Farm Progress Show 2026

The nation's largest outdoor farm show designed for serious growers, producers, and agribusinesses. It provides a wide variety of exhibitors and information for business and networking opportunities for farmers.

Farm Progress Show 2026

The Farm Progress Show runs September 1–3, 2026 at 1827 217th Road, Boone, Iowa. Gates are open 8am to 4pm each day, with opening ceremonies at 7:30am.

What it is

The Farm Progress Show is an outdoor farm show, and the outdoor part is the point. Rather than a hall of stands it occupies open ground — the organiser puts the site at 85 acres carrying nearly 600 agribusinesses.

There is no named venue. The organiser refers to the location simply as Farm Progress Show, Boone, Iowa, and gives the street address above.

Field demonstrations

Machinery runs in the field on a published daily schedule, and trams to the demonstration ground leave from the east end of Central Avenue.

• Corn harvesting begins at 11am.
• Tillage begins at 2pm.
• Autonomous machinery demonstrations and rides run from 10am to 3pm.

With gates closing at 4pm, the tillage demonstration and the last of the autonomous runs sit close to the end of the day — worth knowing if you are driving in for one of them.

The Agronomy Zone

The Agronomy Zone is a set of research-grade crop plots, grown so that products can be compared side by side in real field conditions rather than described on a stand.

The plots are professionally managed from planting through to show time by DM Crop Research Group and Dr Dan Moellenbeck, and the zone runs in partnership with Ag PhD and the Hefty brothers, Brian and Darren.

Guided tours run daily at 1pm, walking the plots with commentary from Ag PhD.

Other programmes

• Women in the Field, aimed at women working in agriculture.
• Career Crawl, for people entering the industry.
• A concert and drone show as an evening draw.

Getting in, and getting around

Buy in advance. Tickets bought online cost less than tickets bought at the gate, and reduced rates apply for students, with young children admitted free.

Current prices are on the organiser's ticket page — we do not publish figures that change. Sales are final.

Parking is free on ground adjacent to the site, with accessible parking close to the entrance gates in both the north and south lots. RV and camper parking opens in the north lot after noon on 31 August — no hookups provided.

The site is large and you will walk it. Personal golf carts are permitted with a paid three-day pass. Mobility scooters are welcome, and a limited number can be rented on site on a first-come basis.

Service animals only. No other pets are permitted.

First aid stations are at the north end of 6th Street, outside Gate #1, and at the Administration Building; both have lactation space.

Planning a visit

The site is open ground, so weather shapes the day more than it would indoors. Footwear and shade matter in a way they do not at a convention centre, and a wet year walks very differently from a dry one.

An outdoor show on 85 acres, not an exhibition hall.

Nearly 600 agribusinesses exhibiting, on the organiser's own figure.

Field demonstrations on a daily schedule — corn harvesting at 11am, tillage at 2pm, autonomous machinery 10am to 3pm.

The Agronomy Zone — research-grade plots managed by DM Crop Research Group, with daily 1pm tours led by Ag PhD and the Hefty brothers.

Cheaper in advance than at the gate, and free parking adjacent to the site.

Gates 8am to 4pm, opening ceremonies at 7:30am.

The audience is working farmers and the people who advise them.

Row-crop growers, particularly corn and soybean operations across the Midwest.

Farm managers and operators comparing equipment before a purchase decision — the field demonstrations are the reason to come in person rather than read a brochure.

Agronomists and crop advisers, for whom the Agronomy Zone's side-by-side plots and the 1pm tours are the specific draw.

Livestock producers, for handling and feeding equipment.

Dealers and their staff, seeing full product lines in one place.

People entering the industry, whom the Career Crawl is built for.

It is a family show as much as a trade one — young children are admitted free, and the evening concert and drone show is built around that.

Exhibiting outdoors on open ground is a different proposition from an indoor stand.

Equipment manufacturers — tractors, harvesting, tillage, application. The demonstration schedule rewards anything that can be shown working.

Autonomous and precision agriculture, which has its own demonstration window from 10am to 3pm.

Seed and crop protection companies, for whom the research-grade plots are a distinct opportunity from a stand.

Grain handling, storage and drying.

Livestock equipment and buildings.

Financial, insurance and land services.

With nearly 600 exhibitors across 85 acres, being findable matters as much as the stand — visitors plan routes rather than walking the whole site, and many are moving between the demonstration ground and the exhibit streets on a tram timetable.