Countdown to Farm Technology Days 2017

Plans for Wisconsin Farm Technology Days are moving forward with less than a year before the event that is expected to draw up to 40,000 people to Kewaunee County.

The three-day event from July 11-13, 2017, is the largest agricultural show in Wisconsin and one of the largest in the nation.

Ebert Enterprises is the farm hosting the event, which will showcase the latest improvements in production agriculture, including many practical applications of recent research.

More than 300 committee members are currently working on 18 board committees to help organize the Kewaunee event.

Approximately 200 Kewaunee County residents traveled in July, some in two full buses, to Walworth County, which was the host of this year's show.

About 15 people worked in the Kewaunee County hospitality tent and lounge, which is traditionally operated by the next year's host of Farm Technology Days.

"Those were hot days and we were one of the few tents with air conditioning, so we were very popular," said Aerica Bjurstrom, secretary of the executive committee for the Kewaunee event and agricultural agent for Kewaunee County.

Farm Technology Days committee members also have brought their float to recent parades in Rio Creek and Luxemburg and  to Algoma's Shanty Days parade..

In addition, the official Kewaunee County Farm Technology Days toy, an Gehl 800 forage harvester, recently began selling on-line and sales have been strong, said Bjurstrom.

The plans for Innovation Square, a centerpiece of the event, are developing well and will include a large-scale model of Algoma's famous lighthouse at the center of the square, surrounding by a moat.   The square will also feature a farmer's market.

The food committee is close to finalizing the menu, which will focus on locally grown foods, Bjurstrom said.

The theme of the show is the diverse agriculture of the county and there will be  special equestrian acts, which is expected to bring in a new Farm Technology Days crowd.   The horse committee has booked Chris Cox, a world-renowned trainer, and is advertising in Midwest Horse Fair.

A semitrailer full of signs from the Walworth County event has already been delivered to Ebert Enterprises for next year's event, Bjurstrom reported.   The final version of the Tent City map is being tweaked by the tent city committee, she said.

The youth committee is focusing on demonstrations of dog agility, rabbit hopping and fish hatchery, while the field demonstrations and tours will include forage harvesting, rock picking and tilling, as well as tours of the Ebert farm.

The Heritage committee will offer a threshing demonstrations, a summer kitchen and a large display of heritage farm implements, while the garden/landscapers committee will incorporate a barn quilts theme and many educational displays of plants and consumer horticulture.

Bjurstrom said Farm Technology Days is still looking for volunteers and the volunteer assignments will be issued on a first-come, first-serve basis.   She said that interested persons can sign up at the Kewaunee County Farm Technology Days website, www.wifarmtechnologydays.com/kewaunee/pdf/volunteer-form-2017.pdf.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press Gazette: Countdown to Farm Technology Days 2017