The 51st edition of Canadian Western Agribition (CWA) has ridden off into the sunset as it wrapped up over the weekend.
The six-day event featured hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of livestock taking over the REAL District.
Shaun Kindopp, the CEO of CWA, said this year’s Agribition was awesome.
“I can’t even wipe the smile off my own face,” he said. “Just walking through the barns and the show, seeing everyone smiling, having fun, and being back together, having three of four nights of rodeo sold out. We saw great attendance numbers, it just feels so good to have people back, and we appreciate that they came back.”
Kindopp said they don’t have final numbers, but this year’s show reached the 100,000 mark in attendance, with over 70 countries represented.
This year’s show featured the return of students for the first time since 2019.
“I think it’s important to know where your food comes from, and it’s not just on a grocery shelf, so it’s good for them to get out and meet some of the producers and learn a little bit more about agriculture and we are happy to have them back,” Kindopp said.
While this was the 51st edition of CWA, it was Kindopp’s first one as the CEO. He said he had a blast over the six days.
“I’ve done a lot of events in my life, and this one definitely takes the cake,” he said. “It’s been so much fun, and I’m lucky to have a very good group with me.”
Kindopp added that he is already looking forward to next year, which will feature something new.
CWA will be the host of the Animal Agri-Tech Awards, something Kindopp feels will be right at home at Agribition.
“We’ve always been an industry leader, so we want to continue to be that. There are people travelling thousands of miles to be here, so we want to ensure that we’re the place where you can learn about all things animal ag-tech,” he said. “It’s just very important with the way that world is going. It is getting tech-based, and we want to ensure that we can give them a platform as well.”
Canada’s largest livestock show saw over $1.67 million in sales this year, with Saturday’s sales not included in that number.
The average price of the animals sold was $15,000.
Kim Hextall, President of CWA, said the sales were again successful.
“People were here looking for genetics, purchasing genetics, and it’s great that the livestock exhibitors are bringing genetics, bringing cattle here that the world wants.”
Next year’s Agribition is set to run from November 20 to 25.
