Farm
Progress Show 2000
As
a Beason farmer saw it
[SEPT.
30, 2000]
LDN asked farmer-reader Dave Sasse of Beason to record his thoughts and impressions of this
year's Farm Progress Show. Dave and his family take their camper to the Farm Progress Show almost every year. Here is what the Farm Progress Show 2000 looked like in the eyes of a Logan County farmer.
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Reader review
By Dave Sasse
We
finally made it to the Farm Progress Show at about 9 p.m. after combining down
corn all day. After driving what seemed like a mile in between orange cones in
the dark that led us through the dirt road to the cornfield where we parked our
camper outside of tent city. We woke the next morning to the roar of garbage
trucks and generators that other campers were using to power their campers. The
generators died down as the Show opened and campers finished their breakfast and
headed in to see all the displays of machinery and equipment.
![](../images/ads/Edward_Jones/JimSparrows.gif)
Entering
the display area of the show, which was almost at our back door, we met up with
many friends who had decided to come to the show that day and exchanged stories
of how horrible the corn was down and what varieties were doing the best. It was
good to see the FFA youth from Lincoln, Mount Pulaski and other area schools.
These FFA members served at the food booths for a money-making project.
Looking
at the displays, there was your usual tractors, combines and heavy tillage
equipment. Farmers enjoy looking at "big iron" items, and there was
plenty of that to look at. One of the good things about the Farm Progress Show
is that you get to talk to the people from the head offices and factory people
of the big companies. The farmer gets to discuss their likes and dislikes of
what they have done to the equipment.
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At
the John Deere tent I was talking with one of the people from Moline and found
out that there may be another update on our John Deere 8400 tractor that we may
want to have put on. Deere also had a display of the Farm Doc, which is another
computer display that you can put in your tractor, sprayer or combine to
document what spray or variety was used where in what field, what equipment was
used and who was actually operating the equipment. Farm Doc will also let you
put this in a form of a map to show exactly what part of the field all these
items were used on.
![](../images/ads/gossets/Gossett.gif)
Progressive
equipment had their display of strip-till anhydrous bars on display. I liked
that you could put down a liquid fertilizer with your anhydrous at the same
time. This eliminates the use of starter fertilizer as we are planting and helps
us spread our workload out. It looks to me that this is a great tool to help out
in our strip-till operation.
Tile
plows, tile and equipment to do tiling were more abundant this year than I had
seen in past years. They even had some of the plows in the field putting in a
drainage system this year.
It is very
encouraging to me to see as many young children at the show as there were this
year. I think this shows that farmers still believe that their occupation is
worth passing on to their children. As I saw a young boy sitting in a new
combine, it brought back memories of when I was a young child and could remember
sitting in a John Deere 95 combine at the Farm Progress Show with my parents and
daydreaming about the days that I would be running such a large machine.
[Dave
Sasse]
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Hartem
FFA team wins at state event
[SEPT.
30, 2000]
For
the third consecutive year a Hartsburg-Emden FFA ag issues team has won the
state FFA Ag Issues Career Development Event. The team members are Kate Wrage,
who serves as the moderator; Sarah Struebing; Nick Reinhart; Matt Duckworth;
Natalie Coers; Nic Coers; and Anthony Jones. These FFA members presented a forum
on genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Pros and cons were presented, along
with the team's solution to this global dilemma. The Hartem ag issues team will
now represent the Illinois FFA at the National FFA Convention in Louisville,
Ky., Oct. 25-28.
![](../images/093000pics/FFA1.jpg)
[Left to right: Natalie
Coers, Sarah Struebing, Matt Duckworth, Kate Wrage, Nic Coers, Nick Reinhart and
Anthony Jones]
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Farm
Progress Show 2000
A
day with the family
[SEPT.
29, 2000]
Robert
Klemm is a farmer in the Waynesville area and owner of Klemm's Tax Service.
He recorded his thoughts on the 2000 Farm Progress Show to share with LDN
readers.
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Reader review
By Robert Klemm
On
Wednesday our family got up early for their every-three-year trip to the Farm
Progress Show. Yes, that is right, I said family because we took this
opportunity to all be together for the day — my wife Patty, two sons John
(17), Aaron (7) — and daughter Olivia (20), however, is away at college.
We
arrived early to avoid the traffic and therefore we were in the second row of
parking. After having attended several of the shows through the years, I am
still trying to decide if the show isn’t what it use to be or if it was just
my attitude and expectation for the day. I just wasn’t as impressed as I have
been in past even though I still did enjoy the exhibits a good deal.
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I
did have the opportunity to visit with several company representatives on
specific products that I had technical questions that salesmen may not have been
able to answer nearly as well.
We
also as always were able to view, and I was able to explain to the boys, some of
the equipment that we do not use in our farming operation. We were all able to
see it firsthand. The best example of this is the newer tile plows to be pulled
with farm tractors. For these we were even able to go out in the field and hear
real-life experience from other farmers as the companies explained their product
and we actually saw them being used.
Three years
from now, when the show is back in Illinois, we will go as a family again and
see what is newest in farming.
[Robert
Klemm]
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At
muddy Cantrall site
Agribusinesses display
the latest products
[SEPT.
28, 2000]
Visitors
to the opening day of the Farm Progress Show in Cantrall experienced a long,
frustrating wait before catching a glimpse of the show site.
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Cancellation
of the show’s first day forced heavy traffic onto two-lane roads not designed
for heavy traffic. The Williamsville exit was closed shortly after 7 a.m., and
most Logan County attendees were routed to the Farm Progress Show via Sherman.
"The later you left home, the longer you waited in traffic," expressed
Logan County attendee Al Wolf. Wolf finally made it to the show by 10:30. Riders
on the Graue, Inc. bus left Lincoln at 8 a.m. and did not arrive at the front
gates until around 11:30 a.m.
![](../images/092800pics/Mvc-009s.jpg)
[Lincoln Ag Center manager Al Wolf and
Lois and Tom Grohmann from Hartsburg dodged the mudholes to enjoy the day at the
Farm Progress Show.]
Guests
who successfully tackled the traffic gridlock were greeted by a city of shiny
new equipment and very muddy streets. Walking through the site was much less
treacherous by midday, thanks to warm sunshine and the pounding of feet.
![](../images/092800pics/Mvc-017s.jpg)
[Muddy ruts forced Farm Progress Show
guests
to watch their step.]
Visitors
came to the muddy field in rural Cantrall from all over the world. Voices from
Argentina, Brazil, Germany and France could be heard around the site. Some were
large farmers, while others were corporate officials from one of the show’s
sponsors. Joining them were farmers from across the Midwest who traveled to
preview the newest ag technology on the market.
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![](../images/ads/neal_tire/Neal3.gif)
Corporate
sponsors displayed their products in grand style. Many erected huge tents and
air-inflated characters that towered over the site, while others featured live
bands to draw visitors into their tent. Every exhibitor had a gimmick with their
advertising message. A big price tag was paid by these companies to play a role
in Farm Progress Show 2000.
![](../images/092800pics/Mvc-015s.jpg)
[Some ag companies creatively took
advantage of the traffic delays by flying their messages overhead.]
New
exhibitors at the Farm Progress Show this year included a number of agricultural
websites and Internet services. According to Tamara White of the Illinois Farm
Bureau, 30 to 35 percent of America’s two million farmers are online.
Agribusinesses are rushing to capitalize on this trend by creating new websites
that allow computer-savvy farmers to purchase inputs such as chemicals and
equipment and sell their outputs, such as grain and livestock.
Many
of these new companies, like Rooster.com, which was launched on May 1 of this
year, had small buses filled with laptop computers as part of their exhibit.
They invited farmers aboard to check out their website and subscribe. Created by
agribusiness giants Cargill, DuPont and Cenex Harvest States, Rooster.com makes
money by creating websites for local agribusinesses and linking them to pages
individually designed for farmer-subscribers.
The
exhibitor list for the 2001 Farm Progress Show will continue to change. Nonstop
mergers and consolidations in the ag industry will not only affect the presence
of traditional equipment and chemical and seed manufacturers, but it will also
determine which of the new ag e-commerce will survive. White noted that there
were already two sites that were facing Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Many others will
likely merge.
![](../images/092800pics/Mvc-022s.jpg)
[This pressed penny was an inexpensive
memento of the Farm Progress Show.]
[Marty
Ahrends]
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Former
President Bush visits
Farm Progress Show 2000
[SEPT.
28, 2000]
Playing
to the cheers of almost 2,000 Farm Progress Show visitors crowded in the Family
Living Tent, a casually dressed former President George Bush reinforced his son’s
commitment to agriculture.
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"What
could be better for Illinois than more corn going into ethanol," roared the
elder Bush in reference to his son’s promise to promote ethanol as a renewable
energy source.
Bush
also emphasized that if elected president, George W. Bush would support death
tax relief, private property rights, and would pursue fast-track authority for
resolving trade issues.
In
reference to the environmental policies of the Clinton/Gore administration, Bush
said, "I am an environmentalist, my son is an environmentalist, but we need
to take on the environmental extremists and open up the Alaskan pipeline to
reduce dependence on foreign oil and lower energy prices."
After
speaking for a few minutes on agricultural issues, Bush turned his focus to
something he says he is more familiar speaking about — moral issues. "I
worry about the moral fiber of our country. What happens in the Oval Office sets
an example of what happens in our homes."
![](../images/ads/MErealty/merealty.jpg)
Before
leaving the stage and signing some autographs, Bush defended the attacks that
his son is merely trying to follow in his father’s footsteps. "He’s my
son and I am proud of him. He’s Barbara’s son and she is proud of him. And
if people don’t understand that, there’s something wrong with them."
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![](../images/ads/BradNeal/BradNeal.gif)
Throughout
his speech, Bush was flanked on the tiny stage by a group of agricultural
"experts." Among them were Texas Commissioner of Agriculture Susan
Combs, Illinois Director of Agriculture Joe Hampton, U.S. Rep. Tom Ewing and
Middletown farmer Bill Graff.
Graff,
a founding member of the group "Illinois Farmers for Bush," makes no
bones about his choice for the next president. "George W. Bush knows what
it is like to run a business," says Graff of Bush’s experience in
managing several companies and making payroll. "I don’t think that Al
Gore has ever lived in the real world."
![](../images/092800pics/Mvc-001s.jpg)
[Former President Bush greets
Middletown farmer Bill Graff.]
The
Illinois Farmers for Bush got their start in political campaigns during Al Salvi’s
run for the office of governor. Their success in organizing farm events was
recognized by Gov. Ryan, Sen. Fitzgerald and others, who asked them to lead the
statewide effort among farmers to elect George W. Bush. Graff says the next
campaign effort will involve disking "Bush 2000" into the ground under
flight paths and near the interstates.
![](../images/092800pics/Mvc-023s.jpg)
[Judi Graff of Middletown and Logan County
Farm Bureau Director Jim Drew were part of the group that organized the Bush
rally.]
[Marty
Ahrends]
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Exhibitors
move in at the Farm Progress Show
John Fulton, unit leader of the
University of Illinois Extension in Logan County, provided these
pictures from the Tuesday move-in at the Farm Progress Show, rural
Cantrall. Scenes include exhibitor trucks being pulled in by tractor.
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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.
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