The 29th annual Ag Expo began Tuesday and will run through Thursday on a 35-acre main site located at the corner of Farm Lane and Mount Hope Road. Every year the event, which includes more than 300 exhibits on a variety of agricultural topics, draws thousands of agricultural businessmen, farmers, political representatives and interested residents to MSU’s campus.

Attendance at the event has risen in the last few years from 11,600 people in 2004 to 16, 500 in 2007.

The Ag Expo is run by MSU’s Department of Agriculture and Natural Science, with assistance from MSU Extension and the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station. Exhibits, run by MSU professors, students and agriculture officials, include topics such as the latest farm products and equipment, agricultural and environmental organizations, ethanol production and water conservation.

Premedical sophomore Thomas Franke said he appreciated the opportunity the Ag Expo gave him to get the word out about how fair trade Rwandan coffee benefits Rwandans — many of whom are still suffering the effects of the 1994 genocide — while working at the Institute of International Agriculture’s exhibit.

“A lot of people don’t even know what the genocide in Rwanda was, so it is kind of cool to be able to tell them what they are buying here is actually benefiting a country that has suffered so much,” Frank said.

Kirk Heinze, the Ag Expo director, said that levels of participation have risen throughout the years because the Ag Expo has made itself more accessible to families by having free MSU ice cream and activities such as face painting and tractor pulls.

“We’ve got to make this a day where the family can come out and have a good time — and it’s not just the agricultural families either, we want to draw people from the surrounding area who maybe the kids are young and they want to have a good time, but they know nothing about agriculture, they can come here and learn about it,” Heinze said.