Jefferson County at Farm Technology Days

MARSHFIELD — When the 2018 Wisconsin Farm Technology Days kicked off Tuesday in Wood County, representatives from Jefferson County were there to help promote next year’s event.

Jefferson County will play host to Wisconsin Farm Technology Days (WFTD) for the third time when it takes place on Walter Grain Farms in Grellton in the Town of Milford on July 23-25, 2019.

Mike and Sarah Walter, who were among those representing Jefferson County in Wood County, were announced as the 2019 host farm in January 2017. They farm 6,000 acres with two of their sons and their wives, Adam (Heather) and Brad (Kristi) Walter.

WFTD 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.

The Wood County show, which will run through Thursday, is taking place in Marshfield and is being hosted by the Sternweis and Heiman families. The only other time Wood County has hosted WFTD was in 1960.

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.

The Hospitality Committee is one of 18 committees, staffed by volunteers, tasked with preparation, execution and follow-up of the Jefferson County show.

“A lot of their work goes into having people be invited to the county and working with the exhibitors to come to Jefferson County,” LaVern Georgson, the Jefferson County UW-Extension agriculture agent, said in a June interview. “They don’t actually sign the exhibitors up — that’s handled by a state coordinator that’s hired by Wisconsin Farm Technology Days Inc. … But, as far as reaching out and encouraging people to come, that’s part of Hospitality’s responsibility.

“They also do some outreach for the general public to say, ‘Hey, here’s Jefferson County,’” he added. “I know they’ve had conversations with Jefferson County Tourism Council. I know that they’re looking at doing some things with the communities and trying to highlight local businesses that people could visit when they’re in or around Jefferson County during the 2019 show.”

Members of the Walter families regularly help with many different aspects of the show, including hospitality.

Along with Mike and Sarah, Brad, Kristi and their four children — Morgan, Eli, Layla and Maci — were present in Wood County.

Adam, Heather and their children — Julie, Taylor and Lisa — were unable to attend due to other commitments.

“We have pictures of our family and the business,” Sarah noted late Tuesday morning. Kristi did up some boards with corn and soybean facts. … (The tent) will be staffed all week with people from the (Hospitality) Committee or the family or both.”

Among the family photos were some from the 1984 WFTD, then known as Wisconsin Farm Progress Days, which was held at Walter Grain Farms. That, at the time, was owned by Mike’s parents, Bernard “Bud” and Beverly “Bev” Walter.

At least a portion of the land used in the 1984 show now is owned by Mike and Sarah and is scheduled to be used in the 2019 show.

There only have been two repeat hosts in the show’s history, both in Waupaca County. The first was in 1954 and 1955, when it was held on the Mundinger, Vaughn and Schuelke farms. The second repeat was in 1978 and 2003, when it was hosted on the Clinton farm.

Available for sale in the hospitality tent are apparel items with the Jefferson County WFTD logo and/or theme, “Generations of Farm Pride.” Proceeds will go toward the Jefferson County show’s overall income.

Also, attendees could pre-order the 1/16 scale model Oliver tractor and corn picker that will serve as the collectable piece for the 2019 show. The cost of the model is $185, plus shipping and handling.

A full-sized Oliver could be seen just outside the tent.

In addition to helping staff the hospitality tent, members of the Walter families were out and about in Tent City, handing out “goodie bags” that contained information about Jefferson County and the 2019 show to vendors.

Mike said that it was a “way to thank them for coming and (that we) hope they come to ours next year.”

The gates opened for the Wood County show at 9 a.m. Tuesday, with an opening ceremony taking place in the Family Living Tent at 9:30 a.m. 

Among attendees was Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch who, much to her disappointment, did not get a chance to “hunt and peck” her way through the show in order to see what is “the latest and greatest” before other obligations called her away.

“Unfortunately, I spent most of my time in the (Family Living) Tent and, besides the golf cart tour, did not really get to look around,” Kleefisch told the Daily Union. “But, the cool thing is, I regularly will attend the Midwest Farm Technology Days because I think it’s important — because agriculture is such a huge part of our economy — to stay abreast of the latest technologies.”

She joked that the only time a farmer ever trusted her to harvest his corn crop in a combine was when it was guided by GPS and “he only let me think I was actually controlling it.

“It’s really important that we acknowledge the technology, the broadband infrastructure and that the future are all very present in an industry that, I think, a lot of Americans kind of romanticize, a lot of Americans kind of get nostalgic about,” Kleefisch said. “But, in fact, agriculture is an industry that embraces technology at an incredible pace and rate.”

She noted that three years is an “incredible amount” of planning, pointing to the year-plus of planning that goes into a four-hour June dairy breakfast attended by a few thousand as a comparison.

“When it comes to Farm Technology Days, now we’re talking about three, four days of a whole bunch of guests being here, judging your operations, sizing up whether they’d like to adopt some of the technologies that they’ve seen here, whether they are worth the adoption cost or if it’s something that is beyond their ability,” Kleefisch said. “So you want to put your best foot forward. You want to make a huge impression and you want it to be a good one.

The lieutenant governor gave a hats-off to the Sternweis and Heiman families for a “wonderful job.” Their willingness to open their operations to be scrutinized by others in their field of work is “really cool.”

“I think it shows all of the other farmers that they’re open to not only making suggestions and showing others how they operate and how they’ve become successful, but also, they’re open to taking them, which is really neat and it’s very special,” Kleefisch said. “I think it’s very indicative of what a tight-knit farm community we have, but also how willing they are to share their successes with the rest of Wisconsin.”

Kleefisch, who recently moved to Jefferson County, also said she was looking forward to the 2019 show and the fact that it will be close to her house.

“I think Jefferson County has something very, very special,” she said. “Obviously, it is a little bit more rural county, but there’s still an outlet mall there and there’s a gas station that sells creampuffs as big as your head. So, I think people will really enjoy being in Jefferson County, Johnson Creek in particular.

“I think Farm Technology Days, every year, represents something different, special and new because every year technology advances and agriculture manages to keep up with it and invent itself again every single year,” Kleefisch added. “I think that’s exactly what we’re going to see next year and, hopefully, my home county will play outstanding host to the next Farm Technology Days.”