The Mid America Farm Expo is underway at the Tony’s Pizza Event Center in Salina as the agriculture community comes to reconnect with family, friends and pros in the business.

The event boast over 300 exhibits this year with products and services to help producers in the field and …over their fields. Pat Donovan with Ag by Air in Minneapolis, Ks is a second generation ag pilot who enjoys the view out his office window – a crop duster.

Photo courtesy Ag by Air

“You can imagine the sunsets and sunrises we get to see,” he said with a smile.

Pat’s father Dwayne introduced him to the business about thirty years ago and now Pat’s son, Shane, flies aerial applications as well.

Pat Donovan (center) with Ag by Air, along with his wife, Wynette, work with a client during the Farm Show Tuesday.

Pat says weather and wind plays a big role in daily operations. “We usually try to stick around 10-mile an hour or less. Sometimes we need a wind to do something to keep the drift away from the place, sometimes we don’t.” Pat says flight operations begin early in the day, before the wind has a chance to kick up.

Visitors on Tuesday had a chance to meet with numerous vendors and also take advantage of learning from the featured speaker, Dr. David Kohl. The Professor Emeritus of Ag Economics at Virginia Tech gave the full sized crowd a straight forward look and some encouraging strategies to take on the current economics in farming and ranching today.

Producers were all ears during Dr. Kohl’s presentation.

Wednesday’s speaker, Curt Pate will present a “Horsemanship Clinic,” in Ag Hall on Wednesday morning at 10am. Pate will also speak on “Cattle Handling,” Wednesday afternoon in Ag Hall at 1:30pm.

Dean and Wayne Bretton from Minneapolis, Ks enjoyed a trip through the Farm Show with their mother Katelyn on Tuesday.