GUELPH (Oct. 27, 2011) – Canada’s agribusiness landscape offers many examples of mergers that strengthen the agri-food industry, such as seed-chemical combinations or equipment fusions, created to pool resources into more dynamic agricultural partnerships.
Now, two top information service providers are joining forces: Glacier Media Inc. and Canada’s Outdoor Shows Limited.
Canada’s Outdoor Shows Limited, based in Guelph, Ontario and the parent of Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show (presented by Farm Credit Canada) and Canada’s Outdoor Equine Expo, has been acquired by Vancouver-based Glacier Media. Glacier welcomes Canada’s Outdoor Shows to its expanding agricultural portfolio of print and digital products and services, which includes Western Producer, Manitoba Co-Operator, Alberta Farmer Express, Le Bulletin des Agriculteurs, Canadian Cattlemen, Grainews, Country Guide, Ag Dealer, Wheel and Deal and a variety of other specialty and custom agricultural trade publications and services.
“Three years ago, we partnered with Farm Credit Canada (FCC) because we wanted to expand past the borders of Ontario to be more national in our scope,” says Lorie Jocius, President of Canada’s Outdoor Shows. “At Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show this year, we realized that the world was interested in Canadian agriculture and our commitment to showcasing new technologies and innovations. In order for us to take things to the next level, we needed to merge with an organization whose resources can help us push those boundaries even more.”
Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show (COFS) is the nation’s largest agricultural trade show and considered to be the fourth largest in North America, with 723 exhibitors and 42,600 attendees in 2011. The September show also drew visitors from nine provinces and thirty-four countries. The COFS team will exhibit at AgriTechnica in Germany in November, the world’s largest agricultural machinery show, in order to seek out the newest European technologies and to promote Canadian agriculture to international markets.
“In agriculture, it is important to have a ‘hands-on’ person-to-person forum to augment the written and digital transfer of knowledge and technologies,” says Jonathon Kennedy, President and CEO of Glacier Media. “The team at Canada’s Outdoor Shows does a stellar job of demonstrating and showcasing the agricultural technologies that we write about and feature online. Together, we can offer a more integrated information platform to the agri-food industry.”
Glacier Media entered the agricultural publishing market in 2002 with the acquisition of Western Producer Publications and Farm Business Communications in 2003. Glacier then acquired Wheel and Deal in 2006, a minority interest in Iron Solutions in 2008, Ag Dealer in 2010 and Le Bulletin des Agriculteurs this past May, extending its reach eastward. In addition to agricultural trade publications, Glacier Media owns numerous business and trade publications, websites and community newspapers across Canada.
Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show (www.OutdoorFarmShow.com [2]) and Canada’s Outdoor Equine Expo
(www.EquineExpo.ca [3]) will continue to operate with their current staff while seeking to expand their offerings in the future.
For more information, please contact:
Lorie Jocius
Canada’s Outdoor Shows Limited
1-800-563-5441 Ext. 35
lorie@CanadasOutdoorShows.com [4]
Larry Hertz
Western Producer Media
1-306-665-9625
larry.hertz@producer.com [5]