It’s amazing how much difference a week makes. When I left last week for Boone, Iowa and the Farm Progress Show it was August and still felt very much like summer. Now the Farm Progress Show is over and the calendar has turned to September and fall is in the air. This is my favorite time of year. Harvest is starting up, baseball is winding down and football is kicking off.

Last week’s Farm Progress Show was a success despite some rainy weather. Of course rain in Iowa this year was no surprise. Fortunately the days leading up to the show were dry so set up went well and the ground was able to handle the 4 plus inches of rain during the show. The decision to hold the show on permanent sites has proven to be a wise one as the exhibit field in Boone drained well and enabled those attending the show to get around without the slipping and falling we used to see at a wet FPS. Although field demos only took place the first day, show organizers had to breathe a sigh of relief that they were able to get all three days of the show in. Big crowds turned out Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday’s crowd was a typical final day turnout. The permanent sites in Boone and Decatur, Illinois have certainly reduced the chances of the cancellations of part or even all of a show that we’ve seen in the past. This was my 34th Farm Progress Show and it is still an amazing sight to see it all come together, even when it rains.

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Have you spotted a 5 bean pod in your Asgrow field? It could pay off for you and your operation with more than just your increased yield. At the Farm Progress Show we heard about the Asgrow 5 Bean Challenge and how DeKalb Genuity SmartStax performed in its first year of availability.

What’s it like to host tens of thousands of visitors from around the world on your farm? Only a few people can answer that question and Eric Ziel is one of them. He is the host farmer for the Boone, Iowa Farm Progress Show site, and he talked with us about the challenges presented by this year’s Iowa rains for his crops and for the show.

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Our overtime coverage of the Farm Progress Show continued on day 2 with AgriTalk OnLine interviews with the leadership of the National Corn Growers Association, a nematode expert from Syngenta, Tom Buis of Growth Energy, and a market research analyst from Rabo AgriFinance who explained who our trading partners are leading market volatility.  Watch the highlights below:

Syngenta is not only offering up new technology and great agronomic advice at the 2010 Farm Progress Show, but they are also boosting area food banks through their Weeding Out Hunger campaign and giving weary farm show goers a refreshing massage. Watch the details on sustainability efforts, enhancing plant performance, Weeding Out Hunger, fighting glyphosate resistance and a glimpse at the future Syngenta product pipeline in the videos below.