Normally, traveling to Syracuse, NY in February isn't exactly a good idea. The weather is terrible and there are mountains between there and home. This year was a little different. We've still got a few weeks before farrowing seasons starts and the weather was actually pretty good.
Got on the road on Thursday morning and made it out to the New York State Fairgrounds by 3:30 pm. We were able to see a bit of the show and pick up the official map.
6 buildings. 400 vendors. I don't even know how many millions of dollars in equipment on display. And we lucked out even more with the weather on Friday - 54 degrees at 1245 when we took a bit of a break at the truck to hydrate and eat some snacks.
We started Friday in the Center of Progress Building where we did find some antique tractors (very much our speed)
As well as some equipment that wouldn't even fit in the driveway never mind be able to turn around in our fields. And yes, that plow/scraper/whatever was almost as tall as me. (The new meaning for FEMA did also make me giggle.)
Then we toured the Science Building which was full of stuff that would fit in the driveway but would be similarly challenged on the fields. None of it came home with me but I was very tempted to pick up the Oliver as it's the closest Not a Farmer Nick is probably ever going to get.
The Dairy Building was up next. Walking in the building smelled of cows. But there's no way this guy was responsible.
Turns out there were a couple really nice beef pairs but little kids also like them so I couldn't get a clean photo without a child I don't know.
Found an awesome post and beam model, an excavator that would be perfect for my house, some serious suitcase weights, and an absolute sea of green paint.
I did try to convince Dad that a cute little UTV with a dump body would be really useful around the farm but he didn't think we could fit it in our pockets to take it home.
We wrapped up the morning with the Horticulture Building where the fire alarm went off for a solid 10 minutes before they were able to figure out what was wrong. We ended up chatting with some seed vendors and Dad got a catalog that was basically the weight of a book that he gleefully dropped into my official tote bag. We also watched this video at the BearClaw Equipment booth probably 5 times. It's absolutely fascinating.
The last vendor stop was the Exposition Center. This building was a mix of green and red tractors and equipment. And almost all of it bigger than we could ever use including the tracked grain cart (that reminds me of the transport the Jawas use in Star Wars), the baleage grinder with the scariest teeth, a perfect little tractor and dump trailer that I'd love to get for Mum, and the tiniest little log trailer and grapple.
The show mostly focused on dairy and beef but there were some booths that had a few things for pigs and lots of barn/structure builders but none of them were willing to build me my dream barn for free.
And these vineyard tractors. One was in the Dairy Building and the other was in the Exposition Center. To our eyes, the Fendt looked larger than the Oxbo and while we're not in the market just yet, these were pretty cool to see.
The last stop was the Witter Agriculture Museum. There were lots of old tools (some of which we own/still use) and a bunch of "what is it?" items that Dad and I were pretty good at.
The best part, and where I'll end this very long post, was the milk bottle/dairy room. I don't think I've ever seen a 1 gallon glass milk bottle, or knew that there were this many varieties of milk bottles and processors in New York State.
But this, THIS was the most challenging.
THIS IS MY CHILDHOOD. AND IT'S IN A MUSEUM!!!!
If you've made it this far, thank you for bearing with me. Dad and I drove home today and, while it was a fantastic trip and I'm glad we were able to do it, I'm glad to be back on my own couch with Not a Farmer Nick and our cats.