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Bad weather? FPS staff keeps safety top of mindBad weather? FPS staff keeps safety top of mind

If you attend the Farm Progress Show, rest assured — in the event of severe weather, there’s a plan for your safety.

Holly Spangler, Prairie Farmer Editor, Farm Progress Executive Editor

August 18, 2021

2 Min Read
busy street at Farm Progress Show
READY FOR ANYTHING: “Our message is simple: We have plans and procedures so we can keep everybody safe,” says Matt Jungmann, Farm Progress national events director.Farm Progress

Matt Jungmann and his staff had a lightbulb moment in 2011, when high winds took down a stage at the Indiana State Fair and seven people were killed.

As Farm Progress national events director and manager of the Farm Progress Show — which brings tens of thousands of people to the outdoor event populated by tents and temporary structures — Jungmann knew they needed a better plan for bad weather.

And while severe weather isn’t as likely in late August, it’s not impossible either. In 2011, Jungmann made the call to shut down Husker Harvest Days, a sister show in Nebraska held in September, when sustained winds reached 40 mph and were gusting to 60 mph, threatening tents. In 2014, the Farm Progress Show closed early in Boone, Iowa, due to lightning.

“That was a pretty stressful event for everybody involved. Nobody wants to close the show, but I don’t want anybody to get hurt,” Jungmann says. “I can’t have somebody get hurt on the show grounds.”

In 2018 in Boone, Jungmann and staff had to clear the grounds on the first day of the show due to lightning — a tough call but the right one, given the number of nearby lightning strikes.

“The system worked well in 2018, and we learn from each event and continue to take notes,” he adds. “With that many tents and grain legs and augers, there’s a lot of things that are 60 and 80 feet in the air. It’s an 80-acre lightning rod. There is no safe place in a lightning event, if one should occur.”

Thanks to standards created through the Event Safety Alliance, measurements and responses are based on a prescribed action plan. For example, when lightning gets within 12 miles, a warning over the public address system is given. When it’s within 8 miles, the grounds are cleared. When it’s clear within 8 miles for 30 minutes, the grounds are reopened.

In effect, clearing the grounds means everyone must return to their vehicles.

Jungmann says those kinds of plans bring peace of mind to exhibitors, too, who have people on the grounds to protect.

“They need a plan, and we need a plan, and it’s safer for everybody involved,” he says.

Be in the know at the show

Want to know what’s happening at the show as soon as it happens? Sign up for text updates by texting FPS21 to 20505. You’ll get event reminders, daily schedule highlights, emergency and weather alerts, and exclusive exhibitor promotions. You’ll only get the biggest news and information that makes your show experience better. Plus, you can opt out at any time. 

This year’s Farm Progress Show is Aug. 31 to Sept. 2 in Decatur, Ill. Learn more at FarmProgressShow.com.

About the Author

Holly Spangler

Prairie Farmer Editor, Farm Progress Executive Editor

Holly Spangler has covered Illinois agriculture for over 25 years, bringing meaningful production agriculture experience to the magazine’s coverage. She currently serves as editor of Prairie Farmer magazine and executive editor for Farm Progress, managing editorial staff at six publications across the Corn Belt.

A University of Illinois agricultural communications graduate and award-winning writer and photographer, Holly is past president of the American Agricultural Editors Association. In 2015, she became only the 10th U.S. agricultural journalist to earn the Writer of Merit designation and is a five-time winner of the top writing award for editorial opinion in U.S. agriculture. She is an AAEA Master Writer and was one of 10 recipients worldwide to receive the IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders in Ag Journalism award. She serves on the Illinois 4-H Foundation and the Illinois Council on Ag Education. Her work in agricultural media has been recognized by the Illinois Soybean Association, Illinois Corn, Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, and more.

Holly and her husband, John, farm in western Illinois where they raise corn, soybeans and beef cattle on 2,500 acres. Their operation includes 125 head of commercial cows in a cow/calf operation. Locally, she serves on the school board and volunteers with 4-H and FFA. 

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