COVID-19 has struck again, as Agritechnica organisers officially cancel the already postponed event
Organisers of the world’s biggest farm machinery show, Agritechnica, have cancelled the already postponed event for 2022 due to increased COVID-19 regulations and cases.
The DLG, German Agricultural Society, has officially cancelled the event that had already been postponed from its traditional November 2021 date to February 27, 2022.
Agritechnica normally attracts 2,800 exhibitors and over 486,000 visitors to the Exhibition Centre in Hanover but some of the main exhibitors had previously expressed concerns about the new dates in 2022.
Speculation was rife that the show was being cancelled during the days before the official announcement on Monday this week.
DLG said that in view of the current national and global developments in conjunction with the coronavirus pandemic, the rapidly rising number of cases worldwide and the related restrictions on travel, as well as official regulations, the DLG, as organiser, the VDMA Agricultural Machinery Association and Agritechnica’s exhibitor advisory board had jointly concluded that the conditions required for hosting the world’s leading agricultural machinery exhibition are no longer fulfilled.
DLG chief executive Reinhard Grandke says new regulations introduced as the pandemic continued had created a “justified exceptional situation”, under which the trouble-free execution of Agritechnica would no longer be possible.
“Together with the VDMA Agricultural Machinery Association and the trade fair’s exhibitor advisory board, and following many discussions with both exhibitors and visitors, we have therefore decided to cancel next year’s Agritechnica,” he says.
“We have made this decision respecting our responsibilities towards the health and safety of all. We deeply regret the cancellation. Many of our exhibitors, partners, visitors and members, as well as the entire DLG team, have already invested in extensive preparations. Our focus is now on preparing Agritechnica 2023 as well as the other national and international DLG events and trade fairs that are scheduled for next year.”
Weeks ago, major exhibitors John Deere and JCB had already confirmed they were not exhibiting at Agritechnica in 2022 citing bad timing as the main reason. John Deere said that farmers will be in the fields working at the show’s February scheduled dates and that would affect visitor attendance figures.
It’s a big blow to the DLG as it relies on Agritechnica and EuroTier, its livestock husbandry show, as a significant part of its income. Both shows are held on alternate years but EuroTier was also cancelled in November 2020 with a virtual show held instead.
VDMA Agricultural Machinery Association managing director Bernd Scherer says organisers were regretting the decision, saying farmers would stand to benefit from the wide variety of innovations on display.
“After all, innovative machines, equipment and software tools make a significant contribution to sustainable and future-proof agricultural machinery production processes. Being able to present our extensive portfolio of innovations to a broad industry audience live on an international stage is and remains the gold standard,” he says.
Negotiations are now underway with exhibitors who had paid for their stands to use the funds for the next Agritechnica to be held in November 12 to 18, 2023.