Another National Farm Machinery Show is in the books, and as always, it was quite the spectacle with over 300,000 people packing the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Ky. From a water gun fight in the hallway to a friendly stranger saying, “Hey, you’re the no-till guy!” you never know what you’re going to see at the country’s largest indoor farm trade show.

Our team took a divide-and-conquer approach to covering the event, with each person narrowing in on specific types of equipment and sections of our audience. Anything to do with precision, strip-till or conservation ag in general, I was the guy. Here are a few things I saw… 

Four New Strip-Till Tools

Many of the big players in the strip-till game had booths at the show, including Kuhn Krause, LandLuvr, Lynx, Redball, Schlagel, Unverferth, Vulcan, Yetter, Zimmerman and more. To my surprise (I thought I saw all the new stuff at the Farm Progress Show a few months ago), quite a few of them had new offerings on display. Farmers told these companies what they wanted, and they listened, delivering the following solutions (see videos below) to help customers tackle big challenges and increase productivity. 

Despite All My Rage, I Am Still Just a *Root* in a Cage

90s rock fans should get the Smashing Pumpkins reference in the subheading above. A root cage drew plenty of eyeballs at the Beck’s Hybrids booth. Steve Gauck, regional agronomy manager, filled me in on some key takeaways from recent studies on corn root architecture. Here are 2 big ones: For every 1,000 plant increase in population, root volume declines by 2.5% and, on average, root volume decreases by 1% overall per year.

Tar Spot Is a Problem for Many, but There Are Many Solutions

Standing room only as Beck’s agronomist Travis Coleman gave a presentation on tar spot — an emerging fungal disease in corn in the Midwest. 

“If you’re looking for a silver bullet in this presentation, you’re not going to find it,” Coleman said.

But attendees did find several practical solutions to manage the disease. Here are a few I jotted down in my notebook:

  • Make sure you’re using the right products for your farm. Check out the Crop Protection Network’s fungicide efficacy tool to see which products work best.
  • High ROI on fungicide applications on late-planted corn. The later the corn is planted, the longer the reproductive phase falls in the disease pressure window.
  • Make applications earlier (8 a.m. or before) in the morning
  • Sulfur and micronutrients help mitigate risk.
  • Don’t be afraid to try something new. Scout your fields and have a good attitude. “Manage what we can and let God do the rest,” Coleman says. 

Deere, Case IH & Other OEMs Focus on Precision

John Deere dropped some big news shortly before doors opened Wednesday morning, announcing the release of 2 new planter upgrade options. Farmers can now buy MaxEmerge 5e and ExactEmerge meter upgrades without having to replace their entire row units. 

“We consistently work with farmers and our dealers to find ways we can update existing equipment to help farmers be more productive,” said Kyle Barry, precision upgrade marketing manager at John Deere. “The introduction of these new meter upgrade kits are an example of how we are helping farmers be more productive and efficient, saving time and money.” 

Meanwhile, Case IH’s Kendal Quandahl, precision segment lead, participated in an autonomy and automation panel discussion alongside representatives from Sabanto, Solinftec and Agtonomy. Quandahl shares her perspective on the farmer’s path to full autonomy in the clip below.

Ag Leader also unveiled RightPath — a retrofit solution to help farmers solve implement drift problems. 

Major Theme: Helping Farmers Navigate Challenging Market

Many companies talked about the importance of helping farmers accomplish more with less and save money in 2025. Steve Martin, president of Martin Industries, explains in the video below why that was a big motivator in the creation of their new Kronos BA1350 Row Cleaner.

Is That a Transformer?

And here’s one for the road. Optimus Prime might have some competition. Meet the KIOTIcon…