The 2017 Farm Progress Show host farmers can all agree on one thing: Planting season was painful. “It was one of the worst springs we’ve had in quite a while,” says Bill Voorhees. On the bright side, the Illinois host farmers have their show duties down to a science after 12 years in their respective roles.

David Brix, who is responsible for the 140 acres of parking lots and part of the demonstration plots, says preparing for the event gets easier every year. “Everyone understands their role and makes it happen,” he explains.

Decatur’s host farmers and landowners run down several changes, both on and off the farm, since hosting in 2015.

A quick history lesson
The Brix family farm legacy began with Alvin Boyd, David Brix’s great-grandfather. David’s grandfather Joe Boyd and his wife, Norma, had two daughters, Frances (David’s mother) and Rita.

David joined the family’s farming operation in 1994 and convinced his grandparents to become part of the permanent show site in 2005. Joe passed away in 2009, but David keeps the tradition alive by managing the family’s land for demonstration plots and prepping the parking lots.

Marc Padrutt farms roughly 120 acres on the Farm Progress Show grounds. The land was passed down from Vernon and Hazel Hebel, Joe Boyd’s cousin, to their daughters, Wilma Zinn and LaVerne Durbin. Wilma passed away in October 2016, and her son, Jeff Zinn, inherited the land.

Meet Jeff Zinn
Jeff grew up around his grandfather Vernon’s farm, but Vernon never encouraged Jeff to become a farmer. Vernon was 90 years old when the permanent Farm Progress Show site launched in 2005, Jeff notes. “He couldn’t enjoy it himself, but he was proud to be part of it,” he adds.

Jeff and his wife, Nancy, live in Hopedale and work in Morton. He works in mechanical maintenance for Caterpillar.

“I’m taking the whole week off to be at the show,” Jeff says. “It’s amazing how you see things you missed the first few days. The show is growing by leaps and bounds.”

Jeff and Nancy Zinn

The Padrutt family
Marc Padrutt says expansion is the next big step for his farm. He has several high-tech tools at his disposal, including a high-speed planter, Climate Corp.’s FieldView and a Gator equipped to map field boundaries and guidance lines.

“This is the third spring I have planted with a high-speed planter,” he explains. “High-speed planting increases critical springtime productivity while maintaining seed placement. The investment allows me to take full advantage of narrow planting windows — especially valuable this year.”

Marc believes timely planting provides more consistent results compared to precision planting practices, like variable-rate prescriptions. This year he planted 60% corn and 40% beans.

With all the modern technology to help push the farm into the future, Marc and his family paused to honor the past. The Padrutts celebrated the 50th anniversary of their home farm last year.

Fiona, Marc, Loes, Hannah and Annika Padrutt

The Brix family
There is a new normal in the Brix house this year. David and Dawn’s youngest daughter, GaBrielle, studies ag business and accounting at Illinois State University. Their oldest daughter, Briana, is a radiation technologist at Decatur Memorial Hospital. “We’re empty-nesters nine months out of the year,” David says.

Dawn is back on the farm full time after selling their T-shirt screen-printing business. “She wanted to come back and drive tractors,” David adds. “We’re back working together, so that’s a good thing.”

David expanded his farm by adding 300 acres and 50 head of feeders and replacement heifers. Retail prices on round bales are down after a few exceptional growing years, he explains, and feeding cattle gives excess hay a home. David’s shop got a little bigger, too. He added room for a new Case IH combine, larger tillage equipment and a four-wheel-drive Challenger tractor.

As the show approaches, David says he’s ready to see a few familiar faces. “We’ve met a lot of good friends, friends for life, from Iowa and Indiana that we would have never met before,” he explains. “That’s been a good part of the show.”

Briana, Dawn, David and GaBrielle Brix

The Voorhees family
Bill Voorhees is happy to have planting season behind him after replanting 60 acres of corn and planting his beans late.

“We’ve got everything from really beautiful corn planted early at the Farm Progress Show site to really poor corn that was planted late,” he explains. He planted the demonstration plots on April 14. “We should have planted a lot more corn in those two days,” he adds.

When Mother Nature cooperates, Bill can plant 77 acres an hour with his John Deere high-speed planter. “I can get a lot done with little effort,” he says.

He added the Capture 3RIVE 3D low-water volume, in-furrow insecticide application system to his planter in 2016 to target corn rootworm in his continuous corn acres. Bill is still in the testing phase, but he is happy with the results so far.

He manages his farms with the Farmers Edge data management system and uses the Corn Manager program to track nutrients. “We’re tracking nitrogen loss, and we’ve cut rates so far,” he explains. “We’re learning right now.”

On the home front, Bill’s oldest daughter, Hailey, graduated from high school this spring. She will study ultrasound technology at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale this fall.

Bill, Jennifer, Kaitlynn, Addison and Hailey Voorhees

The Schwarze family
Mark Schwarze; his brother, Mike; and his father, Colby; have their eyes on a few new tools this year, including Precision Planting’s new FurrowJet System.

“We were only able to get half of it due to tight supply,” Mark says. “We’re looking forward to trying that next year.”

They ran Amvac’s SIMPAS System, which uses Bluetooth technology and metering software to apply and track products at planting. “We’re the guinea pigs this year,” he says. “The new auger-style system is more accurate, and it ran perfectly this year. Down the road, we’ll be able to apply micronutrients, a nitrogen source and insecticide with this one system.”

Farm Progress Show visitors will enjoy a distinctive demo plot this year. Mark used a multi-hybrid precision planter on 40 acres to spell “Precision Planting” within the plot. An aerial photograph will hopefully capture the hybrid variability between the two hybrids. “With all of the rain we got this year, we’re hoping it turns out well,” Mark adds.

The Schwarzes’ trucking and excavating businesses keep growing. “We’ve added trucks to our logistics division, and our excavating business has really taken off,” Mark explains. “It’s keeping us very busy with steady work.”

Lacy, Mike, Cole, Louie, Mark and Karson Schwarze

The Farm Progress Show is Aug. 29-31. For more information, visit FarmProgressShow.com.