The Farm Progress Show begins today near Boone and runs through Thursday.
The outdoor farm exhibition features the major equipment manufacturing companies, seed companies, grain storage and handling companies, and crop protection products. Show manager, Matt Jungmann says there is a lot of things to see.
“The first floating tractor in North America, as well as the addition of autonomous tractor demonstrations occurring out in the field demonstrations. That in addition to all the product introductions that are occurring — new technologies and services that are available — it’s shaping up to be a fantastic show,” Jungmann says. Jungmann says while the farm economy has been suffering, he still expects farmers to turn out for the show.
“Farmers as well as these exhibitors know that this is a real cyclical industry,” Jungmann says. “And so they have all ridden these up and down swings together. It generally doesn’t affect the crowd. The farmers still want to come out and see what’s new even if they may not be ready to write a check for some of these things — they still want to come out and take a look at what’s new.”
This year’s Farm Progress Show features nearly 600 exhibitors, with the tent city covering 85 acres, 150 acres designated for parking, and 365 acres devoted to the field demonstrations. Jungmann says tests of the crops for this year’s field demonstrations showed are ready to be harvested.
“The corn was coming out at about 180 to 200 bushels and between 25 and 28 percent (moisture). And I know it has dropped a couple of points since then, so it’s shaping up to be good demonstrations,” Jungmann.
The gates for the Farm Progress Show open at 8:00 a.m. each day with the show closing at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, and 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. The Farm Progress Show is at a permanent Iowa site east of Boone at the junction of Highways 30 and 17. Next year, it will return to Illinois.
(By Dennis Morrice, KLEM, Le Mars)