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

The Farm Progress Show uses and encourages sustainable environmental practices. You’ll see examples when you attend this year’s event.

“We believe, working together with the exhibitors and others, we can create a path to a more sustainable and climate-friendly industry,” says Emily Mauermann, director of marketing and development for Farm Progress. “We are dedicated to environmental improvements that foster a sustainable future and lead to social and economic improvements for our customers and the communities we serve.”

Several steps have been taken by show management to reduce waste and carbon emissions. More steps will be put into practice in the future.

“From our new soybean-based asphalt to our renewable power sources and use of biodiesel, the Farm Progress Show is helping propel a more sustainable future forward,” Mauermann says. “Even the landscaping materials used at the show site receive a new home at the end of the show through local sales at reduced prices.”

Refilling water bottles

New in 2024, visitors will receive a refillable aluminum bottle when they purchase a water bottle at a food stand. There are two water bottle filling stations on the Boone showgrounds, sponsored by ADM. These stations are on Lot 1259 and Lot 18S.

“When you buy a water bottle at a food stand this year, it won’t be plastic,” Mauermann says. “Instead, you’ll get an aluminum bottle with a screw-top lid that you can refill at one of the hydration stations. Look for these two hydration stations near each of the two Varied Industry Tents. A third water bottle filling station is at the Hospitality Tent on Lot 625.”

Other efforts to foster sustainability at the show include dealing with leftover food, composting and recycling.

Recycling, reducing waste

Peyton Fair, events coordinator for Farm Progress who works with the show’s exhibitors, explains these efforts.

“We have partnered with our waste handling vendor to offer recycling at the show for both visitors and exhibitors,” Fair says. “In 2023, we were able to keep 1.2 tons of recyclable materials out of landfills through designated collection efforts. We encourage everyone to look for those recycle bins throughout the showgrounds and choose to recycle what they can.

“Our catering vendor for the Farm Progress Show in Boone is Hy-Vee, which has been designated as one of the greenest grocery chains in the nation,” she says. “From sustainable and local product sourcing, reducing their carbon footprint and supporting local communities, their commitment to corporate responsibility aligns very closely with our own values.”

To reduce food waste, Hy-Vee has changed the format of the meal services offered in the exhibitor food tent. While still offering full-service catering, exhibitor booth staff visiting the exhibitor food tent will now find food trucks with made-to-order meals rather than a buffet-style meal each day.

Using renewable power

When traveling the countryside, you see solar panels in fields and windmills turning across the skyline. Renewable electrical power generation and use is on the rise. To encourage this sustainability practice, companies and organizations buy that power for their use.

The Farm Progress Show and Husker Harvest Days do the same through a special program that replaces power from conventional sources with renewable electricity.

As a division of Informa, a company that pledged to strive for net-zero emissions from its events, Farm Progress is part of an innovative program that evaluates its energy use, looks for efficiencies and reductions, and then purchases the electricity it still needs to power a show site from renewable sources such as wind, solar and geothermal.

“In farming, we know producers work to be efficient and sustainable,” says Matt Jungmann, Farm Progress national events director. “This program is a way we can contribute to the effort to reduce carbon emissions. From our standpoint, it’s a way to show we are invested in sustainability, too.”

The renewable electricity program is supported by Informa LLC for all company events, including Husker Harvest Days and the Farm Progress Show. This is how the program works:

The power into the show may be from conventional sources, but there are renewable sources on the grid.

Every unit of renewable electricity generates a market-based credit called a renewable energy certificate (REC).

Informa purchases the RECs, which give the owner claims to megawatt-hours of renewable energy and its attributes.

The purchasing of renewable electricity helps achieve:

As farmers open their land to generating renewable power, so do companies like Farm Progress. When you see lights in a Farm Progress Show or Husker Harvest Days exhibit, or those big lights in each quadrant, know that they’re powered by renewable energy.