Chris Lane has made a remarkable shift from a member of the media to the man at the helm of the Canadian Western Agribition.
Lane was the guest speaker at the Estevan Farmers鈥� Appreciation Evening on Tuesday night at the Beefeater Plaza. He talked to a sold-out crowd about his background in farming and the media, his experience with Agribition and the value of core competencies.
鈥淚 have some examples around what sets Agribition apart as a business, and how individually we can figure out what those core competencies are and turn those into successes,鈥� he said.
A core competency is not what a business does, but how they do it to gain a competitive advantage. He cited examples of H&R Block, Facebook and other businesses that have found such a core competency, and have built on it to engage their audience.聽
鈥淵ou have to be a little bit careful with core competencies, because it鈥檚 easy, especially when you鈥檙e successful, to get off track a little bit,鈥� said Lane.
It鈥檚 not the bad years that will kill a company, he said, it鈥檚 the good years. It鈥檚 easy in the bad years to be focused on the decisions needed for survival. That philosophy is particularly true in farming.
鈥淓verything else becomes a nice to have,鈥� said Lane.
But the good years are dangerous because people divert from their mission, so they make decisions that aren鈥檛 good in the long run.
Lane grew up in a family farm in northwest Alberta, but hasn鈥檛 worked full-time as a farmer. He recognizes that it鈥檚 a difficult business, especially for young people to get into.
鈥淚t shows a lot about the spirit of Saskatchewan, and why I鈥檓 proud to call it home, even though I鈥檓 from Alberta,鈥� said Lane. 鈥淪o I have a lot of respect for everybody in the room here, regardless of your connection to agriculture.鈥�
He has a journalism and communications degree from the University of Regina, and spent 15 years working in the media in locations across the country, until he took the job with Agribition in 2016.
During the job interview, he was asked what he knows about running a cattle show, and he responded by saying not much. He also reminded the board that they knew how to run a cattle show. Then he told them that a cattle show isn鈥檛 what Agribition is all about.
He stressed that the event鈥檚 core competency is not about the cattle, rodeo, kids, education or the business of farming.
鈥淭hose are all excellent by-products of doing a good job of what the core competency is,鈥� said Lane. 鈥淭he Canadian Western Agribition鈥檚 guiding principal is all about connecting buyers and sellers, and what do you need to connect buyers and sellers? You need people.
鈥淎gribition needs to be the common marketplace that builds an audience and draws people who are interested in doing the business of agriculture,鈥� said Lane.
Agribition draws about 130,000 people each year, including 24,000 rodeo fans, 450 tradeshow exhibitors and 420 livestock exhibitors. All are people who attend for a reason, because they want access to something at Agribition.
This past year was a great one for Agribition, he said. The barns were filled with animals and the hallways were filled with people.
鈥淲e did a lot of cool things for the first time, and we really see that Agribition鈥檚 international reputation and its international footprint is expanding,鈥� said Lane. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 probably where you鈥檙e going to see the business going.鈥�
He noted Agribition also keeps track of where visitors are from, how old they are, how many times they have been there.
Diversification is important for both agriculture and Agribition. When Agribition first started, it was largely a beef and cattle show. That remains its focus, he said, but programming has been added around food production and education, while the trade show offers shopping and information opportunities.
It has also added some unique attractions with the running with the bulls and goat yoga.
鈥淎ny time you can get people and animals close together, and have some fun doing it, that鈥檚 pretty much a win,鈥� said Lane.
Last year鈥檚 Agribition was also the first to occupy the International Trade Centre, which is a 150,000-square foot building that was built to house livestock shows. Lane said Agribition was proud to contribute $1 million to the facility.
Lane pointed out that there are some big ranches in the Estevan area who come to Agribition each year, and they do very well in the shows, but there are also a lot of grain farmers who come to see what鈥檚 new in machinery, marketing, crop inputs and production planning.
