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The Corteva Agriscience exhibit showcases the Farm Progress Show “tent of the future.”

Tom J Bechman 1, Editor, Indiana Prairie Farmer

August 20, 2019

2 Min Read
Corteva Agriscience exhibit at Farm Progress Show
MADE IN THE SHADE: While outdoor umbrellas keep visitors cooler in the shade, those who venture inside the Corteva tent will feel as if they’ve walked into a permanent, air-conditioned structure. Corteva Agriscience

The Farm Progress Show is coming up Aug. 27-29 in Decatur, Ill. Even if you can’t get to the part of the exhibit field where the Corteva Agriscience display is located until late in the day, make sure you visit, no matter how tired you are.

Why? You’ve never seen a “tent” like this at a farm show — at least, not in the U.S. Andy Tank, who manages displays at farm shows for Corteva, says it comes closer to resembling a building; however, it’s not permanent.

Tank, a former Farm Progress Show manager, knows all about tents. He knows they can become hot if outside temperatures are high, no matter how well you ventilate them and how many fans you bring.

He also knows that on rainy days, even on a permanent site, it can be hard to keep everything dry, especially on the outside edges and where people enter and exit.

That won’t be a problem in the Corteva exhibit at the 2019 Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Ill. You’ll think you’re in a comfortable building, full of captivating displays that make use of technology to tell the company’s story.

Corteva is in its first year of operation under its new name. Spun off from the merger of Dow and DuPont, the new company’s agriculture division began operating as Corteva Agriscience at the beginning of June.

Folks from Corteva will be stationed at various points inside the air-conditioned display area. You can learn about cutting-edge technologies from Enlist, with its chemical formulations for weed, insect and disease control. Like most companies, this one pulls out all the stops to make sure your time inside the tent will be both educational and enjoyable.

Face of the future?

Even if it’s warm outside, it will be comfortable inside the Corteva exhibit. Don Tourte, senior vice president of sales and events at Farm Progress, says Corteva, along with other companies, offer air conditioning so visitors remain cool while learning about new products.

When the show first moved to the permanent Decatur site in 2005, few exhibitors offered air-conditioned space. At last count, Tourte expects 30 exhibits will be air-conditioned or partially air-conditioned this year. Coupled with other measures show staff take to provide cooling for visitors, it’s much easier to get out of the heat if it gets too hot outside.

Both Tourte and Matt Jungmann, Farm Progress Show manager, expect more companies will investigate such displays, using similar concepts to what Corteva displayed at the Boone, Iowa, Farm Progress Show in 2018 and now brings to Decatur.

Other companies with permanent displays at the site continue to improve them as well. Companies with permanent grain bins, for example, often add technology or improve ways to see the benefits of their products with each show.

About the Author(s)

Tom J Bechman 1

Editor, Indiana Prairie Farmer

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