Iowa State specialists eager to welcome back Farm Progress Show

BOONE, Iowa — For the primary time in 4 years, the Farm Progress Present will as soon as once more be held in Iowa this 12 months, and specialists with Iowa State College Extension and Outreach are excited concerning the return.

The 2020 present was slated for Iowa, however was canceled because of the COVID pandemic. Iowa State’s exhibit will span practically 6,000 sq. toes, showcasing the newest in agricultural analysis and expertise.

The 2022 Farm Progress Present, 1827 217th St., Boone, Iowa, will run Aug. 30-Sept. 1. For extra info, go to https://www.farmprogressshow.com.

“The present is a spot to point out off what Iowa State is doing in analysis and extension and the nice individuals who now we have in our faculty,” stated Kendall Lamkey, chair of the Division of Agronomy at Iowa State and co-chair of the college’s planning committee.

Lamkey shall be on the present all three days, serving to reply questions on agronomy, the rising season and the rest on farmers’ minds.

Iowa State may have employees and shows pertaining to 9 key content material areas: water high quality, weeds, plant well being, digital ag, farmland possession developments, climate and local weather, monarchs, carbon and the Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

“The Farm Progress Present is one in every of my favourite outreach occasions all year long,” stated Lamkey. “We attempt to make our shows interactive and academic, and the very best half is, now we have educated employees on the grounds, interacting with individuals nose to nose.”

Lamkey stated the planning committee at Iowa State tries to pick matters that shall be on individuals’s minds, and with a lot altering in agriculture the previous few years, there shall be quite a bit to speak about.

Commodity costs and farm inputs are all up considerably, together with farmland values and money rents. Farmers are additionally going through ongoing challenges from provide chain points, and climate and local weather occasions.

One of many newly up to date reveals would be the Iowa Farm and Rural Life Ballot. Performed yearly by sociologists with Iowa State, the ballot measures rural views about farming and problems with significance to farmers.

This show may even function outcomes of a current farmland possession survey, which is able to present how a lot Iowa farmland is rented versus owned, and the demographics of who really owns Iowa farmland.

“Many individuals don’t perceive how farmland in Iowa is definitely owned and the impression that may have on how the land is farmed,” Lamkey stated.

Guests to Farm Progress Present work together with specialists from ISU Extension and Outreach.

Additionally new this 12 months, guests will study extra concerning the Iowa Environmental Mesonet — a climate and local weather instrument that helps farmers observe soil temperature of their county, in addition to precipitation and soil moisture.

Conventional shows just like the weed, plant well being and monarch reveals, will give guests the possibility to check their abilities at figuring out widespread weeds and bugs, and how one can hold each beneath management.

A staff of carbon market specialists will present updates about carbon credit score markets, contracts and farming practices that may assist mitigate and sequester carbon. The staff may even present copies of current extension publications associated to carbon markets, what is understood to this point and what’s nonetheless being explored.

“We’re excited for the return of the Farm Progress Present this 12 months,” stated Jay Harmon, affiliate dean within the Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences and director for agriculture and pure assets with ISU Extension and Outreach.

“Extension is within the individuals enterprise and we try to have a constructive impression on Iowa by way of our relationship with farmers to assist them make key choices, not just for profitability, however on the surroundings, labor points and expertise choice, all of that are necessary to the state.”

Present director Matt Jungmann stated holding the present in Iowa is a bit like a homecoming for himself and several other of his employees, who graduated from Iowa State. Jungmann earned a bachelor’s diploma at Iowa State in 1997.

“A number of of our Farm Progress Present staff members are Iowa State alums, so we’re at all times comfortable to return house and see such an ideal show,” he stated. “It’s instructional and informative and an ideal illustration of what extension does throughout the state and past.”