—Lancaster Farming, Saturday. March 12, 1977 68 Kentucky farm show ranked on top The rear end of a huge articulated professional models. The tractors 4-wheel-drive tractor afforded a were displayed on plush carpeting, perfect place to watch shows while floor space anywhere was featuring IH products and nearly immaculate. By DIETER KRIEG LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Pennsylvania Farm Show might be the daddy of all such agricultural events, but there’s one in Kentucky from which Pennsylvanians might be able to extract some good ideas if and when they finalize plans for a new exposition center. The Kentucky Fair and Ex position Center, a relatively new and spacious complex in Louisville, stands as a model for such facilities. The International Har vester Company last month sponsored its seconcHannual “Spirit of Red Fever Tour” which included visits to the National Farm Machinery Show, the National In vitational Tractor Pull, and the IH foundry. It was all here in Louisville, home of the world-famous Kentucky Derby. Among visitors to the exposition this year were Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Kent Shelhamer, and House ag committee members Paul Yahner, (D. Cambria Co.) and Reno Thomas, (R. Snyder Co.). Unlike most other observers here, the trio of Pennsylvania officials was in town to study the facilities and administration of an event which annually gets high marks from visitors and exhibitors alike. Not that the Pennsylvania Farm Show is something to be passed over lightly, but it is being widely acknowledged that Louisville wears the crown today for machinery ex positions. There are a number of differences between the Kentucky show and the annual big event in Harrisburg. To begin with, the Farm Show is an all inclusive extravanganza which features everything from eggs to four-wheel drive tractors and dresses to cucumbers. Louisville’s shpw features equipment only, with the tractor pull thrown in nightly as an extra attraction. As anyone who has ever visited the Farm Show knows so well, it’s wall-to wall people. That’s an in disputable fact. In terms of drawing power, the Penn sylvania Farm Show is the unquestioned king. The same holds true for its wide scope of exhibits. Visitors to Louisville notice almost immediately, however, that the crowd is not only smaller, it’s also more respectful of the surroundings. A quick ex planation is that people don’t generally come here unless they have an interest in farm equipment It’s not just a place to hang around at, or as was the case this year at the Farm Show, for an off | Continued on Page 69] '
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers