WELCOME to your 1996 Canadian International Farm
Equipment Show Farm & Country preview section. As our
cover, by Toronto artist Patrick Fitzgerald, indicates,
this year marks the 10th anniversary of Canada's largest
indoor farm equipment show. 
The show may have been putting farm products and
innovation on a pedestal for 10 years, but a decade ago
things were up in the air. Long-time Canada Farm Show
manager Dawn Morris had just launched the new show at the
spacious International Centre in Mississauga, after a
falling out with former employer Maclean Hunter. For a
time the feisty Morris and partner Bob Gowdy faced the
prospect of two shows, but the new venture quickly won
out, as farmers and companies flocked to the new
facilities on the edge of the city, with ample parking
and eight acres of showroom space. 
It was a daring move for Morris; for a woman in a
male-dominated business, everything came with an effort.
Six years after getting the new show established, Morris
succumbed to cancer at age 65, leaving her daughters
Lesley and Jane and niece Judy to carry the torch. 
Taking over the business in the midst of a recession
wasn't easy either, but the three women have guided the
show to its 10th anniversary this year, a milestone their
mother and aunt would have loved to see. The business,
Dawn Morris Productions, still bears her name, and it's
still all in the family. Grand-nephew Robert Payne,
Judy's son, runs the advertising. 
Today, the show has over 600 exhibitors representing
5,000 companies, and delegations from across the world.
As the industry salutes the show for 10 years in
business, read on for details on highlights of this
year's show, which runs Feb. 6-9 in the International
Centre. 

- TO GET THERE from the west, take Highway 401 to 427 to
Dixon Rd W. and follow the sign to the International
Centre. From the east, take 409 to Airport Rd N. The
International Centre is on Airport Rd. just before Derry
Rd. See map. 


- SHOW HOURS are from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tues., Feb.
6 to Thurs., Feb 8. On Fri., Feb. 9, the doors close at
4:30. 


- SHOW ADMISSION is $11, $8 with a registration form
available at farm equipment dealers across Ontario. Take
the card to the show to be eligible for a $1,000 draw
towards any product or service at the show. 

- PARK FOR FREE. Free parking, an oxymoron in most of
Toronto, is available at the International Centre for
3,500 cars. 

- SNOWED IN? Many dealers run bus excursions. Check with
yours for the nearest. 

- SCRATCH 'N WIN. As part of the show's 10th anniversary
celebrations, visitors will be able to pick up scratch 'n
win cards in Halls 4 and 6. More than 1,000 prizes a day
are available, plus a daily cash draw of $1,000. 

- TAKE HOME A TRACTOR. This year's official limited
edition souvenir toy tractor is the Allis Chalmers D21
built from 1963 to 1969. The D-21 series I and II were
the first to break the 100-hp mark, and featured
hydrostatic steering, direct injection diesel engine, and
52-gallon fuel tank. Later models had 127-pto-hp
turbo-charged engines.

back

It's show time for the Show-Me State at next month's
Canadian International Farm Equipment Show. 
A lot of water has gone under the bridge since the state
of Missouri last exhibited at the farm show in
Mississauga. In 1993, farmers along the Mississippi
River, which marks the state's eastern boundary, were
swamped with record floods; last year there was also
flooding, and some farmland will never be recovered. 
This year, state agricultural export specialist Mark Hitt
is hoping for floods of sales instead, as Missouri
agri-business companies join forces in a display at the
farm show, Hall 4, booth 4133. 
Hitt says he's surprised at the number of showgoers who
have heard of the Show-Me State, a motto which likely can
be traced back to a state legislator who apparently vowed
"I'm from Missouri and you're going to have to show me." 
The farm show provides Missouri companies with an ideal
opportunity to meet potential representatives from
throughout Canada, Hitt says. "If you look at the numbers
for agricultural equipment, Canada is the largest market
outside the country...It makes the most sense to do
business with our neighbours north of the border." 
Missouri also recently opened a trade office in Mexico.
"It's not as glamourous as traveling to Asia or Europe or
Chile, but maybe we're just more practical," he says. 
Why Missouri and not a border state? Hitt says the state
is a lot closer to Ontario than some think. It's a
10-hour drive from St. Louis to Toronto; a 500-mile
radius around Missouri takes in much of southern Ontario.

Apart from cotton and rice, the two areas have similar
crops; Missouri ranks 10th in the U.S. for dairy
production, sixth for soybeans, and second for beef
cattle after Texas. Perhaps the most famous son of
Missouri is author Mark Twain. 
In agri-business, the state is home to multi-national
companies including Monsanto, Farmland Industries, and
Bunge Corp., among the top five grain companies in the
world. Both the American Soybean Association and the
National Corn Growers Association have headquarters
there. 
The following four companies will be featured at the
Missouri booth: 
- Coon Manufacturing, which will introduce a new line of
corrugated plastic, which substitutes for metal; 
- Grace Manufacturing, which will show a line of
equipment for removing brush and trees up to 14 inches in
diameter; 
- Johnson-Matthews Company, which manufactures utility
and overdeck trailers; 
- Tapco, Inc., the largest manufacturer of elevator
buckets in North America.  -JMM