5 Key Takeaways From the 2024 National Farm Machinery Show

CropLife Staff By CropLife Staff|February 21, 2024

The annual National Farm Machinery Show (NFMS) claims to be the largest indoor farm trade show in the country. Held February 14-17, this event attracts more than 300,000 attendees and 800 exhibitors over its four-day time frame. CropLife was on hand with its staff and here are the five takeaways we had once the show was over.

A Louisville Bonanza

According to Louisville Tourism, the NFMS ranks sixth in terms of events that have a positive financial impact on the city and surrounding area. In all, the show brings in more than $24 million to the local economy.

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Sprayers

For ag retailers looking for self-propelled sprayers, there were a few options visible on the show floor. Not surprisingly, the two of the Big Three sprayer manufacturers – John Deere and Fendt AGCO – were the companies featuring sprayers at their NFMS booths. For John Deere fans, the company had an example of its 410R sprayer featuring the See & Spray system as the centerpiece of its display. Meanwhile, Fendt AGCO had two sprayer models present – a Fendt Rogator 900 Series and a new Massey-Ferguson 500R. For fans of Case IH sprayers, the company didn’t have one at the show floor, but an example of a Patriot sprayer was positioned outside the Kentucky Exposition Center to greet attendees as they entered the parking lot.

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Spreaders/Tenders

For ag retailers looking for examples of Big IRON at the 2024 NFMS, spreaders and tenders were quite abundant on the exhibit floor. In fact, dozens of models were on display. This included the TT2000 from The KBH Corp., the 8-Ton Spreader from Doyle Manufacturing, the ST933 Fertilizer & Seed Tender from Norwood Sales, the BBI MagnaSpread Plus+ from Salford, and the 24 Ton Tender from Hays LTI.

Drones

Drones really became a big ag industry trend during late 2023, and this level of excitement is continuing into 2024 as well! At the 2024 NFMS, dozens of drone models were on display across the numerous exhibit halls. But it wasn’t just manufacturers touting this high-tech segment. At the 2023 Agricultural Retailers Association meeting last November, many ag retailers mentioned that they were hiring independent drone operators to apply products rather than carrying their own fleet of drones. And this was evident at the 2024 NFMS. In casual conversations with numerous equipment/parts distributors exhibiting at the show, several mentioned that they were now offering drone services to customers “for a fee.”

AI

In contrast to drones, artificial intelligence (AI) systems were rather hard to find at the 2024 NFMS. Perhaps this shouldn’t have been surprising, given that in a recent poll of CropLife readers, only 6% of ag retailers said they planned to spend some capital in this sector for the 2024 season. On the exhibit floor, only two companies had AI systems on display – John Deere, which had the See & Spray system evident on its 410R sprayer (but not the demonstration model the company normally has its booth) and Trimble, which featured information on its recently acquired AI spray system from Bilberry.

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In today’s complex and fast-paced crop production sector, the team at CROPLIFE keeps 21,000 agricultural retailers, distributors and their suppliers up to date on such decidedly 21st century issues as seed technology, biotechnology, precision agriculture, customer service and retention, and business management. See all author stories here.

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