The Indiana Farm Equipment and Technology Expo is coming to Westfield’s Grand Park in just a couple of weeks, December 13-15. As the name suggests, equipment and technology are the focus of the show.
Chad Colby owns Colby AgTech and is featured on television’s ‘This Week in Agribusiness’. He’ll be presenting again at this year’s Expo, discussing the practical technology that can be used now on the farm like phones and drones.
“And then let’s talk about what’s coming down the road,” Colby told HAT. “What are those items that can help the farm? Maybe your farm is looking at a new dryer and you want to update the electronics on your dryer. I know a lot of guys are looking at that right now. There are a lot of great solutions, and events like this give farmers the opportunity to talk about it and start making plans for their farm.”
And Colby emphasizes “making plans for your farm”. He says one difference between now and ten years ago is that you do have to plan for the technology that’s coming, especially as things get more automated on the farm.
“Let’s take your combine for example, or maybe your planter. You’re not just going to flip the switch and write a check to do that tomorrow. It might be something you have to plan for your next combine purchase. Or maybe the next set of attachments or things you add to your planter. Well, that might be two years away, especially in the world we live in today as far as getting that technology to your farm. And going to events like this give people an opportunity to see what’s new and, more importantly, talk about it.”
Drones have been around for a while, but Colby says things are still advancing in that space.
“You can’t believe what the next generation of drones are that are hitting the ground right now. A new one was announced last week, we’ll talk about it at the show, that is absolutely game-changing for ag. And what I’m talking about is mechanical sensors, easy-to-do mapping, things that you can map beyond what your eyes can see…there’s just a lot of great things in drones. And the thing that I like most about them today is anybody can use them, and the price point keeps dropping and dropping and dropping.”
Colby will present on the opening day of the Expo, Tuesday the 13th, as well as Wednesday afternoon. See the full seminar schedule below.
