The expo building easily held the large farm machinery. Many of the tractors and combines had tires taller than me. One tractor had 450 HP. The farms in N. Dakota are far larger than my few MT acres. Even the lawn tractors were large. Nothing in my size.
While a number of farms around here have livestock, the farms mostly produce crops. Therefore the majority of exhibitors were for seed and fertilizer. Toss in a number of banks and farm creditors, and that didn't leave many exhibitors of interest to me.
What did interest me was the booth on raising buffalo. I was able to ask a number of questions about the fencing needed, how they compare to cattle, calving, buying and selling, prices, etc.
I have seen a few buffalo ranches in SW MT and their fences had a strand or two of steel cable as part of the fence. Steel cable fences aren't required. With plenty of grass and water buffalos will stay put. But if the buffalo doesn't want to stay put, then I would need to upgrade my fences. Apparently buffalo can easily jump any fence they can put their nose over.
Buffalos can't be herded. If they don't want to go, they won't. Buffalos aren't afraid of anything. Once entices a buffalo to go somewhere or do something. While I prefer to entice my escaped cattle to return, sometimes herding is quicker.
Raising buffalos always had an appeal for me. And I think I can do it. Maybe someday I'll get an opportunity to raise some buffalo. (I'll just need to upgrade all my fences!)
I don't look like a typical NoDak farmer. I don't have a Norwegian look in face or body. My hair is longish, not in a military (short! short! short!) cut. I wasn't wearing a cap with a logo on it. I was wearing corduroy pants, not jeans. So while there weren't that many people at the expo, most exhibitors weren't that interested in talking to me. Or maybe it was because of their Scandinavian Midwestern reticence. They'd just sit there as I walked by their booth.
An example of this was the Pete's Tractor salvage booth. I wanted to know who made OMC farm machinery (my swather). All they knew was: Owatonna. From Owatonna, MN? Don't know? Still in business? Unlikely. (An internet search only finds used OMC / Owatonna farm machinery for sale, and nothing on the history of the manufacturer.) After I told "Pete's" I was only interested in finding a used running tractor and not parts, they lost interest in me. No one else was by their booth to talk to, so they just stared off into space as I stood there looking their booth over. Strange... I don't think I had bad breath.
A man who was interested in talking to me sold collapsible flag poles. I just wanted a copy of his brochure but he talked me into watching him give a demonstation of how the collapsible flag pole operated.
"Come back here behind the table to watch. Right around here. My wife usually trips people who leave without buying something, but she injured her foot so you're safe."
He was a fun friendly guy from Minnesota. I really didn't need a demonstration as it wasn't that difficult to figure out. Even collapsed, the pole was 6 ft or so. I told him I'd have to pass on buying one now as I am traveling on the train. When I mentioned I was from MT he said, "And you don't have to pay sales tax!" That's right!
I like flying the U.S. flag so a flag pole would be nice to have in my yard, but $200?! Umm... maybe not. I have some metal poles in amongst my stuff at home, and one may work as a flag pole. No hurry, the wind seldom blows in the Flathead so the flag would more than likely hang limp.
Another device I was interested in was the "gophinator". From Saskatchewan they came to sell these machines. The salesman and I had a chat about pocket gophers, and he was nice enough to listen to me complain about my pocket gophers. The machine is a good idea... but the price of $3300 (if I remember right) was too much to make it pay for me. I'll stick to my little traps to get rid of my pocket gophers.
Another Canadian firm (from Manitoba) was selling portable maternity pens and handling equipment for cattle. Nice idea, lots of money.
I also had a nice chat with the N. Dakota & Ward County weed specialists. I got literature (with photos) on N. Dakota's noxious weeds. Many weeds are the same as in MT. The milkweed they showed is not the milkweed I am trying to eradicate. Someday I'll find out what my milkweed is really called.
Near the end of my tour I signed up for the Case IH dealers drawing for a free flat screen TV. I wrote my MT address. They asked for a cell phone - don't have one. I was a little loopy and didn't think of putting down the phone number of where I am staying in NoDak, or it's address. I put down my internet address. Guess I won't win that TV! Nor will I worry about them calling later to sell me stuff.
Well, after visiting hundreds of booths, and gathering a bag full of literature, I headed home a tired puppy. It's tough standing on a concrete floor when all one is used to is walking dirt fields. Oh my aching back... someone want to give me a massage?
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