Visitors to last week’s Northern Illinois Farm Show at NIU’s Convocation Center had a chance to view products and services and socialise with peers. (Photo by Jack McCarthy / Chronicle Media)

A thick fog enveloped the snow-covered fields as a visitor approached DeKalb via two-lane back roads last Wednesday.

Thousands of acres were dormant, with remnants of corn stalks poking above the rich earth.  But a few miles away the 2018 planting season was already on the minds of area farmers, agriculture agencies and suppliers.

So the timing of last week’s 36th annual IDEAg Northern Illinois Farm Show at Northern Illinois University’s Convocation Center couldn’t have been better.

The two-day show featured more than 100 vendeos featuring equipment, products and services on the concourse and arena’s main court as well as seminars and demonstrations in adjacent multi-purpose rooms.

It was also chance for farmers and suppliers from three states to socialize and talk shop.

“It’s a great place to gather and meet your peers (and) this is a perfect time of year to have a show,” said Scott Odin, sales manager Northern Illinois Farm Show.  “We aren’t out harvesting crops. People are starting to plan for the following year and looking at equipment, seed and fertilizer and making their purchases or finalizing those purchases. We (also) have conference sessions that go throughout the course of the day.”

The show originated in Rockford and landed at the Convocation Center after that arena opened in 2002.

“It’s a great facility to have a show,” Odin said. “There’s plenty of room for equipment in there and they have a lot more space downstairs as well.”

The show drew attendees primarily from northern Illinois, eastern Iowa and southern Wisconsin.

“The show itself is primarily a row-crop show as far as the attendees who come to the event — corn, soybeans,” Odin said. “We attract attendees within a 250-mile radius of the show itself. … The majority come from within 100 miles.”

The business continues to change with improved seeds, pest control, larger and more efficient equipment and technological changes. And the fundamentals of farming are strong with consistently strong yields and stable land prices.

The only difficulties these days are prices farmers can get for their product.

“Yields have been phenomenal and breaking records from year-to-year,” Odin said. “The only problem is that commodity prices have dropped and that’s where technology comes in into play — increasing (production) to make up for lower commodity prices.

“But of the three states — Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota — they’re really doing well.”

—Away from fields thoughts turn to farm shows and spring planting–