Howdy friends and neighbors. I just returned last week from the big farm show in Oklahoma City and there were miles of neat stuff that I would like to have. Not sure if I need it, but it would be fun to have. Of course there were even folks there selling big barns that I could put all that stuff in. I enjoy a good farm show. I get to walk around like I’ve got money and bug and question exhibitors. It’s lots of fun.
My favorite thing to do at a farm show is look around and see all the new inventions that people come up with to solve different problems. Just walk around a farm show and you will see that the American spirit and capitalism are alive and well. Everywhere you look while at a farm show you can see products and services that raise the standard of living on the farm or ranch. From the sham-wow to a sprayer that holds 1600 gallons and covers 120 feet at a time and is capable of speeds of fifteen to twenty miles an hour! That’s cool! New plows, new drills, new leather gloves and there were even some free yardsticks.
Of course to be a true farm show junkie, you must carry around a plastic sack complete with pre-manufactured handles all so you can lug around sixty pounds of sales brochures, business cards, price sheets and tootsie rolls.
My “What’s Under My Hat” best of show livestock award goes to some guys from Indiahoma, Oklahoma who have figured out how to make a sixty foot feed trough that transports easily. A guy could (this is technical farm and ranch lingo for anyone engaged in agriculture activities who is about to do something in theory, in suggestion, or hypothetically,) I’ll repeat; A guy could simply manually fold this invention up, hook it to a truck, ATV, or hover-round and move it to the next desired location. They get my atta-boy award.
My “What’s Under My Hat” the wife would like it award goes to… drum roll….No, it wasn’t the propane powered grass trimmers or the 1262 page pamphlet on understanding your ’09 schedule F tax code. It was this invention called “Gecko’s Toes.” This little plastic thing-r-m-bob neatly holds garden hoses and “a gal” could pull the hose off this snap in device as she goes around the yard watering flowers or breaking up two cow dogs that have a misunderstanding. All for the low price of 2 for $25.
My “What’s Under My Hat” most impressive award goes to the hard working ladies at the beef booth. They were toting around ice chests full of hot rib-eye sandwiches and cold soda-pop. They were promoting beef while raising money for a scholarship fund, I think. The smell of them rib-eyes had most all of my attention.
Well, I left the farm show feeling more educated and more informed as well as re-assured the farm economy is steady as she goes. My feet hurt, my belly is bigger and my wallet is lighter. I’ll throw that sack of farm show propaganda in the back seat where it will stay until we accidentally open both doors on a breezy day.
I’m Monte Tucker, and that is what’s under my hat.
