Annual Maine Agricultural Trades Show
In January all (farm) roads lead to Augusta. The Maine Agricultural Trades Show is an event coordinated by the Agricultural Resource Development Division of Maine DACF. In the trade it is often referred to as the “Maine Ag Trades Show” and 2020 marks the latest in nearly eight decades of shows for the farmers of Maine. It is not often that farmers are able to leave the farm for a day or two to network and learn. The demands of the farm and for some, the offseason plowing work, mean that a lot has to be packed into a few days and this show has so much to offer to people from every facet of the agriculture industry.
Spread over three days in the middle of January each year, (this year it is Jan 14, 15, and 16, 2020), farmers, trade representatives, educators, and agriculture service providers meet, teach, and network all day long. UMaine Extension participates on many levels. Many of our Professionals and Faculty coordinate or participate in the educational portions of the show. The UMaine Extension, UMaine School of Food and Agriculture, UMaine Natural Sciences Forestry and Agriculture School as well as the UMaine Extension Crop Insurance Education Program all exhibit at the fair. A varied cross-section of our Extension folks will be at the show each day working the UMaine Extension booth and participating as speakers or representatives in commodity meetings. The Kennebec County Extension Association holds its annual meeting at this event and Maine AgrAbility’s latest blog post focuses on the show next week.
The format of the show has changed some this year and the Extension is in a new spot on the exhibit floor so it will be a “new” to everyone. We couldn’t say it better than Jason Lilley did on a recent post to the Maine Veg/Berry Mailing List so, with his permission, we’re sharing his suggestions and insight into this year’s show.
One of the major events that I want to strongly encourage everyone to check out is the Maine Ag Trades Show. If you have not been to the Trades Show, it’s a free event with so many workshops, grower association meetings, and a large trade show. Here is the schedule for the 3-day program.
Schedule for 2020 Ag Trades Show
- Location of Conference Sessions By Room and Day (PDF)
- Schedule — Detailed PDF Agenda (PDF)
- Pesticide Applicator Training Programs Schedule (PDF)
Some of the highlights of the Trades Show include:
- Maine Vegetable and Small Fruit Grower’s Association Annual Meeting (2-days of tech workshops).
- MOFGA Annual Meeting and Workshops
- Pesticide Recertification Training and Credits (PDF)
- Beginning Farmer Resource Network
- Baskets to Pallets: (Scaling up to wholesale workshops)(PDF)
- Maine Farmers’ Market Federation Conference
- Produce Safety Training (FSMA Compliance Training) (Registration deadline January 10th)
- USDA SCORE Business Training and Consultation
- United Farmer Veterans of Maine meeting
- And much more! (see the state press releases on this page.)
If you do decide to attend, please stop by the UMaine Extension booth and let us know you saw this on our website.