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2010 San Antonio International Farm and Ranch Show will be bigger, betterTexas Preparations for the 2010 San Antonio International Farm and Ranch Show to be held Oct. 14 to 16 are under way, and this year's show will feature more live and interactive exhibits, according to organizers. As with the 2009 show, admission is free and the event will be held on the San Antonio Livestock Exposition grounds, 3201 East Houston/One AT&T Center Parkway. "Texas is a global leader in agriculture, and as Texans, we are proud to host a premier international farm and ranch show right here in the Lone Star State," Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples said. "This is a great opportunity to promote our GO TEXAN businesses and to strengthen our bonds with the international agricultural community so that we can take on the challenges facing production agriculture." "We'll be bringing even more exhibits and activities to the 2010 show," said Jeff Lynch of San Antonio International Ag Productions, which coordinates the event. Lynch said there are plans for live demonstrations of both cattle-handling and deer-working equipment, as well as booths with adjacent pens for live animal displays. The show will again feature dozens of educational programs, most of them offering continuing education units or credits to participants. In addition, plans include more family-oriented activities, including for children. "Hundreds of exhibitors from Texas and other areas of the U.S. and beyond will be at this year's show," said Lyle Larson, one of the show's organizers. Larson said this year the show will include the use of the new Expo Hall Annex building, which was under construction during the 2009 show. "Now we will have more than 150,000 square feet of climate-controlled exhibition area under one roof, which will make this one of the largest climate-controlled agricultural exhibit locations in the nation," he said. Larson also noted there will be meeting and educational track opportunities for agricultural industry commodity groups, such as cotton, rice, cattle, citrus and vegetable trade organizations. "We are working with the Texas Corn Producers Association and The Texas Grain Sorghum Association to host one of the nation's largest commodity symposiums at this year's show," he added. Organizations involved in planning and coordinating this year's show include the Freeman Coliseum staff, Texas Department of Agriculture, the Texas AgriLife Extension Service, the National Resources Conservation Service and Texas Farm Bureau. Last year's show drew about 5,000 farmers and ranchers from various countries representing more than 1.45 million agricultural acres, including 1.3 million livestock acres with 112,763 head of cattle and 119,000 crop acres, according to show data. "Last year, we also had more than 1,300 people participate in more than 25 sessions offered at the show," said Bryan Davis, Texas AgriLife Extension Service agent for natural resources in Bexar County, one of the show's educational coordinators. "This year we're hoping to provide instruction to even more participants, and to provide new education track opportunities for those representing agricultural commodity groups." The 2010 show will present educational sessions on the most popular topics from last year, as identified by the number of attendees, said Larson. "We'll be adding more topics as a result of the feedback we've received, emerging or existing issues of importance to farmers and ranchers, and any new agricultural research, best management practices or technologies," he said. Larson added that the 2010 show would "strike a balance" in the time provided for attendees to visit the trade show and participate in educational offerings. "We're also working to further expand awareness and interest in the show in Mexico and Latin America," Larson added. "We're still committed to providing simultaneous Spanish-language translation like we did last year. We've also been working with the Texas Department of Agriculture, the Texas AgriLife Extension Service and our vendors to implement a more aggressive and comprehensive advertising campaign to attract farmers and ranchers from those and other areas." San Antonio is a prime location for such a show because it is centrally located in the state and region and now has the largest climate-controlled ag-related facility in Texas, Larson said. More information on the San Antonio International Farm and Ranch Show can be found at www.farmandranchexpo.com or by calling 210-226-1177.
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