2008 World Ag Expo full of firsts

TULARE — With thousands of visitors expected to visit World Ag Expo 2008 — the world’s largest agriculture equipment and technology show — today through Thursday, Expo chairwoman Shelley Khal said she is excited with the new electronic registration system implemented this year.

“This is the beginning of a wonderful event,” Khal during Monday’s Media Day. “Not only will the gates open at 8 a.m. this year — to allow attendees an opportunity to interact with exhibitors an extra hour, but we have our new electronic registration and we are excited about the information we are obtaining.

“We have learned that 44 percent of farmers attending have less than 100 acres, while 19 percent farm more than 2,000 acres.”

Some of the other rough preliminary data returned through the registration process was specific information about demographics. With the process, it was learned that 17 percent of the attendees who preregistered relate to the dairy industry, 10 percent to cattle and calves, 11 percent to corn and wheat and another 10 percent to hay products, Khal said.

“World Ag Expo is the place where agriculture means business,” Jerry Sinift, general manager of the International Agri-Center, said. “Knowing who our customers are is critical to providing them with products and services they need to improve their operations,”

TodayÂ’s opening day includes several other firsts at the World Ag Expo, including the opening of the Dairy Technology Center, a 100,000-square-foot expansion that adds an additional 160 new dairy exhibits, including the Top Five New Dairy Products at the show, Khal said at the centerÂ’s ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday.

But there is always something new at World Ag Expo. Visitors can always count on seeing some of the latest, most innovative agricultural products available to farmers in the Top Ten New Products pavilion.

“When buyers and sellers get together, great ideas are discovered and great products get developed,” Sinift said.

Among the Top 10 products is an AutoProbe by AgRobotics, LLC of Little Rock, Ark., built specifically for soil sampling.

“I graduated with a degree in engineering from the University of Arkansas in 1965 and then returned to the family farm after graduation,” Jeffrey Burton, CEO of AgRobotics and inventor of the new product, said. “I’m a third-generation farmer but with my engineering background, I saw several things that I thought I could improve on.”

Burton said he never enjoyed the tedious and physical manual task of collecting soil samples.

The AutoProbe is the first high-speed implementation for precision soil sampling, completing the job three times faster than the known fastest method to date, Burton said.

“I came up with this idea in 2002 but I started working on the idea of having an automated soil sampler in the late 1990s,” Burton said. “I self-taught myself AutoCAD [computer program] and single-handedly built my first prototype. But I spent all my money and had to set it aside.”

Fortunately, the University of ArkansasÂ’s graduate school has an annual competition for writing business plans, Burton said.

“They picked this to write a business plan,” Burton said. “I had an international team working on this — three grad students. They won the Arkansas award with it and they won the international award. In 2006 they put me on the map and legitimized the business.”

With the success of the plan and the awards won by the product, Burton said he was able to seek financial investors to continue his invention.

“I spent the next 14 months in Cedar Falls and developed what you see today,” Burton said. “This is the first appearance here ever of this machine.”

Burton said he plans on building five by the end of the year, 40 in 2009 and have a projected 400 built by 2011.

“We have a 3,000-acre farm and I’m semi-retired but I love engineering,” Burton said.

The Top 10 New Products and other featured and honorable mentions can be viewed at World Ag Expo which opens today at 8 a.m. Opening ceremonies are scheduled for 8:30 a.m. in the Heritage Complex Banquet Hall.