So I’ve always enjoyed covering Harvest Showdown in Yorkton.
The show is also something of a benchmark event personally as one of my earliest assignments was talking to then manager of the Yorkton Exhibition Association Shaun Morin on the eve of the inaugural Showdown. I found him pounding stakes through the asphalt at the fairgrounds to secure tents that were used in the early years of the event to house stock.
It was a rather humble beginning to a show which has endured for more than three decades, a sort of mini Canadian Western Agribition, with the Yorkton show focused very much on commercial farmers.
Through the years the Showdown has of course evolved with various events coming and going.
I can recall when a llama show was the glamour event at the Showdown for a few years. The ring was decked out fancy and the show a highlight as llamas for a short time were the darlings of agriculture fetching huge prices for a time.
There was Canola Day for a few years as well; a day offering a series of speakers offering producers information to produce more canola and how to sell the production.
The idea of sitting through a day of speakers never quite caught on though as the Showdown always seemed a place to come and visit, talk shop with other farmers over a coffee or brew, and relax after the busy harvest season.
Then there was the commercial sheep show and sale, which seemed like a natural given the ongoing popularity of the commercial cattle show and sale but the sheep event never quite found the expected niche.
Heavy horse hitch events and Clydesdale Shows have come, gone, come again, and were again off the agenda this year too.
But while change has been ongoing, commercial shows for area cattle producers, and area grain producers have been at the heart of the Showdown. They have afforded farmers to show what they produce in a somewhat casual, relaxed atmosphere, albeit with an eye on winning a red ribbon or trophy too.
For yours truly it is four busy days, covering stock dogs and chore horses, and Farmer Recognition Award winners and horse pulls and bull riding, and while I admit I am tired as I write this at the end of four days of Showdown, it’s still one of my favourite events to cover each year, even after three decades.
