By Tina Fisher Forde
The Forde Files No. 64
Inspiration, invention at Tulare's Ag Expo
Shedding light on local issues
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Logan Staheli, 22, of Cedar City, Utah, is shown in front of the hay steamer designed by his dad Dave and the Staheli sons. To be properly processed, hay cannot be too dry (the leaves come off) or too wet (it will mold) when baled, and farmers historically must bale their winnowed hay during a precise three-hour window when nature provides the perfect the dew point. The Staheli machine, pulled here by a John Deere tractor and followed by a Massey-Ferguson baler, provides the exact amount of moisture needed for baling. The bales are 1,500 pounds.
The Tulare Ag Expo – located a quick drive up Hwy. 99 in Tulare County and held every February – is a cornucopia of shiny monster farming machines, down home visiting, community pride, international marketing and big-money purchases. Industrial vendors may write their entire year's contracts at the expo, which is the world's largest annual agricultural exposition (there's a larger one in Europe that is held every two years). The agricultural machines cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Farmer-businessmen do a lot of tire-kicking during the three-day event.
J.J. Dagorret (standing right) of Automated Ag, Moses Lake, Wash., with his new Bandit Xpress, a mobile harvest assist platform that allows "everyday people" to harvest fruit in a less fatiguing manner. The mannequins show how workers (up to four) are harnessed on the platform, which can be raised and lowered. Also shown, company board chairman Stephen Mason of Clearwater, Fla.
In a testament to community support, a thousand volunteers help plan the event and keep it running smoothly. Schools close in the city of Tulare so the parents and youngsters can participate in fundraising food booths and other activities. The 2014 expo, Feb. 11-13, featured 1,500 exhibitors on the 260-acre site. A hundred thousand visitors dropped in this year. The atmosphere is that of a county fair.
Visitors won't find Las Vegas style models promoting the industrial wares, but they may walk away with a free Bible from a local church's booth.
The Kaweah River Senior Drill Team booth's peach cobbler, cooked cowboy style (by cowboys) in skillets covered with hot charcoal briquettes, alone is worth the drive.
The expo features a recurring presentation of the top 10 new products, which this year included a remotely controlled field machine, nutrition-managing software, an unmanned aerial vehicle that helps farmers scout crops and track livestock, a fruit-harvesting platform for workers who are harnessed for ease of collection (see photo), a non-vibrating hammer and an innovative flow meter.
