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The striking thing about the Big Iron Farm Show is the sheer scale and specialist nature of the equipment on display. In Ireland and the UK, the mixed nature of farming means that farm shows, whether local or national, cater for every audience from small-scale livestock farmers to large-scale tillage farmers. The same variety in terms of the equipment, products and services on display was not in evidence at the Big Iron Farm Show in North Dakota.
The reason for this is that farming in this region of America is almost entirely crop farming – and large-scale crop farming at that. Big Iron is held in the city of Fargo, which is near the border between North and South Dakota and is right next to the state of Minnesota. The land in this region is some of the best in the world – extremely flat and fertile having been formed by the receding glacier Agassi thousands of years ago.
The Red River flows through the region and provides natural drainage and the high clay content in the soils means that they don’t dry out as much as in other regions, so a wide variety of crops can be sown along the river valley. Corn, soya bean, wheat and sugarbeet are the main crops. So, at Big Iron, the machinery reflected this.
Machinery on show
Massive Case IH, New Holland and John Deere tractors on four huge tracks were the star attraction. While these are a novelty to Irish visitors, they are common out here. To put it into context, the average farm size in North Dakota is 2,000 acres and the smallest field size is about 160 acres. The land is also extremely flat so these types of tractors are really suited to the farming out here. All of the main machinery manufacturers were represented, even McHales from Mayo had a stand at the show showing a variable chamber round baler.
Some of the manufacturers had field demonstrations. The most common implement on display was the grain auger. The sheer number and size of grain augers at the show was impressive. Farmers use these to empty grain trailers into grain bins. Most farmers here seem to have their own grain storage. Because of the size of the farms, many of their grain stores would be bigger than grain stores in merchants’ yards in Ireland.
80,000 visitors to the show
Big Iron is the biggest farm show in the state, attracting 80,000 visitors per year. Agronomists, consultants and seed merchants were represented. North Dakota State University had a large presence at the show. The university carries out a research and extension role much like Teagasc does in Ireland.
The mood at the show was upbeat, despite weak prices for crops. Corn (maize grain) is expected to fetch around $3.5/bushel (€113/t), while soybean is expected to fetch around $10/bushel (€320/t). These prices are about half what they were three or four years ago. The harvest will be kicking off shortly and, according to local farmers, they expect a good yield. The average land price in North Dakota is around $5,000/acre (€4,446/acre).
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