New innovations showcased at Farm Progress Show

August 29, 2024 | Kriss Nelson

Ag retailers showcasing the best of their companies’ offerings at the Farm Progress Show in Boone this week noted farmers continue to hold a positive perspective on their industry, despite a commodity market downturn.

Bayer Crop Science

Through their “Acres of Potential” experience, Bayer Crop Science showcased its seed brands Dekalb, Channel and Asgrow and crop protection products to thousands of farmers during this year’s event.

For Kacy Perry, Bayer Crop Science’s North American soybean business lead, the company attends events like the Farm Progress Show to receive real-time farmer feedback.

“We talk to our customers, hear what is on their minds,” she says. “We can showcase new technology coming in the future and hear what farmers say as we prepare to bring these products to market.”

Despite the challenges faced by farmers, Perry says their attitudes have been positive, and they look forward to learning more about the new technologies coming from Bayer Crop Sciences.

“It’s obvious we are in a tough commodity environment, but farmers realize that although prices are lower, bushels matter now more than they ever have,” she says. “We highlighted multiple products at the show that help farmers think about their systems as a whole. We are working to not just sell another seed product but to help farmers understand how they can maximize the value of that product by protecting that crop to maximize the potential of their acres.”

Bayer Crop Sciences used the Farm Progress Show as an opportunity to showcase its new HT4 soybeans.

Perry says the HT4 is the fourth generation of herbicide-tolerant traits with a five-way trait stack, making the soybeans tolerant to Glufosinate, Glyphosate, Dicamba, 2,4-D and Quizalofop.

“With five herbicide tolerances, it gives farmers a ton of flexibility with the high-yielding, performance and strong agronomics you expect from Bayer soybeans,” she says, adding the company is targeting a release date for the 2027 crop year pending regulatory approval.

Sukup Manufacturing

With a large 109,000-bushel grain bin on display at the Farm Progress Show, Sukup Manufacturing was hard to miss.

The Sheffield company had most of its product line on display, including bin roofs, dryers, and a full line of material handling equipment.

Kent Craighton, territory sales manager at Sukup Manufacturing, highlighted the unique impact of holding the show in Boone every other year, given the company’s Iowa-based status.

“This is awesome,” he says. “Boone is near Sheffield, so being in your backyard is always rewarding. We care about our customers and enjoy interacting with them.”

With a market slump, maintaining quality grain control is as important now as ever.

“Managing grain is always a challenge,” says Craighton. “Many of us farm. We understand what farmers are going through. Our goal is to provide the best value for the money farmers spend. We want to keep them profitable.”

Farmers are encouraged to locate their Sukup dealer before harvest to become educated on their bin’s airflow capabilities. This will help them maintain a high-quality commodity during storage.

Brandt Industries

Grain handling equipment, grain carts, tillage and trailers were among the implements that filled the lot for Brandt Industries this week at the Farm Progress Show.

“This is the Super Bowl of farm shows,” says Russell Soloman, U.S. sales director for Brandt Industries.

With a large demographic of farmers visiting the show, representatives from Brandt Industries take advantage of venues like the Farm Progress Show to visit with their customers in person.

“Top farmers from several states attend this show, providing a good opportunity for us to meet with them and understand their thoughts about the market, as well as their likes and dislikes about their equipment,” he says, adding it also gives them a chance to network with others in the industry and stay updated on the latest trends.

The company took full advantage of the farm show, which alternates its location between Boone and Decatur, Ill., to introduce their 45-ton heavy haul trailer into their agriculture market.

“We found some ag dealers liked the trailer’s performance and it can be customized to haul today’s larger farm equipment,” says Solomon. “This trailer will be beneficial to our agricultural market because farmers are using larger equipment, farming more acres and need a trailer to help get from field to field.”

Besides a full line of equipment, Brandt Industries offers some financing options that may be attractive to farmers in the coming months.

“We provide competitive, low-rate retail financing, which many other shortline equipment manufacturers do not commonly offer,” says Solomon. “We are hopeful the downturn could be an upturn soon, but in the meantime, we also offer some creative lease and finance options to help farmers weather the storm for the next couple of years.”

Stine Seed Company

Myron Stine, president of the Stine Seed Company, considers the opportunity to exhibit the company established by his father and CEO, Harry Stine, at the Farm Progress Show as the ultimate showcase.

“The Farm Progress Show is a world-class event for agriculture. There is nothing quite like it,” he says. “We have customers from all over the world coming to see us and share their needs for the coming year.”

Stine says feedback from farmers has been positive despite low commodity prices.

“No one wants to plan for a disaster, but farmers are keeping their heads up and want to make sure they are doing everything they need to be doing for their acres to ensure each acre is as productive as possible,” he says.

Stine Seed Company offers tiered pricing options and a robust agronomy department to support farmers in a volatile commodity market.

“Our agronomists are a world-class group,” he says. “They are there to help our growers maximize the performance of our genetics on their acres.”

At the show, Stine Seed Company featured plots and introduced a brand-new line of soybeans for the 2025 growing season.

“Forty percent of our soybean varieties are brand new for next year,” says Stine. “We are fortunate our brand is connected to our research program, which is continually taking new varieties and ensuring we have bountiful quantities of products for our farmers.”

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