The 2014 Great Bend Farm & Ranch Expo will be held Wednesday through Friday, April 9-11 at the Great Bend Expo Complex west of town. The show hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on the 9th, 9 a.m.- 7 p.m. on the 10th and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on the 11th.
According to show President Darren Dale, there are expected to be over 700 booths filled with exhibitors from 27 States, Canada and Australia. The expo span over 80 acres.
“This is one of the largest farm shows in the United States,” Dale said. “We have many exciting exhibits, activities, and K-State noon speakers planned this year.”
Veterinarian Dr. Tom Noffsinger will be a new addition to the show this year. The cattle-handling presentation will include applications of Low Stress Handling Concepts as a dimension of management that enables caregivers to have positive effects on cattle health and performance. “Our goal will be to encourage caregivers to understand more about cattle in order to apply handling concepts during calving, new cattle acclimation, processing, pen riding and sick cattle management” said Noffsinger. This demonstration will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday, April 10.
Winner of numerous honors, Noffsinger is an independent feedlot consultation in facility design and stockmanship.
Genex Cooperative Inc. will demonstrate chute-side service using portable breeding barns Friday, April 11. Chute-side service is a convenient and cost effective tool for large operations to improve their genetics and profitability through artificial insemination (A.I.). Chute-side service includes synchronization and technician insemination, providing ranchers with access to the industry’s most sought after genetics.
Another exciting component of the Expo will be the return of the sprayer demonstrations. The latest sprayers on the market will be shown, including application techniques in a live demo situation. Seating and audio will be provided.
The Scott Daily horse-training demonstration will be held all three days. Daily has been around horses most of his life. His love for horses and desire to train them began in 4-H while he was growing up in Inola, Oklahoma.
Daily started training horses about 18 years ago. After many years of working with challenging colts and horses, Scott has developed and perfected his own techniques. Scott believes in building trust between horse and rider. 
The demonstrations this year will be moved indoors daily in the Expo 3 building.