Ag Expo Media Advisory -- July 15-17
7/7/08
Contact: Laura Probyn
517-432-1555, ext. 175
Michigan State University -- Corner of Farm Lane and Mount Hope Road
Hours: Tuesday and Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
General information: 1-800-366-7055
For media assistance prior to the show, contact Laura Probyn at 517-432-1555, ext. 175. For media assistance during the show, contact Laura Probyn at 517-588-9830.
For pedestrian safety, TV vehicles should use Expo's west gate (next to the MSU Credit Union on Crescent Drive). All other media units should use the gate from Mt. Hope. Golf carts will be available at the headquarters tent each day for media use on a first-come, first-served basis.
The 29th annual Ag Expo will feature more than 300 commercial farm equipment and supply exhibits and dozens of educational exhibits from MSU departments and programs on the 35-acre main site.
New for 2008 is the “You Heard it Here First” tent. Presenters will discuss saving fuel with tractors, ethanol, biodiesel and transitional planning for farmers.
The MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) “Education Celebration” tent will host 30 exhibits and learning stations presented by departments and other units in the college, including children’s activities, cooking demonstrations, a presentation about how to buy horse hay (Tuesday at 2 p.m.) and another on how to keep moles from wreaking havoc in your yard (Wednesday at 2 p.m.).
Michigan 4-H will celebrate its 100th birthday with free cake at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, and Michigan FFA will be feted with cake in honor of its 80th birthday at 2 p.m. Wednesday. The MSU Dairy Store will provide free ice cream to anyone who donates to the CANR Alumni Association Scholarship Fund.
The Ag Expo VIP Breakfast begins at 7 a.m. Tuesday (July 15). Speakers will include Lou Anna K. Simon, MSU president, and Jeffrey Armstrong, dean of the MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Legislators and agricultural leaders attend the breakfast, which will be held in the large red and white striped tent near the west gate.
Other Ag Expo highlights include an appearance by Miss Michigan 2008, Ashlee Baracy; an FFA tractor driving contest for young people (July 15 following the breakfast); a garden tractor pull (July 15 following the FFA tractor driving contest); an antique tractor pull (July 16 at 10 a.m.); a demonstration of a robotic milking system; and hands-on demonstrations that allow visitors to try out zero-turn mowers, skid steers, articulating wheel loaders and telehandlers.
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