Packed with exhibitors, speakers, and plenty of great food, the show is sure to please the crowds.

“We’re really excited about the show,” said Dana Lantz, advertising manager for Farm News. “There’s going to be so much to see and learn.”

Lantz is especially pleased to welcome back CJ Bio America for its second year as show sponsor.

“CJ Bio America is a great company and this is a great fit for them in the ag sector,” Lantz. “It’s just a very community-minded business.”

The show will run from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Dec. 8 and 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 9. Admission is free at the Webster County Fairgrounds.

Friday speakers

U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has been invited to speak at this year’s Farm News Ag Show. He is tentatively scheduled to be interviewed by Messenger Editor Bill Shea before an audience at 11:30 a.m. Dec. 8.

Next in the lineup is David Kruse, president of Commstock and Farm News columnist, at 1 p.m. on Dec. 8. He will speak on biofuel opportunities with the theme, “Treading Water While Waiting for Another Wave to Catch.”

Then Mark Licht, of Iowa State University Extension, will be speaking at 3 p.m. An associate professor of cropping options, he will speak on “Out of the Box Soybean Management.”

Wrapping it up at 5 p.m. Friday will be Miss Iowa, Alysa Goethe. She will compete in the Miss America pageant in January and Lantz said she just very well may be the first Iowan to capture the Miss America title.

“She has such an impressive presentation,” Lantz said. “She spoke at my Kiwanis Club, and she is so sharp. She has diabetes, and that is her passion. She’s so informative when she talks to groups.”

The American Diabetes Association estimates that 10 percent of Iowans have been diagnosed with diabetes. Lantz said it’s a topic important to so many people that he is glad to bring her presentation to the Ag Show.

“She does such a great job, I would not be surprised in the least to see her as the next Miss America,” Lantz said.

Saturday speakers

Starting off the show at 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 9 will be Matt Johnson, director of happiness for Fort Dodge Ford. Johnson is bringing with him an all-new Ford F150 EV. For those who love the traditional F150, this will be a chance to kick the tires and see what an electric vehicle can do.

“He will do a live demonstration and talk about the power that this electric vehicle has, and what that can mean for farmers,” Lantz said.

Back at 10:30 a.m. will be a Farm News Ag Show favorite in Kelvin Leibold, ISU Extension Farm Business specialist. Leibold will be speaking on “Strategic and Tactical Planning for your Farm.”

Wrapping up the lineup of speakers will be Chad Hart at 1 p.m. Hart is a professor of economics at Iowa State and has titled his address, “Markets, Mischief and Mayhem for 2024.”

Come hungry

As always, there will be plenty to eat at the Farm News Ag Show. Lunch will be served both days from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday’s meal comes from the Webster County Pork Producers, while the Webster County Beef Producers will be serving on Saturday.

And for the early comers on Saturday, the Webster County Farm Bureau is again sponsoring a full breakfast from Chris Cakes. There will be pancakes, sausage, juice and coffee to start the day out right. Breakfast will be served from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m.

Branson trip to be given away

If all that food and entertainment isn’t enough, there will also be a grand prize drawing for a three-night stay for two people in Branson, Missouri

“We have partnered with Northland Travel to make this possible,” Lantz said. “It’s a great trip and even includes tickets to your choice of three shows, with several different shows to choose from.”

Expect more surprises and fun to come, said Lantz, as plans are finalized in the weeks leading up to the show.

About the speakers

David Kruse is founder and chairman of Commstock Investments, an agricultural risk management company that provides commodity brokerage, advisory services and crop insurance. With customers in over 30 states, Commstock helps farmers across the country manage their production marketing risk.

In the past 40 years, Kruse has produced The Commstock Report, an opinionated ag commentary and market analysis available daily on many radio stations covering the greater Midwest.

The Commstock Report has also been delivered electronically by email or through DTN subscription since 1985 to thousands of subscribers across the U.S. and Canada.

Kruse has been actively engaged in production agriculture since 1973 and he continues to manage his family’s corn and soybean farms in northwest Iowa.

Presentation title: “Treading Water While Waiting for Another Wave to Catch.”

Mark Licht is an associate professor and Extension cropping systems specialist in the Department of Agronomy at Iowa State University.

He is a native of Webster County and grew up on a corn, soybean, farrow-to-finish hog farm.

His extension, research and teaching program is focused on how to holistically manage Iowa cropping systems to achieve productivity, profitability and environmental goals.

Research is centered around varied aspects of soybean, corn and cover crop management.

Presentation Title: “Out of the Box Soybean Management.”

Alysa Goethe is Miss Iowa 2023. Originally from Bettendorf, Goethe attended Drake University in Des Moines, where she graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree in music education. She worked as the head vocal music teacher at Hiatt Middle School in Des Moines before winning the title of Miss Iowa 2023.

During her reign as Miss Iowa, she is making it her mission to travel to all 99 counties. She has already traveled to 50 counties across Iowa.

Her community service initiative is entitled, “Not Your Type: Advocating for Type 1 Diabetes,” inspired by her own diagnosis when she was 11 years old. For the past 12-plus years, she has impacted millions by lobbying with federal legislators, raising more than $20,000 toward cure research, serving on national committees, implementing diabetes curriculum across school districts in eight states, hosting the Not Your Type podcast, and garnering more than 35 international and regional partnerships. She’s excited to represent the Hawkeye State at Miss America in January as the only diabetic competing for the national title this year.

MaTT JOHNSON has been blessed to call Fort Dodge home since 1996. After a great educational experience in Fort Dodge, Johnson enrolled at the University of Iowa, where he earned degrees in management and marketing, as well as an entrepreneurship certificate. After moving back to Fort Dodge in 2006, he started full time at Fort Dodge Ford Toyota and now is co-owner, dealer and director of happiness.

Community involvement is something Johnson has always valued. Some of the organizations he has served with include: The Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance and Ambassadors, Friendship Haven, Fort Dodge Young Professionals, Leadership Fort Dodge, Fort Dodge Community School Foundation, and many more. Alongside his family, he is involved in Fort Dodge Ford Toyota’s annual Thanksgiving dinner, Bikes for Tykes, Wheels for Work and Meals on Wheels, among others.

He has always had a passion for automobiles and cutting-edge technology. Electrification of the automobile has been exciting. He looks forward to the opportunity to discuss hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles and how a blended portfolio can meet a variety of needs for ever-changing consumer demands.

Kelvin Leibold has 35 years of experience with ISU Extension. His areas of expertise include farm management, farmland and building leasing, global agriculture, land values, farm machinery management, estate planning, intergenerational transfer and beginning farmers. He is a past member of the Annie’s Project national leadership team. Leibold has observed agriculture on six continents. This includes setting up a pork genetics project in Nigeria and ongoing work with Agri-Benchmark from Germany. Kelvin has presented at the AGRITECHNICA machinery show in Germany as well as many of the countries he has traveled to, including Ukraine and Russia. Leibold earned bachelor of science and master’s in science degrees in agricultural education from Iowa State University.

Presentation Title: “Strategic and Tactical Planning for your Farm.”

Chad Hart was born and raised in southwest Missouri and his parents raised a few cattle and operated a small meat locker. Hart received a bachelor of science in economics degree with minors in mathematics, history, and astronomy from Southwest Missouri State University in 1991. He moved to Iowa in the summer of 1991 to pursue graduate education, and received a Ph.D. in economics and statistics in 1999 from Iowa State University.

Upon graduation, Hart worked as a researcher at CARD at Iowa State. Then he joined the faculty in 2008. His main research areas are in agricultural marketing and risk management.

Presentation Title: “Markets, Mischief and Mayhem for 2024.”

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