Summary of the exhibition AGRO SHOW 2024

As every year, on that one September weekend, for three days Bednary became the capital of the Polish agriculture. Once again, everybody of importance in the agricultural sector came to Bednary, including international corporations, which presented extensive range of their products on huge exhibition areas, and all renowned Polish manufacturers of agricultural machines. Bednary is an ideal place for machine manufacturers and importers. The field character of this exhibition offers extensive opportunities for presentation of appliances. This was the case also this year. Hundreds of machines were presented during the exhibition, including dozens of new products.

‘Recent months definitely were not the best time for farmers and entrepreneurs from the agricultural machines and appliances sector. Drops in sales, persisting for the second year in the row, have not been encouraging,’ comments Mr Przemysław Bochar, President of the Polish Chamber of Commerce for Agricultural Machines and Facilities. ‘At the first glance, this was not apparent during the exhibition. Perfectly organised stalls and a wide range of products attracted visitors. As the organiser of this exhibition, we did not feel the impact of the downturn. Despite problems in the market, we had only 20 companies less than in the previous year; however, it should be emphasised that the exhibition was held on a larger area. We recognise the commitment of the exhibitors, and impressive stalls they prepared for visitors. However, the mood among the exhibitors varied significantly. Members of our Chamber of Commerce report a difficult situation in sales, leading to a need to reduce costs. Some companies in Poland were forced to cut their costs drastically, including lay-offs, due to drops in sales. In the past, the agricultural machines sector faced various crises, but never before the industry had to cope with such high costs of financing machine production and warehouses. Costs of interests on loans at the level of 8–9% represent a significant amount in overheads of production and trade operations. In hard times, you seek new customers. The AGRO SHOW exhibition is an excellent place for these activities. The exhibitors counted on significant interest, but, as many of them says, the time for actual conclusions will come after the exhibition,’ adds Mr Przemysław Bochat.

Despite problems in the agriculture, the number of visitors was satisfactory and exceeded the last year’s value. This confirms the assumption that a direct contact between entrepreneurs and potential customers to whom their range is dedicated is the best form of contact and the one that farmers value the most. Presentations of machines are a regular feature of the exhibition, and also this year they were held twice a day in special demonstration fields. They offer a perfect opportunity to touch and see at work many machines that are innovative in terms of their design and operation. This year, the visitors could see at work machines manufactured by Ag Leader, AGRO – TOM Tomasz Kaniewski, Euromilk, HYDROMEGA Sp. z o.o., JOSKIN, KUHN, Meprozet Kościan S.A., P.U.P. “POMOT” Sp. z o.o., and UNIA Sp. z o.o.

The presentations were diversified in terms of types of equipment showed. They presented, among others, work of septic tanks and of machines for field cultivation, like disc harrows, cultivating and skimming units, cultivating and sowing units, or field shredders. Autonomous machines were also included in presentations. During the passing of a field robot, its performance was discussed, like precise sowing, fertilising adjusted to specific needs, localised spraying, and mechanical weed removal. A tracked flail mower presented during the exhibition attracted the visitors’ attention, and they focused particularly on its power supply, tracked driving system, and excellent manoeuvring performance. The guests watched the presentations from the tribunes, which have been a standard solution at AGRO SHOW for several years now.

The exhibition always includes some educational features. Friday is traditionally dedicated especially to schools. On that day, the exhibition was visited by nearly 150 groups from agricultural schools from different regions of Poland. Also the finals of the “Medal-worthy Student” competition were held on Friday. This competition, organised by the Polish Chamber of Commerce for Agricultural Machines and Facilities together with the Foundation for the Development of the Education System, was a qualifying round for the SkillsPoland competition, which will be held in Poznań in November. There a future participant in the international competition EuroSkills, held in Denmark in 2025, will be selected. The winner of the “Medal-worthy Student” competition was Mr Rafał Piechaczek (Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences); however, as he had already participated in the EuroSkills competition, the following students will compete at subsequent stages: Mr Michał Żabierek, Mr Mateusz Zawadzki, and Mr Alex Zielsdorf, representing the Poznań University of Life Sciences, Mr Maciej Palczewski from the Lodz University of Technology, and Mr Marcin Leśny from the Poznań University of Technology.

AGRO SHOW is a place where experiences and ideas are exchanged. On Friday, the exhibition was visited by Mr Czesław Siekierski, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, who participated in the debate “Agriculture as a system of communicating vessels. Perspectives for cooperation.” Apart from the minister, the participants in this discussion included Ms Monika Piątkowska, President of the Grain and Feed Chamber, Mr Tomasz Nawrocki, deputy President of the Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture, Mr Tomasz Pasalski, President of the Management Board of Cefetra Polska Sp. z o.o., Mr Andrzej Kurtys, a farmer from the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship, Mr Seweryn Borkowski, President of KFMR Krukowiak, and Mr Przemysław Bochat, President of the Polish Chamber of Commerce for Agricultural Machines and Facilities. The debate was hosted by presented Lucyna Talaśka Klich.

670 companies participated in this years’ exhibition, of which 106 were from abroad, from countries including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, The Netherlands, Ireland, Germany, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Ukraine, Hungary, United Kingdom, Italy, United States, and even as distant as United Arab Emirates, India, and China. The companies presented their products on the surface area exceeding 130 thousand sqm, and the total surface area of the exhibition amounted to nearly 130 hectares. The Exhibition was seen by 76,200 visitors,’ concludes Mr Przemysław Bochat.