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42nd Annual Ag-Mech Show at WIU

Western Hall on the Western Illinois University campus was filled over the weekend with farm machinery, toy tractors, and row after row of display booths. 

The occasion was the largest student-run farm expo in the nation. The Agriculture-Mechanization Show is organized by members of WIU's Ag-Mech Club.

President Mike Hoener said the businesses represented at the expo came from as close by as Illinois, Iowa and Missouri and from as far away as Ohio, Nebraska and the Dakotas.

“We're a well-established show and people know they can get their product out there,” Hoener said.

Hoener estimated up to 230 businesses displayed products. He said many had previously participated in the expo and he believed work-of-mouth helped draw new vendors.

He said club members spent the past year organizing the event.

“It's a year-round process. Even after this show we'll start to work on the next show,” Hoener said. “(The planning) will go throughout the summer and then we'll really hit it hard around November and December and through January.”

Hoener is a senior. He said he will be in the crowd for next year's Ag-Mech Show.

 

Rich is TSPR's News Director.