McCormick Named Premiere Sponsor

McCormick International, USA has been named the Premiere Sponsor of the 2009 show. Thanks to their generous sponsorship, the Big Bud feature will become a reality. McCormick will also be donating the use of several tractors at the showgrounds.

BIG BIG BIG NEWS

The famous Big Bud 16v-747, the world's largest farm tractor is coming to the 2009 Half Century Of Progress IV! Not just on static display, the tractor will be at work plowing in the fields at the show. The crew will be assembling a special plow for the event, possibly as large as 30 bottoms to give the behemoth something to play with.

FFA Progress Expo - 2008

The first FFA Progress Expo was held September 4th and 5th on the Half Century site. Four hundred fifty two FFA members from 18 schools participated in the rain plagued event. Plans to harvest corn and soybeans were canceled due to rain, and some classes were moved to Grissom Hall ( Special thanks to airport manager Bill Clayton for helping with the last minute arrangements).

Students attended classes on soil judging, yield calculations, farm safety, GPS technology, and other areas on interest. A tractor operators contest was held both days. The event was well recieved by the students and their instructors.

FFA Progress Expo's will be held in even numbered years when there is no Half Century of Progress Event. Members of the FFA Organization, (formerly known as Future Farmers of America) are students in vocational agriculture programs in high schools. Over the years, FFA has, in combination with the dedicated vo-ag instructors, helped not only "future farmers", but leaders in agribusiness, agricultural education, and even non-ag related fields get the education, skills, and experience they needed to excel in their chosen endeavors.

John Deere Secondary Event

I received this from Marilyn Moore a few days ago.

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John Deere Friends and John Deere Clubs will gather for the "Legends of Time" in Rantoul, IL during the Half Century of Progress IV, August 27-30, 2009.,

• You will see a fully mounted 8 bottom Plow working. This will be the largest gathering of 8010's ever.
• A 1/32 Show Tractor 8010 with a plow or just the Tractor may be purchased.
• A Seminar on repairing the starting Pony Motor on the Diesel Tractor will be presented by Earl Seamands in the John Deere Tent.
• A Raffle with First prize as a Child's Wagon, with side boards, loaded down with John Deere merchandise for Mom, Dad and Child, Second Prize will be a Child's Pedal Combine, and Third prize will be a beautiful decorated JD Tool Box with John Deere Tools.
• John Deere Merchandise Internet Store will be in the tent.
• Show T-Shirt will be available soon.

Contact Persons: Dean Blackford, (217) 841-5914, Darrel Fischer,(815) 383-4367, and Earl Seamands,(217) 586-3604.

2009 Show News and Talk

Half Century Of Progress IV - August 27-30, 2009

The Half Century Of Progress organizing committee has been meeting and making a lot of progress in planning the 2009 event. I have heard there are some big plans in the work, but all details are closely guarded at this time.

As in past events, the main focus of the event is to get the old equipment out in the field and working as it was intended, so expect plenty of action in the fields. In each of the past shows, the variety and scope of equipment has increased, so expect even bigger things this time.

Secondary Events
The previously announced "Legends Of Time" John Deere feature will be one of the secondary events at the show.

There is nothing official, but word is going around that Ford tractor collectors are working on plans to have a big gathering at the show as well.

2009 Half Century Of Progress IV-Early Announcements

This is the first of several secondary events to be announced for the 2009 event.

First Corn In 2008

The first corn harvested in 2008 in the Rantoul area was on the Half Century of Progress grounds. The late planted corn for the cultivating demonstrations was harvest shortly after New Years, the moisture was high, and the yield wasn't great, but it was the first!

Video Clip of 48 Draft Horses

I got an idea...

Farmers have a lot of time to think about things while riding the tractors and combines across the field. Often it's not mentally demanding, and your thoughts begin to wander. Apparently this Massey Harris Clipper combine is the result of one of those times. Someone who got tired of constantly emptying the rather small grain tank added a hitch to pull a wagon alongside. The Clipper was ideally made for this, as swinging the chute on the grain elevator to the unload position directed the grain into the wagon instead of the grain tank. This hitch was well designed, being hinged to allow it to be locked in the upright position putting it out of the way when not in use.

Many farmer added modifications for almost every machine ever built have appeared over the years, some successful, some not. Many were developed to resolve a particular situation on one farm, while others were broadly successful, resulting commercial production. A friend of mine who dealt in used farm machinery once said "Don't worry about farmers having guns, but do make them register their welders and cutting torches!"

John Deere Grain Dryer

Quite rare, even during the years of it's production, Deere built portable grain dryers for a short time. Probably a bit before it's time, they were apparently not produced in large numbers. I can remember seeing maybe one prior to this one appearing at the Rantoul show. A recirculating batch dryer, it was in operation on Saturday at the show. A bucket type elevator served to load and unload the dryer, as well as to recirculate the grain during the drying process.

Corn Pickers Galore

I wonder when was the last time this many corn pickers were assembled in one place! I never really got a count, in part because they were scattered over the grounds, but there had to be well over 25. Probably one of the big farm shows in the early 60's would likely be the last time this many pickers were in one place.

Lavern McCarty of Prescott, Iowa (my father in-law) examines a John Deere No. 101 one row picker like the one he used for several years. He had been looking for one at shows for several years.

Mechanical corn pickers dramatically reduced the amount of backbreaking hand labor on America's farms. On the downside, they also took many hands and arms when operators tried to unplug the machines with out stopping the mechanisms.

Turn 'em Loose Day

We have a lot of acres to harvest and till, but need to control the amount of work so we don't run out of fields before the show is over. Sunday then becomes "Turn 'em Loose Day" letting the combines, pickers, and plows go full throttle.

Dried Out Nicely!

The grounds are in very good shape, the rains of Friday have soaked in, and the field work was back on track, though a little later in the day. The second attempt at the 48 horse hitch was as successful as the first on Friday. The horses all behaved, and the attempt went off without incident.

Much progress was made on the harvesting front, the combines and pickers were busy throughout the afternoon on both corn and soybeans. The plowing crew also made good progress today. It turned out to be a fine day after a rough start with sporadic sprinkles most of the morning. I was not able to get a good count, but it had to be the greatest number of corn pickers assembled in one place in many years

Sunday promises to be a great day, with moderate temperatures, and little chance of rain.

A little soggy!

We had some rain, the grounds are still in pretty good shape, and with a few hours of sunshine, it would be nearly normal. the field activities are suffering this morning, things are improving.

48 Draft Horses!

They made, and it should be a record! Forty eight draft horses all pulling at one time, on a 30 foot disk. It was an impressive sight, especially when they made the turn to head back down the field.

Thanks to Rich Porter for thses great pictures.