Friday, January 24, 2020
CapitalPress.com
3
The Spokane Ag Show, formerly the Spokane Ag Expo and Pacific Northwest Farm
Forum, welcomes more than 5,000 visitors each year.
New name for region’s
top agricultural show
Expo, Farm Forum are
now Spokane
Agricultural Show
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
A longtime Spokane agri-
cultural trade show has a
new name.
Formerly the Spokane Ag
Expo and Pacific Northwest
Farm Forum, the event is
now the Spokane Ag Show.
The show’s genesis dates
back to the 19th century. In
1887, the region’s agricul-
tural and business commu-
nity formed the Ag Bureau.
It evolved into what is today
the AgriBusiness Coun-
cil, under Greater Spokane
Inc. With a dedicated group
of industry volunteers, the
organization supports and
promotes agriculture across
the region.
The Pacific Northwest
Farm Forum began in 1954
to offer professional edu-
cational seminars for farm-
ers, ranchers and industry
professionals.
Lead-
ers of the
groups com-
bined
the
forum with
a trade show
in 1978. The
Melisa Paul S p o k a n e
Ag
Expo
and Pacific Northwest Farm
Forum were born.
“It was madly success-
ful,” said Melisa Paul,
the Spokane Ag Show’s
director.
The two entities were
considered and presented
as separate components,
but over the years the lines
blurred for visitors to the
show, Paul said.
“We know from talking
to show attendees, they
don’t know if they’re at the
ag expo or farm forum,” said
Diahne Gill, farm forum
program manager. “They’re
there for the experience, to
learn. To them, it’s the ag
show. We’ve been hearing
that for years.”
Paul and Gill decided it
made sense to rebrand the
show as part of the “Meet,
Learn, Grow” theme, as
a unified event providing
learning opportunities for
farmers and ranchers in one
place.
“We’re trying to provide
a community for our indus-
try,” Paul said. “It’s the
one time of year our family
members get off the farm to
meet with their fellow indus-
try experts, connect with
each other, gain insights, get
to visit with their fellow pro-
fessionals, whether that be
their crop insurance guy or
equipment provider, to learn
about new technology.”
Providing that opportu-
nity is work that the show’s
organizers take seriously,
Paul said.
In the coming years, the
show will bring in new fea-
tures, such as influencers
like podcaster Rob Sharkey,
and others who will inspire
innovation, she said.
“This industry has been
served a platter of uncer-
tainty for long enough,” Paul
said. “We want to provide a
place for them to review the
difficult information that we
need to, but we also want to
provide optimism.”
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