2022 Irrigation Show and Education Week draws global crowd

The 2022 Irrigation Show and Education Week took place Dec. 5-9, in Las Vegas drawing a crowd of about 4,000 attendees from around the world.

The exhibit floor, which offered attendees the chance to interact directly with irrigation industry manufacturers, was particularly notable this year according to Daniel Lewis, an irrigation service technician from Stamford, Connecticut.

“There’s a lot of products out here and we’ve had a chance to take a look at a lot of new products that we hadn’t seen before,” Lewis says. “We’ve had a chance to also speak with some of the manufacturers of the products we already used. We’ll probably be looking at purchasing new products from companies we saw here. ”

Lewis says the knowledge gained from classes he took at the show was also a key takeaway from this year’s event.

Mike Scholz, western regional sales manager at JCM Industries, Nash, Texas, and an exhibitor at the 2022 show, said the event was one of the best in recent memory.

“Attendance is up over San Diego was for sure. I think when it’s combined with groundwater, it definitely enhances the show,” Scholz says. “People are looking for products and solutions to their problems. There’s a lot of crossover in industries right now, so it seemed more diverse of attendance than last year for sure.”

Scholz says that as far as challenges go, the supply chain and water conservation remain challenges for the industry but that he looks forward to 2023. That’s what he heard on the show floor as well.

“Everybody’s been very optimistic,” he says. “I know on the wastewater side, especially everyone is extremely optimistic. I think on the irrigation side, especially in the West, people are looking at solutions to use less water.”

The general sense of optimism for 2023 was shared by Rebecca Spitzer, who is an inside sales representative with Titan Environmental Containment, Île-des-Chênes, Manitoba, Canada.

“We’re feeling very optimistic about business in 2023,” says Spitzer. “I think it’s gonna be a good year. Covid kind of threw the wrench and everything for the last couple of years, but I think it’s coming back.”

Natasha Rankin, CEO of the Irrigation Association, Fairfax, Virginia, shared a similar outlook in her keynote speech during the general session at the 2022 show.

“Through openness and engagement, I have seen this industry strive to be part of the solution to the issues that we collectively face. Leaders are putting action behind their words and, in turn, have challenged the IA to continue moving the industry forward together,” Rankin said. “We have weathered drought, economic downturns, changing regulations, inflation, labor challenges and supply chain struggles, yet, continue to remain strong.”

Read more about the Irrigation Show and Education Week.