This article appeared in the Spring 2014 issue of Pulse Crop News.

Mark Pickard, a FarmTech rookie talks about his impression of the event held in January, 2014

Mark Picard, owner of Infraready Product based in Saskatoon Saskatchewan was a first-time speaker and attendee of FarmTech this past January. As a newbie to FarmTech, Pickard found many surprising contrasts to other producer conferences and trade shows that he has attended.

“Everyone in attendance was fully engaged and there to learn,” he commented regarding the overall atmosphere. “This was more of an educational event than I anticipated, the trade show was a minor component and it was focused more on teaching people how to use products rather than selling them a product or service.”

Pickard himself was excited at the prospect of participating in this event as one of the speakers in the breakout sessions. He described the unique opportunity to speak about food to a primarily producer audience. His goal is to “help people make the connection between what they produce and food products, and to expand traditional views regarding the use of pulses in particular.”

Pickard noted that the incorporation of various commodity groups Annual General Meetings was a positive method of allowing a broader audience to become aware of the work of the various commissions.

His favorite part of FarmTech 2014? Pickard mentioned the quality of the venue, the excellent food, the keynotes and other speakers but without a hesitation the highlight of the event was listening to Commander Chris Hadfield, keynote speaker at the banquet. He was “out of this world.”