THUNDER BAY — Around 100 people from in and out of town made their way out for the second day of the three-day 2025 Spring Farm Conference at the Fort William Historical Park.
“We’re very isolated here in Northwestern Ontario from the agriculture community as a whole in Ontario or Manitoba,” said Jason Reid, a Thunder Bay Soil and Crop Improvement Association director.
He explained that the conference is the focal point of the year when all of the suppliers come into town to meet face to face and acts as the hub for “the celebration of the start of a new growing season and planning for the upcoming year.”
The convention offers exhibitors, suppliers, retailers, farm businesses, and farm employees a networking opportunity to enjoy the association’s trade show, see products available for purchase and exchange services.
“It’s been going on as long as I can remember. I remember being a little kid. You’d get a snow day and you’d be coming out to the farm conference,” said Andrew Brekveld, chair of the Thunder Bay Soil and Crop Improvement Association.
“It’d be pretty well every year … and it’s always been a pleasure to come out and enjoy it. Now it’s awesome to be a part of it.”
Brekveld said he has been on this committee for about 10 years and has a dairy farm in Murillo on John Street Road, which has also gotten more into the cropping and beef cow side over the last 10 years.
He said the conference is a time of learning, allowing farmers to sit through some sessions and learn all about cropping, animal livestock, finances and more.
“It’s great to hear from speakers that talk about local egg research. We had our research station out here. We also had just some very informative feed nutrition talks and vet talks and this afternoon, we look forward to hearing some more,” said Brekveld.
Paul Moore, the operations manager at Halfway Motors Power Sports and Turf, the local John Deere Lawn and Garden dealer, was at the conference for his first year. He said he got to meet over 30 people from the farm community and other vendors and make some good contacts.
“It’s been great. Everybody’s really welcoming. I got to talk to the people from the Murillo Fair, so we’re working on doing something together with their lawn mower races coming up. So, so far, it’s been a big success for us,” said Moore.
This year, the conference featured 32 different exhibitors, changing locations from the Kakabeka Legion, which hosted the convention for nearly two decades, to allow for more space for its increasing exhibitors and renovations.
“We’ve been getting more interest from people wanting to come and be part of the conference,” said Jason Reid, a Thunder Bay Soil and Crop Improvement Association director.
“And to have a room for speakers is difficult to have. We have our learning sessions and speaker sessions that are going on during the trade shows, so we need to have a bit more space.”
Reid said the park’s facility was beautiful and has been working really well so far to have the space to be able to get people in and encourage the continued growth of the agriculture industry in Thunder Bay.
Reid added that the next two days of the conference will be geared more toward commercial full-time farmers.
Beef-focused talks for farmers who may have off-farm jobs and the trade show started Wednesday evening, with the Beef Farmers of Thunder Bay holding a beef -on-a-bun dinner alongside talks on inventory management, small business retail management, cybersecurity and more on the final day at Murillo Hall.
