<p>I made it to Louisville late yesterday afternoon … the plane literally blew in. Seriously, I haven’t experienced such turbulence on a commercial flight in my entire life. And to make matters even more interesting, the wind has wreaked havoc with the local power grid … electricity comes and goes here at the Kentucky Exposition Center.</p>
<p> 
</p>
<p>In spite of the power issues, folks continue to stream through the doors and past acres of machinery and other must-haves for the farm. I haven’t come close to walking the entire floor yet, but I did stop to visit with the folks at <a title=”Cub Cadet Yanmar” href=”http://www.cubcadet.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/category1_10051_14101_600003_Y_-1″ target=”_blank”>Cub Cadet Yanmar</a>, <a title=”Land Pride” href=”http://landpride.com/” target=”_blank”>Land Pride</a>, and <a title=”New Holland” href=”http://www.8n.com/” target=”_blank”>New Holland</a> to take a look at some new products suited for smaller operators and acreage owners.</p>
<p>
<br />
<br />
Land Pride has its relatively new All-Purpose Seeder on hand with a brand new small-seed box on it. The small-seed box allows you to sow small seeded clovers along with grass seed … seed tubes from both boxes are metered separately so you can control the relative proportions of various seed types. I am a big fan of Land Pride because their seeders, box scrapers, mowers and rotary tillers have served us so well over the years.</p>
<p>
<br />
<br />
Cub Cadet Yanmar has its new (and now shipping) EX450 tractor and is offering a free bale spear to folks willing to commit to making a deal here at the show. They also have a number of other attachments on hand including a 36-inch-wide-bucket-equipped backhoe, several mowers, tillers and a hydraulic angled front-mount grader blade. I can’t wait to see what Cub Cadet Yanmar introduces next.</p>
<p>
<br />
<br />
</p>
<p>The show stealer at New Holland is the Boomer 8N. This retro-classic tractor has generated plenty of interest since the company leaked its presence to the press late last year. According to the product manager, the Boomer 8N will go into production in April and should be in dealer showrooms in May. The tractor’s MSRP should come in with a base of about $29,000 – the tractor at the show lists for $30,500 because of a number of chrome doodads and other options.</p>
<p>
<br />
<br />
Well, I better get this posted and head back out to the show floor. I hope to have more National Farm Machinery Show news for you tomorrow.<br />
</p>
<p>
<hr />
</p>
<p>
<a href=”http://www.grit.com/biographies/oscar-h-will” target=_self>Hank Will</a>
<em> raises hair sheep, heritage cattle and many varieties of open-pollinated corn with his wife, Karen, on their rural Osage County, Kansas farm. His home life is a perfect complement to his professional life as editor in chief at GRIT and Capper’s Farmer magazines. Connect with him on </em>
<a title=Google+ href=”https://plus.google.com/u/0/117459637128204205101/posts” target=_blank rel=author>Google+</a>.</p>
