‘A tough thing to measure:’ Looking at Langham’s Ag in Motion void with 2020 virtual event

The town of Langham usually boasts a population of around 1,500, but that all changes when Ag in Motion gets to town.

But, like many things, 2020 is a different story.

Due to COVID-19, the annual agricultural event has been moved online. Instead of tens of thousands of people flocking to the site just a few kilometres northwest of the town, it’s business as usual for Langham this year.

“We’ve been so happy to have such a big event close to town,” Langham Mayor John Hildebrand said Tuesday. “It’s definitely an economic driver during the summer for the businesses in town.”

Hildebrand says the service and hospitality industries are the hardest hit with the loss of the event.

In 2019, official attendance numbers from Ag in Motion were 30,335 during the four-day event. That number included 409 vendors.

Over the years, the event has continued to grow in size.

In its first year in 2015, 200 exhibitors posted up while just under 11,500 attended.

Also missing from the town’s side of things this year is a large bulk purchase of water for irrigation. Plots of land didn’t need to be grown, which also meant an economic hole for the town.

Hildebrand said the town hasn’t ever done an economic analysis on how Ag in Motion boosts its economy, saying it would be “a tough thing to measure.”

“It seemed so big when it first started, and it’s just grown from there,” he said.

As for the affected businesses in Langham, the Good Times Motel definitely felt the loss of the event.

“We’ve been quite busy from the past few years,” said Sonali Karkara, manager of the establishment. “Our motel stayed completely full in the past … Definitely, it’s affecting our business.”

COVID-19 has also hurt the motel in other ways. Karkara says operators are seeing more non-essential travellers in the area, but none that bring the economic uptick like Ag in Motion.

She also added the cancellation of a few summer weddings impacted visitors in the town.

As for the service industry, Shysters Tavern usually is able to bring many in to eat, drink and buy ice and liquor from its offsale.

Manager Kim Hagglund says the tavern hasn’t felt the pinch as much as you’d think, thanks to solid community support. She still acknowledged the difference in foot traffic, though.

“With Ag in Motion, it probably would have been 10 times busier,” she said. “Our community (always) looks forward to Ag in Motion … It’s just like any other tourist place that you get: You look forward to those big things coming into your community.”

As Langham looks forward to the 2021 edition of the show, Hildebrand says he is looking to boost the economy of his town in other agriculture-centred ways.

He says there’s land within Langham ready if a business does want to bring something more permanent to the area.