JEFFERSON — While still preparing to play host in 2019, Jefferson County also will be the site of the 2021 Wisconsin Farm Technology Days.
Next summer, the show will be hosted by the Walter Grain Farms in the Town of Milford owned by Mike and Sarah Walter from July 23-25.
The 2021 show will be will be held at Jefferson County Fair Park.
Wisconsin Farm Technology Days is a three-day show with exhibits of the latest technology, developments in the industry, field demonstrations, and educational and other activities. The event has the potential to draw around 40,000 people to the county and raise hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The event began as a plowing contest in 1954. The brainchild of Henry Ahlgren, the first chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Extension, it started as a partnership between the agriculture industry and UW-Extension.
For the 2021 event, two sites were being considered: the Iola Old Car Show Grounds and Jefferson County Fair Park.
According to WFTD officials, both sites offered spacious grounds for the commercial and education portions of the show, as well as nearby farmland for the popular field demonstrations.
The 2021 show, tentatively scheduled for the last week in July, will be unique in that unlike past shows that were organized and run by host counties, the Jefferson show will be conducted by Wisconsin Farm Technology Days, Inc., the statewide organization.
“We greatly appreciate the interest and cooperation from Iola Car Show leaders and look forward to working with them again in the future if the opportunity arises,” said WFTD general manager Matt Glewen.
Planning and prepping for WFTD takes about three years, including the time it takes to find a host farm.
During each show, the county hosting the event the following year takes on hospitality duties, providing a space for vendors to relax and thanking them for their participation. It also gives the upcoming hosts a chance to promote their show and encourage vendors to sign up for it.
“Although the organization of the show in 2021 will run differently, it is still a great honor to have it return to Jefferson County,” Jefferson County Fair Park marketing/administrative assistant Amy Listle said, noting that the fairgrounds plays host to nearly 200 events annually.
“Several events are similar in size to the amount of attendance that Farm Technology Days will bring, such as the county fair and Madison Classics car shows,” she said.
The 2021 event will be the fourth time Jefferson County has hosted Wisconsin Farm Technology Days, previously called Wisconsin Farm Progress Days.
The first was in 1956, when the show took place at the Bill (Jan) and Ted Ward and Craig (Laura) Beane farms in rural Fort Atkinson. The second time was in 1984, when it was held on the Grellton farm of Bernard and Beverly Walter, Mike’s parents.