The real name of the Expo Prado is “International Exhibition of Livestock and International Agro Industrial and Commercial Exhibition”. This edition, organized by the Rural Association of Uruguay (ARU), will be No. 117 and will take place from Friday, September 9 to Sunday, September 18. The ARU was founded in 1871 – it is 151 years old – and the “First Livestock Fair Exhibition” was held in 1883 on a property located where today is the intersection of Av. 18 de Julio and Magallanes, in front of what was then Plaza Artola, now Plaza de los Treinta y Tres Orientales. In the Rural del Prado estate, the livestock show has been held since 1913.
john samuel
DATA
No restrictions
Gonzalo Valdés Requena, president of the ARU, highlighted that the 2022 Expo Prado will recover its “normality” after two years in which it was held within the framework of some restrictions, considering the covid-19 pandemic. He also praised –and thanked– the exhibition team for the effort to make the 2020 and 2021 exhibitions, which were able to materialize despite the health emergency, which distinguished Uruguay abroad, where this type of exhibition was not held – For example, the Expo Palermo (Argentina), the Expo Esteio (Brazil) and the Expo Mariano Roque Alonso (Paraguay) were not held.
NORMAL
Prices and benefits
Ticket prices will be –according to whether they are purchased on the ARU APP and on expoprado.com or at the ticket offices–: $300 and $350 for the general price from Monday to Friday; $350 and $400 the general Saturday and Sunday; and $230 for those over 65 (Monday and Tuesday) and students and members of excursions who register online. Children under 10 years old will enter free during the 10 days. Promotions: 50% discount with MasterCard BROU Reward; 20% discount with eBROU; 20% discount with MasterCard or VISA del BROU; 20% discount with MasterCard or VIDA de Santander; 2×1 with the El País club.
TICKETS
13% more
The number of registered animals grew 13% compared to 2021, totaling 2,259 copies of some 60 breeds. Cattle: 651 specimens of 14 breeds; sheep: 442 of 14 breeds; horses: 169 of 10 breeds; swine: 21 of 3 breeds; and goats: 9 of 4 breeds. 77 horses of 4 breeds are added for functional tests; 70 dogs of 2 breeds; 584 birds of various breeds; and 236 rabbits of various breeds. The sheds are “full”, informed Andrea Galeano, executive manager of the ARU, even additional tents will be used, also ensuring maximum comfort for the animals and their herdsmen.
john samuel
ANIMALS
leading genetics
Expo Prado is considered the prelude to the breeding season for commercialization, a key moment each spring for the livestock sector, during which each year strategic investments are made in improving genetics. During the livestock show of the ARU there are special auctions, which are characterized not so much by the volume of animals sold, but rather by the values. In the 2021 edition, for example, the maximum price for cattle was US$26,000 for a Polled Hereford from Sociedad Ganadera San Salvador and for sheep it was US$34,000 for a Corriedale PI from El Piramidal.
GOAL ATTEMPTS
full meadow
Rafael Ferber, Director of Exhibitions of the host union -the ARU-, reported at the launch of the activity that holding an exhibition with the level that will be seen at Expo Prado 2022 “is possible due to the more than 680 companies that participate in the sample, a number that impacts for a country like Uruguay, companies that represent more than 2,500 brands between all of them”. Many exhibitors have been participating for a long time, some even for decades, but there are also new ones, both from the private and public sectors, and the participation of embassies and chambers of commerce was reinforced.
STANDS
Program Highlights
The complete program of livestock activities, the cycle of conferences and other instances, such as shows, is updated daily on the expoprado.com.uy site. There will be, it was anticipated, three special moments: on the opening day, Friday 9, there will be a recognition of rural women for the value of their contributions at the head of families and companies in rural areas; on Sunday the 11th there will be a meeting of women weavers who will come from all over the national territory to exhibit their handicrafts; and on Saturday the 17th, the first meeting of engaged herds will take place.
IDEAS
FARM meeting
One of the key moments in the program of activities for the ARU authorities will be the meeting of the Federation of Rural Associations of Mercosur (FARM), an entity that brings together representatives of agricultural entities from the Southern Cone of the continent. For Uruguay, in this area, two unions participate: the ARU – its president, Valdés Requena, is the one who chairs the FARM at the moment – and the Rural Federation (FR), whose president is Martín Uría. One of the issues to consider is the FTA that Uruguay seeks with China, but others will also be discussed, such as sanitation.
john samuel
GREMIALISM
From the official box
In each Expo Prado there is a long-awaited instance, that of the inaugural act (scheduled for Saturday 17), in which the Parade of the Great Champions is held and the two speeches are broadcast: that of the president of the ARU and that of the minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP), Fernando Mattos –former president of the ARU–, representing the government. In some years, moreover, the President of the Republic spoke. Luis Lacalle Pou was invited to attend the Expo Prado and it is estimated that he will attend more than once. The visit of other Ministers of State is also discounted.
SPEECHES
No restrictions
One of the novelties in this Expo Prado 2022 –exhibition that the public will be able to visit between the hours of 9 and 21 each day– will be the normal development of activities in the Plaza Prado space, as was the case prior to the health emergency due to the covid pandemic -19. Plaza Prado, with musical shows, dance and bars for the service of drinks and meals, will work every day from 8:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. the next day. The program for each show will be posted at expoprado.com.uy, as well as the price for access and other details to be confirmed at the close of this edition.
MEADOW SQUARE
