Farmers aren’t the only ones who come to the Farm Progress Show to see and hear all the latest in ag. Each year over 200 farm broadcasters, journalists, podcasters and television newscasters scour the show site to learn the latest innovations and deliver stories to their audiences back home.

It’s not easy to do remote media work in the middle of an often hot, crowded farm show. But a journalists’ life during those three days is a little easier thanks to the show’s air conditioned media tent, sponsored by BASF since 2013.

“I’ve been to both sites (Decatur, Ill. And Boone, Iowa) for the Farm Progress Show, and the media tent is always incredibly important for our broadcast team,” says Riley Smith, digital editor and reporter for Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network. “Having a controlled environment to do all our broadcasting in is very important, especially for our morning show. The internet is always easy to access, and the air conditioning helps us keep our equipment cooled off. We all know how hot it can get at the Farm Progress Show.

“It also provides an easy point to meet up with people for interviews,” he adds. “The tent is hard to miss!”

Rita Frazier, Network Anchor at RFD Radio Network, agrees.

“It serves as a meeting place for industry reps and reporters,” she notes. “At last year’s Decatur show I did at least three sit-down interviews with various companies in the common workspace area in the media tent. My team and I also use the media tent for a centralized meeting place to connect during the day to compare notes and map out changes or additions for daily schedules.”

“We wouldn’t be able to cover the show as deeply as we do without the media tent,” says Iowa Ag Radio reporter Riley Smith, seen here interviewing BASF’s Scott Kay. “It’s a game changer.” Credit: BASF

Improvements over time

In earlier times, reporters and anchorpeople lugging heavy cameras had to slog through the elements just like the rest of us, often competing with dicey weather, heat and noise to do their work. Media accommodations were minimal – mainly some table tops and chairs. “They had a pole tent that was often hot, cold, or wet, depending on the year,” says Dena Morgan, events and sponsorships manager for Farm Progress. “But media liked it because they were able to look out on the street by rolling up the tent walls.”

In more recent years BASF took on sponsorship and invested in a bigger, clear span tent with air conditioning – a game changer during those muggy, late August show dates. When you’re walking the vast showgrounds in high noon with temperatures soaring, it’s great to get back to the air-conditioned tent to knock out your stories in relative peace and quiet.

Other changes improved the way media covered the show. “We used to get multiple phone lines to the media tent,” recalls Morgan. “I think about 2015, we dropped to one or two and now we don’t provide any phone lines, just the fastest and best internet connection we can. Oh how times have changed!”

Chip Shilling, senior manager of external affairs for BASF North American Agricultural Solutions, says his team arrives early each day, but reporters are already in the tent working on stories. “They are there before we get there and after we leave,” he adds. “The media tent is a nice behind-the-scenes glimpse of how online stories come together.”

Last year’s show registered 230 media, both local and national, both domestic and international. Reporters from Kenya, Denmark and South America made their way to the show.

“The Farm Progress Show is this concentration of information, experts, and new products – all the things the ag media covers in their various outlets, as well as mainstream media like Chicago Tribune, Bloomberg, and Wall Street Journal,” says Shilling. “They come to understand agriculture.”

Even so, many familiar faces in the ag media often make the tent a homecoming of sorts. Some even bring home-baked cookies that others happily gobble up, along with drinks and food provided by BASF.

“It’s a place for old media friends to reconnect,” says Shilling. “When you think about it, ag is a small community, and ag media itself is its own small community. And many of them get together each year in these two cities that host the Farm Progress Show.”