Big Iron (and a little rice) | by Kelly Downing

Last week I was in Fargo, ND, for the Big Iron Farm Show. It was a very enjoyable experience for several reasons. First, the weather was beautiful, with high temperatures near 80° F (27° C), while at home in Nebraska there were another few days of very hot (97° F, or more than 36° C) weather. Second, I got the opportunity to meet with several customers and potential customers from all over the world — North Dakota, other U.S. states, Kazakhstan, Liberia, etc. Third, farm shows are always fun. Fourth, and perhaps most important, I hadn’t had any cheese curds in quite some time — it was time for a treat!

The North Dakota Trade Organization (NDTO) does a great job promoting its state, which accounted for the large number of international visitors, and it was a great pleasure to meet so many wonderful people from all around the world. I also got to spend some quality time with a couple of neat guys. Our dealer in Fargo, Ken Storm, is always fun to be around. I also got to hang out with a valued coworker, Ben Soliev. He is from Uzbekistan, so was invaluable in our communication with all the Russian-speaking visitors. Ken helped with the translations for the North Dakotans. ☺ Plus, they are both just nice guys, and it is always a pleasure to spend time with them.

We were asked to get some representative photos from the show. Here is mine:

You might notice that our display span for the show looks a little “different” than a typical machine in the field. That’s because, the night before the show, somebody hit it with a forklift! If any of you read the comic strip “Family Circus,” you can probably guess the culprit: one of those two gremlins named “Ida Know” or “Not Me.”

Other than this minor distraction, the show went very well. There was quite a bit of rain just before the show began, which forced the cancellation and delay of some field events. However, it had been very dry, so the moisture was welcome. Unfortunately for me, I had to leave the show early and go to southern Missouri and Arkansas for the rest of the week. Not that those are bad places, but the temperature was much higher. And, as you might have deduced, I am really a “cold-weather” kind of guy.

It was nice seeing the harvest down south. Lots of corn coming out of the fields and rice, too. The rice harvest is delayed this year, due to the late spring, but the crop looks good. Here are a couple of photos of the Jeremy Baltz pivot rice, near Pocahontas, AR. He is closing in on harvest and anticipates a good result.

Although it has seemed like a long time coming, harvest is approaching at home, too. I even saw several corn fields cleaned out this weekend as I drove through eastern Nebraska to visit my mom. This reminds me that I want to wish you all a very safe, productive harvest season. Take extra care and don’t rush; I want you to enjoy the fruits of all your labors! Stay in touch.

---

Kelly Downing International Ag Project Specialist Kelly, a Nebraska-based Irrigation Specialist, spent 10 years working on soil and water research projects for a major agricultural university, involving a variety of crops. His work focused on irrigation management, but also included other topics.  Since joining Valley Irrigation, he has worked in the fields of Service, Product Management, Product Reliability and Sales. Kelly focuses on developing projects in irrigation field management and providing recommendations for the Circles for Rice project. Kelly has traveled to several countries providing technical support, such as soil moisture monitoring and irrigation management training.