Under a glistening August sun, Rotor’s unmanned RX550 helicopter, also known as The Spirit of New Hampshire, drew a crowd at the 2024 Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa.

“We’ve built the world’s largest spray drone,” says Nick Coates, the Nashua startup’s director of operations and external affairs. Built on a Robinson R44 helicopter, Rotor Technologies ripped the chopper down to its frame and rebuilt it as a robot. Instead of seats, the interior sports a small camera system and a front-mounted lidar sensor. A flight computer ties everything together. Externally, a 33-foot spray boom dispenses product from a 110-gallon tank. The machine can cover around 240 acres per hour. Its introductory price is $990,000.

HIGH-TECH HELICOPTER: Farm Radio Broadcaster Stu Ellis interviews Nick Coates, director of operations and external affairs for Rotor Technologies at the 2024 Farm Progress Show. Behind them is Rotor's unmanned RX550 helicopter, which has a 33-foot spray boom that dispenses product from a 110-gallon tank. The machine can cover around 240 acres per hour. Its introductory price is $990,000. Photo by Andy Castillo.

“It’s really neat, but I’m not a big enough farmer to have one,” says Iowa farmer Russell Wright, who stopped at the booth on the last day of the show.

Rotor Technologies was one of about 600 vendors showcasing farm machinery and equipment across 100 exhibit acres at the Central Iowa Expo, which is traditionally the Farm Progress Show’s biennial site.

In a dedicated field demonstration area, 15 combines, 10 grain carts and more than 40 pieces of tillage equipment worked the field for a total crowd of around 150,000 people.

Making connections

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“We just got here, and we’re planning to go everywhere,” says Mark Alphs, an Iowa farmer who was browsing planters at the Kinze booth Thursday. Alphs, who farms 1,000 acres of corn, annually attends on Thursday, which is usually less busy than the show’s first two days. He’s an experienced showgoer.

“I haven’t missed a show since probably ‘82,” he says, recalling when a flood canceled the show in 1987. “I’ve made it every year since then. I never miss it.”

Besides browsing new products, Alphs says the Farm Progress Show is an opportunity to take a day off from the farm, and to network with other farmers and brand experts.

“I think it’s a pretty good show this year,” says Janet Hauge, who manages a farm about 20 miles north of the show site with her husband, Keith Hauge. They attend to find product experts. It’s hard to connect on the phone between farm duties, so they benefit from face-to-face conversations, Keith Hauge says. “We get questions answered.”

Honoring the past

While many new products were released at the 2024 show, attendees weren’t just interested in seeing the latest technology. At Antique Row, the show’s historic tractor exhibit, Iowa farmer Larry Maach browsed rows of meticulously restored green machines.

BROWSING IRON: 2024 Farm Progress Show attendees peruse old tractors at Antique Alley. Photo by Andy Castillo.

“John Deere is always my favorite,” he says, noting the Model B two-cylinder tractors as a particular highlight.

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Beneath the Minneapolis-Moline Collectors tent, Iowa farmer Loren Book explained the histocry of the storied tractor brand to every person who stopped. He points out a few notable machines from the 18 or so the club had on display. For instance, just beyond the shade, a rare and particularly well restored 1938 UDLX Comfortractor’s mustard-yellow paint sparkled. Designed for night farming, the UDLX was among the first cabbed tractors, featuring upholstered seats, an electric starter, brake light and an adjustable window.

HONORING HISTORY: A restored 1938 Minneapolis-Moline UDLX Comfortractor on display at Antique Row at the 2024 Farm Progress Show. “It’s still a work in progress,” says Kevin Sandberg, the tractor’s owner, who has been restoring it for the last 20 years. “It had a factory radio, a heater, cigar lighter with an ashtray, a windshield wiper, a fan, and a mirror with a clock in it. I have everything in there.” Photo by Andy Castillo.

“It’s still a work in progress,” says Kevin Sandberg, the tractor’s owner, who has been restoring it for the last 20 years. “It had a factory radio, a heater, cigar lighter with an ashtray, a windshield wiper, a fan and a mirror with a clock in it. I have everything in there.”

More than the machines, though, Book says the club’s mission is to elevate youth while immortalizing the historic brand. A 1966 G1000 narrow front tractor that exemplified the club’s goal exceptionally well welcomed guests to the display. It was restored by FFA member Mason Hinrichs. The tractor is the reserve grand champion at the 2024 Iowa State Fair’s FFA Ag Mechanics and Tech Show.

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UPLIFTING THE FUTURE: A 1966 Minneapolis-Moline G1000 narrow front tractor on display at the 2024 Farm Progress Show. It was restored by FFA member Mason Hinrichs. The tractor is the Reserve Grand Champion at the 2024 Iowa State Fair’s FFA Ag Mechanics and Tech Show. Photo by Andy Castillo.

“That is the essence of what we’re trying to do with a display like this — to get young people interested in mechanics, because that’s going to get them to the companies that are out there,” Book says, as he gestured at the showgrounds.

The Farm Progress Show for 2025 will be hosted in Decatur, Ill., Aug. 26-28. For more information or to keep up to date for next year’s event, visit FarmProgressShow.com.