Farm show back from 2-year absence

After a two-year hiatus spurred by the pandemic, the North American Farm & Power Show is ready to roll again in Steele County.
The show gets underway Thursday at the Four Seasons Centre in Owatonna. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. Admission is free.
“The same great things are coming back,” said Brock Nelson of Tradeexpos, the Austin-based company that sponsors the show. “We are ready to get back to it.”
Nelson said the number of exhibits is down slightly from 170 in 2019 to 150 this year. However, the show will still feature large equipment displays from major dealers and farm-related workshops like it always has in the past.
This year’s show will feature daily prizes instead of one large prize at the end of the show, Nelson said. The daily prizes include: 522L trimmer bundle on Thursday, 525LK trimmer bundle on Friday and 455 rancher chainsaw bundle on Saturday.
There will be a silent auction throughout the show benefiting Minnesota FFA.  
Some of the workshops being offered are farm business succession planning at 10 a.m. and crop cover considerations at 1 p.m. on Thursday and value of farmland at 9 a.m. and beef cattle management at 12:30 p.m. on Friday. The Linder Farm Network and the University of Minnesota Extension sponsor the workshops.
A food stand, Don’s Crumbled Beef, will be available on the grounds throughout the show.
In 2019, the show attracted about 21,000 people from southern Minnesota and surrounding states, according to Nelson. 
But Nelson already knows it likely won’t be back to 100% yet this year because of the lingering effects of COVID-19. He hopes to attract at least 75% of the previous attendance, which is what Tradeexpos has experienced at its other shows this year in Topeka, Kansas and Fort Wayne, Ind.
This is the 23rd year of the show with the past 20 in Owatonna. The show was previously held in downtown Minneapolis.
When asked why the show was moved, Nelson paused and laughed, “We found farmers don’t like to pay for parking and they like to be sprawled out.”
Nelson said the Four Seasons Centre facility is a fantastic spot to host the show as it provides a nice mixture of indoor and outdoor space.
Tradeexpos is offering an outdoor farm show later this summer in Steele County. The North Star Ag Expo will be July 26-28 at Ritchie Brothers in Medford. Nelson said that show will be totally outdoors and provide even more space for equipment to be displayed.