Editor’s note: The Farm Progress Show is Aug. 27-29 in Boone, Iowa. Visit FarmProgressShow.com.

One of the best-kept secrets of the Farm Progress Show is the Varied Industries Tent, affectionately known as the VIT. You may head for the John Deere, Case or Agco displays when you first arrive, depending upon your color preference. Or you may build your day around field demos.

Those are good ways to see the show. But do yourself a favor and make sure you save time to explore the VIT inside and outside at some point during the day.

Here are seven tips that can help you get more out of your time spent at the VIT area:

1. Lock in a time to visit. This doesn’t have to be your first stop. In fact, 10 a.m. to noon or 1 to 3 p.m., when the crowds flock to demonstration areas, offer a chance for you to walk up and down the aisles of the VIT display area with fewer people alongside.

2. Make a checklist. Know which companies within VIT you want to see for sure. Use maps inside your program to pinpoint the location of those exhibits inside or outside the tent itself. Some companies may have displays inside VIT and elsewhere on the grounds. Some products repped by multiple companies may also be on display in VIT and elsewhere.

3. Keep your eyes open! There is a wide variety of exhibitors inside VIT, from companies selling tires to those offering ag software solutions to people selling liquid fertilizer. As you track down companies that you know you want to see, keep your eyes peeled for other products and exhibitors of interest.

4. If you don’t know, ask! Some innovative technology companies who want to be noticed by other exhibitors in the ag space sometimes exhibit inside VIT. If you are not familiar with a company or their product, stop and ask. That is why they are there. You may find out they are pitching a product or concept that isn’t even on the market yet.

5. You will find new products, too! Typically, more than two dozen of the 200 new products uncovered at a typical Farm Progress Show reside in exhibits in VIT. Just because the company may be smaller, or you have not heard of them, doesn’t mean that they don’t have new or interesting products. New products are waiting for you. All you must do is find them!

6. “Not new but neat” products. Not every product inside VIT will be new, but it may be new to you or it may be just a downright neat product that you have not seen before. With pandemic worries in the rearview mirror, many exhibitors again are coming from Canada and other countries. Every year, you will find companies displaying products that aren’t new to them but are displayed in the Midwest for the first time.

7. Inside — and outside, too. Allow plenty of time to work your way up and down the outside display areas around VIT as well. Companies with somewhat large products that can’t fit inside a VIT booth but don’t need a whole exhibit lot often set up shop in small lots on the exterior of the VIT. You will find everything from drones to metal workbenches to sprayer tires and tracks on display in the outside exhibits.