Turning 40 never looked so good: National Farm Machinery Show is aging well

Louisville, Ky. – From its early years when fewer than 100 exhibitors occupied the Pavilion at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center, the National Farm Machinery Show has only gotten bigger and better with time.
Celebrating its 40th anniversary this Feb. 16-19, the show continues to provide attendees a top quality experience through the products and services offered on the show floor, and its free seminars hosted by industry experts.
Early origins. This focus on quality has kept nearly 300,000 people returning to the four-day show year after year. Although the show did not begin until the late 1960s, the show’s origins actually date back to the start of the 20th century with the beginning of the Kentucky State Fair.
Most commercial exhibitors at the fair were agriculturally related, and by 1940 the number of farming equipment exhibits stretched across 30 acres. The Kentucky State Fair Board decided that the agricultural aspects of the fair should be allowed to develop further on their own, ultimately producing the show at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center in 1966, and since expanding into the largest indoor farm show in America.
Extensive display. Today nearly 800 exhibitors fill more than one million square feet of climate-controlled space inside the center, allowing the show to display nearly every major line of agricultural equipment under one roof.
Attendees can take advantage of in-depth product comparisons, as well as discover solutions to the challenges facing today’s agribusiness professionals. Products and services on display include breeder services, irrigation equipment, electronics, feed and nutritional information, grain handling and storage equipment, outdoor power equipment, seeds and fertilizer, tillage implements, tractors, trucks, trailers and much more.
Information available. Specific information about the show’s exhibitors can be found in the National Farm Machinery Show Guides, produced by Farm Industry News. The show guides are available at the entrance gates of the center and at any of the Farm Credit Services of Mid-America Information Booths located throughout the facility.
In addition to gaining hands-on access to the newest and most innovative products on the market today, attendees will also benefit from the selection of free seminars featuring some of the industry’s top experts.
Tractor pull too. To complement the seminars and show floor, each day Freedom Hall kicks into high gear for the 37th annual Championship Tractor Pull, sponsored by Syngenta. Tickets are $26 and on sale now at the Freedom Hall Ticket Office and all Ticketmaster outlets. Friday and Saturday nights’ pulls are sold out. The Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center is located at the junction of I-65 and I-264, five miles south of downtown Louisville, Ky. The show exhibit halls are open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST, and admission to the show is free. Parking is $5. For additional information, call the show Hotline at 502-367-5004, or visit the official web site at www.farmmachineryshow.org.