Mood is Good at National Farm Machinery Show

Good mood in Louisville

The 2016 National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville is growing. The show has reached nearly 900 exhibitors, a record, and attendance will again exceed 300,000 for the 4-days of the show and tractor pull events. The exhibitors are mostly happy with the attendance and Todd Jeffries of Seed Consultants says the mood of farmers is pretty good given they are facing another year of very slim profit margins.

“For the most part most guys we have been talking to are trying to keep that positive, upbeat vibe,” he said. “Obviously prices aren’t where we would like them to be but there’s not much we can do about that. We’ll just have to keep doing what we’re doing and get things ready to put out another great crop of corn and soybeans here in Indiana.”

The mood in Louisville might have something to do with the sense that spring is near and the winter cabin fever should be coming to a close. Jeffries gets that sense which is strengthened by the company being “full steam ahead on shipping product, and I’ve talked to a number of guys here that told me they’re ready to take it whenever.”

On supply of seed now available, Seed Consultants still has an “excellent supply of corn and bean numbers that did great in third party testing, university testing and our testing. We are sold out of some things but we still have a great supply of seed that performs incredibly well.”

As planting season gets ever closer, Jeffries told HAT there has been some minor acre shifting from corn to soybeans.

“In my territory in southeast Indiana there is just a little bit of going a little heavier on soybeans, but I know as a company our corn and soybean numbers have shown quite an increase over last year’s sales numbers.”

But the majority of customers are sticking with their typical rotation.