Exhibitors move in at the Farm Progress Show

John Fulton, unit leader of the University of Illinois Extension in Logan County, provided these scenes from the Tuesday move-in at the Farm Progress Show, rural Cantrall. Pictures include exhibitor trucks being pulled in by tractor.

Rain delays opening of Farm Progress Show

[SEPT. 26, 2000]  The opening of the Farm Progress Show will be delayed due to rain. The show will now begin Wednesday, Sept. 27, and end on Thursday, Sept. 28. There are still a few free seats on the Graue Inc. coach. On Wednesday, the bus will leave Graue Inc. at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m., and it will return to Graue at 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. The Graue coach service only runs Wednesday. If you want to reserve a seat or have questions, please call 735-4444 and ask to speak with Chris or Karen.

Also on Wednesday only, former President George Bush will be campaigning for his son, George W. Bush.

[SEPT. 25, 2000]  With the fall comes a ritual that is commonplace throughout Central Illinois. That is the corn plot and the associated field day. Logan County has had a commercial corn plot since 1983, when the local Extension Office co-sponsored one on college property with the Lincoln College Agribusiness Club. After the loss of the ag program at Lincoln College, Jim Brown of Beason became a plot cooperator for several years.

Today the Logan County Commercial Corn Plot is hosted by the Fort Farms, located west of Beason, with Scott Wurth as the farmer cooperator and the State Bank of Lincoln and University of Illinois Extension as co-sponsors. Friday was the harvest day for the corn plot, which followed a farmer field day on Sept. 6. Many such plots for corn and soybeans are found throughout central Illinois. Of particular interest to many farmers are the so-called "third-party plots" that are hosted by banks, Extension offices and FFA chapters, since seed corn companies cooperate rather than conduct the entire plot.

It is important to point out that a single plot should not be used as the sole basis for selecting seed, but the strength is in the ability to look at the various types of seed corn and compare varieties throughout the growing season. More strength can be obtained from yield data when it is combined with similar data from other plots to give it more validity. One of the key publications of local Extension offices does just that. The Macon County office collects data from other central Illinois third-party plots and runs some statistics on varieties of corn and soybeans that are common to several plots, resulting in a ranking of varieties that are in a similar number of plots.

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The Logan County plots this year had 30 commercial varieties from 15 companies and 16 check strips in the plot. Each variety is harvested separately and checked for moisture content and weight. These factors are then used to calculate yields for each variety. In the final analysis locally, each variety is then compared to an adjacent check strip to determine its ranking in the plot. This helps take away problems related to field variations.

Rough calculations of the 2000 corn plot show moistures ranging from 16 to 22 percent (with 15 percent being what is considered the standard at local elevators) and yields ranging from about 150 to slightly over 200 bushels per acre. Though final calculations have not been checked, it appears the plot will average about 180 bushels per acre. These yields are fairly consistent with yields being reported from around the county, with 130 to around 200 being the local range and the bulk of yields between 150 and 180. As for soybean harvest, yields have been reported from the mid-30s yieldwise to around 60 bushels per acre, with most falling in the 40- to 50-bushel-per-acre range.

What does this mean to farmers? With the government loan rate being higher than the market price, farmers are essentially getting $1.95 per bushel for corn and $5.41 per bushel for soybeans, less any storage, marketing, drying, trucking, etc. Do the math, and the resulting figures are under average production costs with the yields we are experiencing. It probably means a tighter-than-normal year for many area producers.

[John Fulton]

[SEPT. 23, 2000]  If climbing up on shiny new equipment isn’t your thing, there are still a lot of interesting sights and activities at the Farm Progress Show next week at rural Cantrall.

History buffs in the crowd can visit a two-room "courthouse" on the Power farm, where a young Abe Lincoln tried one of his first cases in 1836, and a spacious brick home built by farm founder Judge George Power in 1855. Power had moved his young family from Kentucky to the rich plains along Fancy Creek in 1821. He became a respected cattleman and justice of the peace who offered his small cabin to Lincoln as a courthouse where he would represent clients in local disputes.

Cattle handling demonstrations will feature Nebraska cattlemen and veterinarian Dr. Joe Jeffery who will provide an informative and entertaining description of the process of "working" cattle. Visitors will witness chutes, scales, fencing and paneling all in action while Dr. Jeffery and exhibitors work a series of calves through each step as if they were entering a feedlot. The calves will be given vaccinations, ear tags and implants provided by pharmaceutical companies exhibiting at the show. The demonstrations will be twice daily, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Fans of the movie "The Horse Whisperer" will be amazed by Craig Cameron of Bluff Dale, Texas, who demonstrates his unique approach to horse training for the first time at this year’s Farm Progress Show. Cameron will be the first to tell that he does not "break" a horse but uses his "horse sense" to ask the horse to trust him. Standing-room-only audiences have been watching the horse clinics for years and say that the show is educational and entertaining. Cameron’s demonstrations will be twice daily, at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

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The 2000 National Plowing Contest will be held at the show site on Wednesday and Thursday. Plowing matches have been part of the American farm scene for more than a century. This year’s event will include contests for small plows, large plows and antique plows.

At the Global Technologies Exhibit you can view NASA remote-imaging pictures depicting crop development at Power Farms this year. Watch big-screen TVs from the tent to view live yield monitor data from combines harvesting at Power Farms. Plus, learn more about how high-speed wireless Internet is allowing farmers in remote areas to conduct business virtually anywhere.

And if you’re tuckered out after a day of walking through the massive show site, stop by the Family Living Tent to learn about using healthy soy foods in your diet or laugh at the humorous messages of several rural comedians.

[Marty Ahrends]

[SEPT. 22, 2000]  A city is under construction where corn and soybeans once stood.

Next week in rural Cantrall, Ill., the Farm Progress Show 2000 will open its gates to thousands of guests from across the Midwest. More than 400 exhibits featuring the newest agricultural technology and slices of rural life will offer a little something for everyone, even if you’re not from a farm.

[Exhibitors shine up their equipment for thousands of Farm Progress guests next week.]

Until recently Power Farms was covered with corn, soybeans and alfalfa. Harvest crews have been working hard to clear the land that will be used for parking, camping and tillage demonstrations.

"Not much was here a week ago," said Farm Progress Show Director Mark Randal. "And there is still a lot to be done."

Yesterday 60 colorful tents had been erected and many more were waiting to go up. Two hundred semi loads of wood chips blanketed the exhibit sites, and 5,600 feet of waterlines were poised to be buried. By the time the show opens next Tuesday morning, colorful mums will decorate all the street corners, while trash cans and porta-potties will be strategically placed around the site.

Hosting a Farm Progress Show, which draws hundreds of thousands of visitors from across the Midwest, is a highly coordinated effort between the farmers, bank managers, chambers of commerce and the Farm Progress Company. The Greater Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce Agribusiness Committee began looking for potential farm sites for the 2000 show back in 1995. A Logan County man, Dennis Stoll of Chestnut, was instrumental in securing one of the farms he manages for Bank One as the show site. Stoll has managed Power Farms for its owners the past 19 years and knew that tenants Wayne Heissinger and Kent Weatherby would be cooperative hosts. Both the owners and tenants of Power Farms were eager to host the show and help bring an economic boost to the Springfield area.

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For the past couple years, Stoll has been the link in communications between the Farm Progress Company and farmers Heissinger and Weatherby. "Two years ago we started matching up crop rotations with what Farm Progress wanted as the layout for the site," explained Stoll. Recently, 70 percent of Stoll’s day-to-day activity as a bank farm manager has dealt with the Farm Progress Show. He will likely be at the show site daily until it ends.

Power Farms could be a stage for more than just the newest ag technology next week. One or both of the presidential candidates could possibly make a stop at the show. "We are in daily contact and know that there is strong interest in both camps to attend the Farm Progress Show," said Randal. "We might not know until Monday if they will show up the next three days."

[Harvest has been in full swing at Power Farms to clear space for parking areas.]

To get to the Farm Progress Show from Lincoln, just head south on Interstate 55 to the Williamsville exit and drive west along an avenue of chemical and seed plot signs. You won’t be able to miss the city of tents. Exhibit field hours are 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday next week. Free parking is available, and admission is $5 for adults 18 and over and $2 for ages 13 to 17.

If you would prefer not to drive and be delivered right at the front gate, the Aid Association for Lutherans is sponsoring a bus to the show on Tuesday. There are still 23 seats available. The bus will leave Tuesday morning at 7:30 from the Zion church parking lot on Logan Street. To reserve a spot for $5, call Eleanor Gunderman at 732-9020 and be sure to leave your phone number. The cost does not include entrance into the show.

(Tomorrow: Neat things to do at the Farm Progress Show)

[Marty Ahrends]

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