Organizers like expo, but want more turnout

PORTALES — While the educational seminars at this year’s Portales Ag Expo drove much of the attendance over the weekend, organizers said the numbers still could have been better.

Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Karl Terry said the attendance at Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Agronomist Calvin Trostle’s presentation on dryland corn Friday afternoon was a pleasant surprise but not reflective of the entire expo.

“Seminars went well, and we’d certainly like to see more vendors and more attendance. That’s been our biggest hurdle is getting the vendors in and getting the attendance that they expect,” Terry said, adding that the 60 vendors present were down slightly from last year.

“We were really worried early on about vendor numbers, and they came up some toward the end. We were pleased we got to where we were at, but it’s still not working well on that side of it,” he said.

While Roosevelt County Extension Agent Patrick Kircher said he believes the event went well on the whole, he too would have liked to see higher attendance.

“It really seemed like things went well. I’d like to believe that the time and effort that the planning committee puts in pays off in the results that you see from the show,” Kircher said. “If anything could change, we’d just sure enough like to figure out how to get more folks through the door.”

More moderate weather played a role in keeping attendance at the expo stable, according to Terry.

“We never have two full days, it doesn’t seem like, that the weather’s great. Last year on Saturday, the weather was cold and cruddy all day, and then we closed at 3 (p.m.), and the sun came out. It was really nice on Saturday all day, and I think that helped a lot,” he said.

Overall, the event met Kircher’s expectations.

“I can’t speak for the other members, but speaking for myself, I am satisfied that it met my anticipation for what I thought would happen,” he said.