Yesterday I wrote about Willard & Audrey going with us to Canada for fishing. This blog is about their accompanying us in our Motor Home in September 1988 to the International Ag Expo and National Plowing Contest that was held near Amana, IA. There was a wide variety of competition and exhibits. Herb Plamback moderated a joint USSR-US event and a parade of tractors and equipment from many countries. We enjoyed seeing the Amish farmers plow with horses and mules as much or more than those with huge tractors. We visited with Wilmer (Vinegar Bend) Mizell, a former St. Louis Cardinal baseball pitcher, whom I had met earlier in his role with USDA. Vice Presidential candidates Lloyd Bentsen and Dan Quayle both spoke. (Their famous debate was about a month later). We visited Middle Amana and saw a Hummel painter from Germany at work. We went on to Homestead and ate at Duke Zuber's family style restaurant. Then we traveled to Boone, IA for the Dick & Sharon Thompson Farm Research Field Day. Their sustainable agriculture objectives were to market all their products through animals and had developed outstanding systems to do so. I remember of Willard commenting that if he were younger, that is the way he would like to farm. We stopped at the DeSota Bend Wildlife Refuge on our way home. It was a great trip.
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