OTTAWA — The Ottawa Valley Farm Show saw a bump in attendance this year because there was no snow storm.
The EY Centre next to Ottawa’s international airport saw 11,675 visitors walk through the corn-decorated arches at the front doors, almost 1,000 more than last year. Last year, a fierce March storm blew in during the week of the farm show, sending temperatures plummeting and wind speeds soaring.
This year’s annual tractor auction, introduced two years ago, has proved a popular attraction. Vintage Irons, a not-for-profit that conserves and restores rural antiques, put up 127 miniature 620 John Deere model tractors for sale for $100 each. One miniature 620 John Deere was put up for auction at the show’s annual pedigreed seed sale to raise money for a local hospital. It sold for $4,500 to George Tackaberry, a well-known collector.
The pedigreed seed auction raised $15,000 this year, bringing the show’s total contribution to the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario to more than $150,000.
The 91-year-old show, the longest-running agricultural show in Ontario, featured more than 350 exhibitors under one roof.
