Ag Days features new youth speaking event

The plans are set for Manitoba Ag Days 2026 to come to the Keystone Centre in two weeks’ time, bringing elements of farm culture together for three days in Brandon.

The annual agricultural event has 580 exhibitors booked, and will bring back its theme from last year: “Produced on the Prairies.”

Event staples will return, such as the Innovation Showcase, and a new competition has been added to the list.

“We are doing the first Manitoba young speakers for agriculture competition,” Ag Days media co-ordinator Teresa Hildebrand told the Sun in December.

The speakers event will bring eight competitors between the ages of 11 and 24 to speak as part of the Ag Days lineup. The contestants will compete for a cash prize and a chance to travel to Toronto. The contestants will all give speeches between five and seven minutes long.

“The winners will have opportunity to speak at Toronto, and they’ll have $1,500 worth of financial support to be able to take advantage of that speaking opportunity.”

The speaking topics that the youth will be limited to include: artificial intelligence, technology, global markets, myths, lessons learned and future opportunities in agriculture.

One winner will be chosen from the group aged 11 to 15; the other winner from 16 to 24.

Ag Days, which runs Jan. 20-22, is Canada’s largest indoor farm show. It takes place annually as a gathering place for businesses, farmers and people in general to indulge in culture surrounding farm life. The programming theme this year continues to put a focus on the people, products and opportunities that are born on the Prairies, because that has resonated well in past years, Hildebrand said.

The hours for Ag Days are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

A noteworthy speaker this year is Arlene Dickinson, an entrepreneur and venture capitalist who appears on CBC’s “Dragons’ Den.” Her appearance is at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 22.

Sylvain Charlebois, a food commentator from Halifax, will be speaking at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 20, about “feeding the future.”

The programming will also include a half-day of speakers dedicated to the “Produced on the Prairies” theme.

The Innovation Showcase has 28 contenders this year. The entrants will vie for the top spot across the categories of: ag tech, agribusiness services, agronomics, animal and livestock, ag equipment, farm built, and farm safe.

The products and services in this event will be showcased for the public at the Keystone Centre. Entered this year are products and services such as a grain dryer, a rock picker, solar aeration and a fence mower.

Last year, one interesting sight was a human-sized drone, used to spray crops and spread seeds.

Hildebrand said a goal for the event is have Ag Days Gives Back raise as much as it did last year. The team funded roughly $75,000 in agriculture education support and grants, about $20,000 more than in the past, she said.

This year, that education support will continue through post-secondary scholarships in any study related to an ag career, from a veterinarian to a Class 1 truck driver, and through Ag in the Classroom for children in Grades K to 12. The grants are specific to fire departments around the province.

Two new board members have joined in time for Ag Days this year: Brina Rathwell and Clayton Tufts.

The Keystone Centre will begin to see the setup and move in the weekend before the event officially begins.

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com