Organizers of the Farm Progress Show are preparing for 150,000 visitors during the three-day event near Boone next week.
Don Tourte is the senior vice president of sales and events for the show. He says the majority of attendees are farmers who are looking for the latest in ag technology.
“There really is nothing like the Farm Progress Show when it comes to the world of agriculture,” Tourte says. “I’m a little bit biased because obviously I’ve been doing this for a while, but everyone should come see this. Everyone should appreciate what’s going on. Everyone should appreciate what it takes to raise the food and fiber that we have every day in America.”
The expo draws in more than 600 exhibitors, who will showcase everything from the latest combine design to apps that identify pests in the field.
“The core audience for this obviously is farmers, what’s going to make them more productive, what’s going to make them more money, what’s going to help them feed the world,” Tourte says. “That’s what it’s all about.”
The show generates millions of dollars in central Iowa, considering all of the attendees and exhibitors who travel in and spend money on hotels, restaurants, and gas. Tourte says there are less obvious cash flows, like their buying 5,000 fenceposts from a feedstore in Ogden.
“So it’s those kinds of things that happen all over the place,” he says.
The show runs August 27th through the 29th. This will be the 8th year in Boone. The location alternates with Decatur, Illinois.
(By Rachel Cramer, Iowa Public Radio)