Thousands flock to farm show

Beck Diefenbach - Chronicle News Group 270 exhibits fill the Northern Illinois University Convocation Center during the 27th Annual Northern Illinois Farm Show in DeKalb, on Wednesday.

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DeKALB – With 270 exhibits spread over every nook and cranny of the Convocation Center at Northern Illinois University, the Northern Illinois Farm Show offers plenty for both the serious and more casual attendee to see.

“I’m just seeing what kind of technology is out there,” said Tim Johnson, who farms near Poplar Grove. “I’m putting a lot of things on my wish list, but nothing so far I’m actually going to go out and buy.”

The 27th annual show is expected to draw 7,000 people between Wednesday and today, according to event organizers. The exhibits included such things as grain technology, farm equipment and services like insurance and crop scouts.

Discussion panels and educational seminars are also included in the show. Wednesday’s topics included a discussion of the 2008 federal Farm Bill and a wind energy panel. Today’s scheduled topics include crop price prospects for 2009, biodiesel production and restoration of land disturbed by the recent laying of an oil pipeline through DeKalb County.

The show also offers pesticide applicators a chance to take the Illinois Department of Agriculture test to renew their license. Operators who apply pesticides must be recertified every three years to handle the chemicals, according to the department.

Brad Tuntland of Sheridan doesn’t actively farm anymore, but he and his wife, Suzanne, still enjoy farm-related events, they said.

“We wanted to farm when we first got married a few years back,” Suzanne Tuntland said. “But you just can’t get started when it’s a quarter of a million dollars to get a combine.”

Cygnus Expositions, which organizes the farm show every year, touts it as the only show specifically targeting northern Illinois farmers. Until 2003, the show was held in Rockford but was moved to DeKalb because of the city’s more rural character, organizers said.

Jim Mathesius of Mendota said he came to the show to see new products and technology. Halfway through the show, nothing had really caught his eye yet, he said.

“I’m a little disappointed they don’t have more big machines, but I understand they’re probably hard to bring in here,” he said. “It’s a good way to see what’s new, see the neighbors and spend part of a day.”