Bear Creek, Wis. ‒ After 50 years, Wisconsin’s premier outdoor agricultural showcase changed its name from Wisconsin Farm Progress Days to Wisconsin Farm Technology Days to more accurately reflect the increasing use of technology on Wisconsin farms.
Even more 21st-century farming technology will be featured during the 2025 Wisconsin Farm Technology Days show, when it returns to Clinton Farms for the third time Aug. 5-7.
The 50th show, July 15-17, 2003, celebrated the new name and logo while paying homage to the show’s past history by returning to the Clinton Farm, which had hosted the 25th show in 1978. Members of the family’s second generation – Jim and Sue Clinton – served as the show’s official hosts.
The Waupaca County committee also paid tribute to earlier shows by selecting an Oliver 77 tractor and Oliver plow – which had been used to win the youth level-land plowing contest in 1955 – as the show’s commemorative toy.
Clinton family adds more acres, technology in 2003
In 2003, Clinton Farms had more cattle and more land than in 1978. The farm had expanded from 600 acres to 2,300 acres, including more than 1,700 crop acres, on which the family raised corn and soybeans for their growing cattle herd. At the time, they also grew 300 acres of alfalfa and 100 acres of cabbage, a crop that has since been discontinued.
Their dairy herd was also expanding, milking 150 animals in a flat-barn parlor utilizing a double-six design. In addition to raising their own dairy replacements, the family also raised 100 steers on a nearby farm. A 200,000 bushel grain handling system and storage facility also had been added.
Field demonstrations during the show also featured the latest technology, as alfalfa for silage was harvested all three days, with mowers, rakes, choppers, balers, forage wagon, blowers and silage baggers operating almost non-stop.
An area was set aside for demonstrating global positioning system (GPS) equipment and the guidance system operation. Tiling and nutrient application methods unique to the soil in Waupaca County and in other areas in eastern Wisconsin also were featured.
New for 2003
Food from Farm to Table was a new theme tent designed to provide visitors with a better understanding of the role that animal agriculture plays in maintaining a safe food supply.
Representatives from the Wisconsin Livestock Identification Consortium, Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, UW Extension Beef Team, UW Extension Milk Quality Team, UW School of Veterinary Medicine, and Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection were on hand to provide information on this issue.
Celebrating 50 Years of Family Living was the theme of the Family Living tent, which featured timely issues and exhibits. Programs focused on creating safe play areas on farms, balancing family with work, outreach to Hispanics and Latinos, farm use of computers, information available on the Web, farm finances, and family stress.
Another theme tent focused on Dairy Technology, which featured dairy seminars and exhibitors included AgSource, AMPI, Midwest Dairy Business and numerous dairy semen providers. Seminars provided information on ‘Getting Started in Dairy’, recommendations on the Best Investments in Agriculture, Effective Intergenerational Involvement’ and ‘Maximizing Profit on Your Dairy Operation.
FTD show and host family adds more technology to farm operation
Almost immediately, the Clinton family began incorporating new equipment and practices featured during the show into their farming operation, and they’ve continued to add new technology over the years.
Tractor-pulled choppers and wagons gave way to self-propelled choppers and trucks that quickly moved forage to storage bunkers that had replaced tower silos. Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment made planting crops more efficient. Dairy expansion continued with an addition to the freestall barn that housed 150 more cows. In 2015, another barn was built for heifers and dry cows.
Jim and Sue’s son, Brad, and daughter, Carrie (Clinton) Griepentrog, who have worked on the farm full-time for several years, started taking a more active role in the farm’s management. Carrie’s son, Payton, who was only a few weeks old when the 2003 show was held, is the fourth generation of the family to be active full-time in the farm’s operation.
Cutting-edge dairy facility
To help ensure that they and future generations of the family could remain competitive in the dairy industry, the family began a major dairy expansion in 2018.
“We had to expand because we were spending about 18 hours a day milking our herd of 500 cows three times a day in our old parlor,” said Carrie.
A new 212-stall freestall barn was constructed that includes fans and alley scrapers that are computer-controlled. The six-row building has two feed alleys. “This allows us to move a bigger group to the parlor, which is more efficient,” said Brad.
A 250-cow holding area leads into the parlor that features a 50-stall Waikato Centrus Composite Rotary Milking System, Stainless HD stalls, milk meters, Navigate Dairy Management System and SmartD-Tect, which measures conductivity for each quarter. The system does the stimulating and fore stripping, and provides alerts regarding mastitis and high cell counts.
Brad pointed out that milk goes from the parlor to a chiller and then into the semi-tanker. “There’s no bulk tank.”
Those attending the 2025 Wisconsin Farm Technology Days show, will be able see the milking center, free-stall barn, along with much more. The show runs from Aug. 5-7 at Clinton Farms, E8351, Highway 22, Bear Creek, Wisconsin.