The Farm Progress Show has wrapped for 2017, and farmers all across the Midwest have headed home to prepare for harvest. Staff, meanwhile, is working hard to button up the cleanup — and move on to Husker Harvest Days, going on Sept. 12-14 in Grand Island, Neb.

“The show was a great success!” says Matt Jungmann, Farm Progress director of trade shows. “As I sit here in Grand Island, the exhibitor reports are coming in, and all seemed pleased with the entire event.  Mother Nature played a big role in that, but all of the people who were exhausted at the end of that week know who they are and should be proud of their efforts!”

The weather cooperated beautifully, with daily highs of around 80 degrees F. Dena Morgan, Farm Progress, says that since the FPS moved to Decatur, Ill., in 2005, there have only been two years when temperatures didn’t reach 100: 2009 and 2017.

Field demonstrations ran every day for three days, including corn harvest, tiling, drone and tillage demos. Host farmer David Brix says the short-season corn came in around 178 bushels per acre and 29%.

“We plant 98-to-101-day Wisconsin hybrids, so not something most Illinois farmers will plant,” Jungmann adds.

And what did guests find as they walked the 90-acre exhibit field? Farm Progress editorial director and longtime technology editor Willie Vogt says new ideas ruled the day at FPS 2017.

“From my perspective, we saw many more prototypes and new ideas that will be coming to farmers in 2018 and beyond. I also noted the rise of the startup, which brings new ideas and tools for farmers,” Vogt says, pointing to companies like Farmers Business Network, Farmers Edge, Encirca, Granular, Climate FieldView and more.

“Those same startups, however, also make determining a farm’s digital future more complicated,” Vogt adds. “They’re all bringing new approaches to the market that farmers will have to suss out for the future.”

Jungmann and his staff are grateful for good teamwork at FPS 2017. “Thanks to Richland Community College for being such great partners, our host farmers for making their land and crop available, all of the traffic control, and EMS and law enforcement for their work,” he says.

“Our volunteers make the show happen, and they are the boots on the ground, welcoming the many thousands of guests to their community.”

Check out the slideshow to see highlights from FPS 2017.