you need to be at. But we have friends in the Caledon area that come
up this way all the time for their equipment because they (dealerships) all left the Caledon area – because agriculture has left,” Harrop said.
“We have a robust agricultural system. And we need to support those local businesses.”
Harrop is the past president of the Wellington Federation of Agriculture (WFA), which conducted an agri-food economics study and found equipment dealers and suppliers are a “big part” of the economics and supply chain surrounding agriculture, according to Harrop.
The WFA will have a booth at the Drayton Farm Show.
“It’s important for all aspects of agriculture to be represented there ... the agricultural groups that represent farmers, that advocate for farmers, it’s great for them to be there,” Harrop said.
The booth provides an opportunity for WFA members to have conversations about the issues, which can then be relayed to the Ontario Federation of Agriculture.
“They have the ear of the ministers, and the people making some of the policies and rules that impact agriculture,” Harrop said.
The Drayton Farm Show, she added, is a “great conduit to get that information to Queen’s Park, so that producers have a voice.”
The WFA’s field service representative, Lisa Hern, has fixed “a bunch of problems” that producers have brought to her at meetings or farm shows, Harrop said. Harrop said farms shows, like the Drayton Farm Show taking place at the PMD Arena from April 10 to 11, serve as “a way for people to connect.”
By Lorie Black
DRAYTON – Model tractors have been a feature at the Drayton Farm Show since 1987.
There is a cabinet at the Dratyon Kinsman’s headquarters, “full of almost every tractor we’ve had since 1987,” said Ray Kuper, Kinsman chair of the show.
Antique models used to be the favourite, but Kuper said that has changed.
“The next generation of farmers don’t look at the antique ones, they look at a model from the ‘80s or ‘90s
and say, ‘That’s what I drove as a kid,’” Kuper explained.
And the models are getting harder to come by.
This year’s model, a John Deere 5125R with front loader, will be modified with things like a hammer light and decals.
“John Deere is the most popular. It’s what people want,” Kuper said.
“Some people have been collectors right from the beginning. They won’t even take them out of the box.”
There will be approximately 50 available for sale at the show.
the latest develop-
in agricultural
and
Shantz Farm Equipment
Massey Ferguson products.
LEFT: This year’s Drayton Farm Show model tractor is a John Deere 512R with front loader. Photo by Lorie Black ABOVE: The real deal, the John Deere 6155R. Advertiser file photo
ABOVE: The Drayton Farm Show offers a great chance each year for farmers and vendors to talk face to face about
ments
technology
innovation. Advertiser file photo BELOW: Behind the wheel at the 2023 Drayton Farm Show, from left, were Connor, Kason and Tyler, the children of Dale and Janita Martin, cash crop farmers from the Alma area. Advertiser file photos
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