PAUL At an antique farm equipment beet harvesting demonstration in Paul Saturday, those who gathered got to see first hand the evolution of technology. The first demonstration was a two-mule plow, which slightly lifted the beets from the soil and required workers to follow behind to pluck and top the beets. A drastic improvement could be seen as Fisk used a 1951 model McCormick tractor and sugar beet harvester on another row of beets. During the demonstration, a patch of beet field was...

A parade hightlighting the antique tractors will begin at 3. There will be a variety of entertainment for your enjoyment and mouthwatering food booths offering strawberry shortcakes, sundaes and milkshakes. Hots, hamburgers, salt potatoes, and nachos, plus soda and spring water will be available. If you're hankering for some strawberries you can pick up a quart at the festival. New this year is a pulled pork dinner with takeouts available. The drawing for raffle winners will take place...

A mechanical grape harvester at Chateau Chantal vineyard and winery along M-37 looks as peculiar as it is efficient, as technology in the grape and wine industry evolves as did machinery that harvests wheat, corn, cherries and other agricultural products. The winery also received a state grant last year to help purchase $60,000 of other mechanical equipment to reduce manual labor needed for harvesting and maintaining its 35 acres of vineyards. Winemaker Mark Johnson still favors...

The expense of farming has also changed. Farmers were easy to spot, with either round or square spots around their eyes, depending on the shape of their goggles. James recounted the evolution of farm equipment from mule-drawn plows to the air-conditioned cabs of todays tractors. Chamber presenter recounts changes over seven generations of farming. Farmers had to be self-sufficient in the 19th century, raising enough food for themselves, and their animals. There was a time when some farmers...

Register-Mail.com - Galesburg Register-Mail Online Corn cobs could become golden. Poet, a Sioux Falls-based company, which has been making ethanol from corn for more than 20 years, is working with Ihnen and several farm equipment manufacturers to develop ways to harvest, store and transport cobs that could one day join kernels as an alternative fuel source. Poet, a Sioux Falls-based company, which has been making ethanol from corn for more than 20 years, is working with Ihnen and several...

They run an 18-acre farm, but their tractor uses less than a couple of tanks of gas per year, they rarely spray for bugs, and they plant and trim their crop by hand. Cathy and her husband, Frank, are inviting the public to their farm for an open house and ceremony Thursday, where they will receive statewide honors for their eco-friendly efforts. They also walk the property with a battery-operated unit to apply herbicide, rather than use a gas-powered tractor. Trimming by hand means not...