Farmers and Public Unite at Ag Progress Days

If you ask State College resident Johan Zwart why he came to Penn State’s Ag Progress Days, he doesn’t hesitate.

“Mushrooms. Of the fried variety,” he says, referring to the Penn State Ag Student Council’s immensely popular mushroom booth, which brings long lines of fungi lovers each year.

But Zwart wasn’t just there for tasty treats. Even though he doesn’t have a background in agriculture, Zwart is fascinated by some of the technological innovations on display at the annual trade show and festival.

This year, Zwart says he was particularly intrigued by a bioenergy exhibition that showed how farmers could use vegetable oil to run tractors and other farm equipment. As someone who takes a vested interest in these kind of solutions in his own life, Zwart was excited to see innovative sustainability efforts being put to good use in a vital industry.

Plus his nine-year-old relative Tanya had some fun of her own.

“We got to see a real-life ‘Frank,’ the combine from the Cars movie,” Zwart says. “Seeing the animated version is one thing, but now she got to experience the real thing.”

In addition to everything from massive threshers and tillers to barns and silos, Ag Progress Days also features some innovative new technology for disabled farmers for the very first time.

Chuck Blackburn was at the show to show off the new “Trac-Fab,” which has only hit the market within the past couple years. It looks almost like a standard wheel chair, but with a bunch of various attachments and some heavy-duty off-road treads.

Blackburn gives a hands-on demonstration of the Trac-Fab, which can empower injured or disabled farmers to get back in the field.

Blackburn’s background is actually in medical equipment, not farm equipment, but he quickly realized how invaluable these custom-designed chairs could be for farmers who have lost their mobility to accidents or health problems.

“In the past year and half, the biggest application has definitely been for agriculture,” Blackburn says. “We’re helping so many farmers get back out there in their fields.”

Mark O’Neil of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau says its little success stories like Blackburn’s farmers that help make Ag Progress Days so valuable. The fair opens up a new world of innovative technology and techniques to farmers each year, helping them do everything from maximize their crop yields to overcome disabilities.

It also gives advocacy organizations like the farm bureau to educate all kinds of people, whether they work in agriculture or not, about the challenges facing the industry.

“It’s a great gathering for farmers to come together, share ideas and support each other,” O’Neil says.

The Great Insect Fair, normally held in the Bryce Jordan Center, also came to Ag Progress Days this year, giving everyone the chance to get up close with their favorite pollinators and creepy-crawlies.