DUFFERIN — A “resized” International Plowing Match and Rural Expo (IPM) will take place on farmers’ fields around the rural communities of Bowling Green and Laurel, Dufferin County, next year.
Although Dufferin was previously announced as the site of the 2023 IPM, the Ontario Plowmen’s Association (OPA) only recently pinpointed those specific locations within the county. Scheduled Sept. 19-23, the 104th IPM will be hosted by the municipalities of Amaranth and Grand Valley.
“‘The Headwaters of the Grand’ offers outstanding agricultural land and a dynamic group of people who will make the 2023 IPM an outstanding event,” OPA President Robert MacLean said. “We look forward to this opportunity to resize some of the features that have just grown too large over the years.”
“We’re resizing the event, going forward,” MacLean clarified for Farmers Forum. He said the organization must still decide what aspects of the IPM will change. “Some things could be smaller, some things could be bigger,” he said.
Meanwhile, this year’s IPM is going ahead under the existing formula — Sept. 20-24, 2022, in Kemptville.
As for 2023, OPA organizers plan to meet soon with leaders of the Grand Valley Agricultural Society, the Shelburne Agricultural Society and the Orangeville Agricultural Society about the upcoming event that arrives in their neighbourhood next year.
Learn more about getting involved in the 2023 IPM at community meetings Thursday, Aug.25 at the Township of Amaranth Banquet Hall (374028 6th Line, Amaranth) and Thursday, Sept. 1 at the Grand Valley and District Community Centre Grand River Room – Upper Hall (90 Main Street N, Grand Valley). Both meetings begin at 7:30 p.m., and organizers say all are welcome to attend.
The following year’s IPM, in 2024, is set for Lindsay, Ontario, after that community was bumped twice during the pandemic.
