AgShow, a mainstay of the southern Queensland agricultural landscape for more than 20 years, will not return in 2015, the organisers of the field day have confirmed.

AgShow was established as an annual three-day agricultural field day at the Toowoomba Showgrounds in 1992 by the Royal Agricultural Society of Queensland with the support of the Motor Trades Association of Queensland and Toowoomba Newspapers.

It grew to become one of Australia’s biggest agricultural field days, hosting at times over 700 individual exhibitors.

However, in recent years the not-for-profit run field day has struggled to compete against the combined Fairfax Media owned FarmFest field days held near Toowoomba in June and the AgQuip field days at Gunnedah in August.

The long-term agreement between the three AgShow partners expired after last year’s field day in September 2014 and a decision has since been made not to continue the event, RASQ chief executive officer Damon Phillips told Beef Central this week.

In its place the RASQ has decided to launch a new two-day expo focused specifically on the beef industry.

The Darling Downs Beef Xpo will also be held at the Toowoomba Showgrounds and will take over the dates previously occupied by AgShow, which this year will be September 2-3.

Mr Phillips said the event will enable the multi-vendor bull sales which were a cornerstone of the long-running AgShow field days to continue.

“We will run the bull sale on the Thursday and will move that to the big equestrian pavilion to give it better lighting, better access for animals and the like,” Mr Phillips said.

“We’re also planning a led steer competition, a two day campdraft in the main arena and around 50 commercial sites.”

Mr Phillips sent an email seeking interest from prospective exhibitors for the expo this week.

“It is the RASQ’s charter to promote agriculture and that is what we will be focusing on with this expo.”

For more information about the new Darling Downs Beef Xpo or to see a prospectus for exhibitors contact Damon Phillips at the RASQ website here