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Expo expands eco-friendly focus
By Reed Fujii, Stockton Record Staff Writer
January 11, 2007
STOCKTON - Doug Wilhoit is looking forward to a little rain, particularly Tuesday through Thursday for the annual Stockton Ag Expo at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds.
That's because inclement weather can help boost attendance, bringing more farmers and ranchers to town to see the latest in agricultural machinery, financial services, irrigation systems, water pumps, pest traps, automated harvesters, software and much more.
"Right now is their time for preparing their fields for spring planting and stuff," said Wilhoit, chief executive of the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors the annual trade show. "If it's sunny, they're going to be out in their fields, planting and plowing."
But there's more to the three-day event than just farm equipment and fertilizer. This is the third year the show will incorporate the REXPO recycling exposition, and for the first time, it offers the perspective of the Energy & Clean Air Business Expo, sponsored by Valley CAN (Clean Air Now).
That nonprofit group has held events in Fresno and Bakersfield, and bringing its program to Stockton will help spread its message the entire length of the San Joaquin Valley, said Cristina Guccione, Valley CAN representative in Sacramento.
The Energy & Clean Air Business Expo will include "exhibits which will present recycled-content products, alternative fuels, green practices, as well as seminars on the latest technologies and up-to-date information on the new laws impacting agriculture, recycling and air-quality issues in the San Joaquin Valley," she said.
One highlight will be cars being crushed, twice daily on Tuesday and Wednesday, to highlight state efforts at ridding California of gross-polluting vehicles. That includes offering $1,000 to owners of cars and trucks that fail smog tests to have the machines crushed.
"It's one thing to tell people to apply to a program, and it's another thing to tell them this is the beginning and this is the end, and show them what this type of program can do for them," Guccione said.
Charlene Zettel, director of the California Department of Consumer Affairs, who helps oversee the governor's Let California Breath Easier program, will be the highlight speaker Wednesday and might crush a car or two.
Still, agriculture remains Ag Expo's primary focus.
California's top farm official, Secretary of Food and Agriculture A.G. Kawamura, will be the keynote speaker on Tuesday's opening day.
Keynote speaker for Thursday will be Bruce Blodgett, executive manager of the San Joaquin Farm Bureau.
He will address the challenges facing Central Valley agriculture and how all segments of the industry farmers and ranchers, as well as food processors and distributors, need to recognize common interests and concerns and how to work more cooperatively.
Ag Expo began 31 years ago when the Stockton chamber decided it needed to recognize what was then without question San Joaquin County's No. 1 industry, Wilhoit said.
"From that industry comes so many other auxiliary industries - food packing, supermarkets, whatever it might be - and the money that is generated by the ag-business community gets spread throughout the greater community," he said. "The general public should come out and really see what goes into putting food on their tables."
As a regional farm show, Ag Expo draws farmers and agri-businesses from Northern California, Oregon, northern Nevada and other parts of the nation.
Hundreds of exhibitors will display everything in the latest agricultural equipment, supplies and services.
Parts for on-farm repairs may be found alongside new tractors or specialty harvesters for tomatoes. Beans or tree fruits may be shown next to haying and tillage equipment. Computers and software may be alongside nurseries, seed companies or insurance agents. Grower services will include repair shops, accounting firms, pension planners, farm-building contractors and well drillers.
Stockton Ag Expo is not all business, however.
An extensive exhibit of antique trucks and early day-gas engines, a perennial favorite, is planned, and the trucks will parade down the fairgrounds midway at 3 p.m. every day of the show.
Most of the trucks are those that commonly helped farmers get their products to market, ranging from Model T's to early Mack Truck models.
A working exhibit of early gas engines should be easy to locate. Visitors only need to follow the sound of their chugging, whistling and tooting.
There also will be a variety of food booths, typically found at fairs and outdoor festivals.
And for longtime Expo visitors, such as Wilhoit, who figures he's attended every show since 1979, it's a chance to see old friends and, perhaps, make some new ones.
"I like being around the folks and just talking to them ... just talking with folks, just talking with ag businessmen and seeing what they're doing," he said.
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