Tuesday, March 5, 2024
Last Wednesday (the 28th), Pat and I with Brandon and Emily, traveled to Houston to attend the 2024 Commodity Classic. After attending the Classic in Orlando last winter, it was a high priority for us to attend this year. The Classic is the premier trade show, hosted by farmers, with a special emphasis on cutting-edge technology. This year’s Commodity Classic surpassed our high expectations!
Pat and I were happy to go to the Classic
Our trip was sponsored by Nutrien and Dynagro Seed because we had the 1st and 2nd place yield of wheat for Indiana in the 2023 National Wheat Growers Yield contest. We were honored at a special Nutrien/Dynagro event on Wednesday evening that recognized the state and national yield winners of corn, wheat, and sorghum. They made us feel rather special.
At the banquet, Brandon and I received plaques from Dynagro. In this picture L to R, Landon Taylor–Nutrien/Dynagro regional wheat consultant, Emily, Brandon, Greg Anthis –local Nutrien crop consultant, Pat, and me.
The trade show on Thursday and Friday was spectacular, like 2023. It was even larger with more exhibits in a larger exhibit space. The quality of the exhibits is striking, but even more impressive is the quality of the exhibitors themselves. If you have a question, you don’t get reference to an 800 number or a website. The person with whom you speak is knowledgeable and can answer your question right on the spot. It is very reassuring to have access to these experts.
Here we are Thursday morning about to enter the Commodity Classic exhibit hall.
Of course, the expansive exhibit offered by John Deere was impressive. They premiered a new 9RX tractor with 830 horsepower, the most powerful tractor ever offered. They also introduced new S7-series combines for model year 2025 that will replace the current ones. They had attached to the 9RX 830 a 60-foot drill, and trailing that was a gargantuan 850-bushel air cart. That big tractor and air drill were interesting but far too big for my interest. The S7 800 combine will probably be the model we order when we are ready for our next combine. But my greatest interest was in a new C-series air cart that will replace the 1910 we currently run. I pored over the C400L cart with a fine-tooth comb, and asked many questions of the expert on hand that day. He explained the new electric-drive meters (8 individual meters rather than one full-width meter on the 1910). Also, this new metering system comes with a self-calibrating mode, which will eliminate crawling under the air cart with a fabric bag to capture the seeds during calibration. This will be much easier on my old knees, and speed the process to boot.
Approaching the expansive JD exhibit
The 9RX 830.
This is the air cart that captured my attention. C400L. 400 bushels.
This is a demonstration set up of the automatic calibration system
This is a demonstration feature of the new electric-drive meters. It was interesting to see how they work.
We tried to take in just about every exhibit, big and small.
NASA had an exhibit about their connection to agriculture
CaseIH’s big new 715 hp tractor
This is CaseIH’s new AF11 enormous combine
The New Holland combine is a a big one too!
The Commodity Classic ran through Friday, too, and we attended what is called the General Session. There was a very entertaining speech by Mike Massimino, a former astronaut. Then representatives of 5 commodity groups took the stage for a panel discussion of future ag policy. Next, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack was politely received by the audience and spoke of his efforts to shore up opportunities for small- and medium-sized and beginning farmers. He was followed by Michael Regan, the Administrator of the EPA. He spoke of how he worked in cooperation with Secretary Vilsack. He also announced that he was establishing a new Office of Agriculture in the EPA which will advise him directly on the impact of EPAs policies on farmers. Very interesting stuff.
Evenings at the Classic this year were different for Pat and me. Last year, with the show in Orlando, we took evenings to run over to Disney. This year, we took in the concerts. Thursday night, Bayer rented out the 713 Music Hall in Downtown Houston, and provided a concert by Big & Rich. It was a huge event, but Pat and I did not enjoy the show, so we departed rather early. The next night, Nutrien sponsored a concert at a place called The Rustic, and this one was super fun! There was an opening act, then Eddie Montgomery performed. The headliner of the night was Lonestar, and we found ourselves really enjoying that music! This evening was far superior to the previous night.
Bayer’s concert was held in this large venue about a mile from the Convention Center and our hotel Thursday evening
Here’s the venue for the Friday night concert sponsored by Nutrien.
Lonestar was a big hit!
On Saturday, Pat and I went out to the Johnson Space Center. That particular place is too extensive for a single-day visit, but we enjoyed our several hours there. The exhibit of past and future space exploration were intriguing. We made it back to our hotel, Four Seasons Houston, in time to get ready for dinner. Our meal that night at the hotel’s premier restaurant, Toro Toro, was splendid! Great food and impeccable, attentive service. We retired back to our room just in time to watch the Michigan State at Purdue basketball game.
We had a great time at the Space Center
We flew home on Sunday, arriving back in Indianapolis at about 4pm, and we got back home at dusk. We were quite tired, but so happy for the Commodity Classic experience. Next year’s show is in Denver, and we hope to be there for it!
Today, the guys are preparing the sprayer, the blue NH3 applicator, and the field cultivator. In between showers of rain, they work outside to help get these machines ready. We got word that the new corn planter is going down the assembly line today.
#plant24 is not far off!
