{"id":80509,"date":"2026-02-08T01:07:47","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T04:07:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.einnews.com\/article\/890416163"},"modified":"2026-02-08T01:07:47","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T04:07:47","slug":"student-led-wiu-ag-mech-farm-expo-offers-glimpse-into-the-future-of-farming-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/02\/08\/student-led-wiu-ag-mech-farm-expo-offers-glimpse-into-the-future-of-farming-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"Student-led WIU Ag Mech Farm Expo offers glimpse into the future of farming tech"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MACOMB (WGEM) – For the 25 members of the Western Illinois University (WIU) Ag Mech Club, putting together the student-led Ag Mech Farm Expo is no easy feat.<\/p>\n

According to Owen Bull, Ag Mech Club president, it requires long hours and patience recruiting vendors for the event. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe work that you don\u2019t see put into it, is insane,\u201d Bull said. <\/p>\n

But the fruit of club\u2019s labor is well worth it: a glimpse into the future of agriculture. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you can expect coming here… is to see some of the newest technologies within agriculture,\u201d Bull explained. <\/p>\n

One of those technologies will require observers to look up.<\/p>\n

Sprayer drones first arrived on the agriculture scene a few years ago, but have evolved at a rapid pace. Newer models can carry up to 40 gallons of fungicide and spray roughly 20 acres of crop autonomously. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe program in the field boundaries, so once you have your field boundary, then you put your spray parameters in,\u201d said Blake McGrew, lead technician at Drone Aerotech, adding, \u201cOnce you have all that in, all I\u2019m actually doing is telling that thing to take off again\u201d<\/p>\n

Even with the massive leaps automated farm technology has made in recent years, it\u2019s still advancing. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just moving at a rapid rate. It\u2019s kind of hard to believe from where we just started just a few years ago,\u201d McGrew noted. \u201cWith autonomous technology just getting better and better, it\u2019s just going to, provide more efficiency on the farm, with fewer people.\u201d <\/p>\n

For Bull, the future of farming equipment looks nearly unrecognizable compared to his past experience in the field. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe farm I grew up on, we had a (John Deere) 4020 tractor, which is an older one… Learning how to run that thing, on a small farm operation, and then you go to see what they have nowadays… It\u2019s really insane to see, just the difference of technology,\u201d Bull said. <\/p>\n

Opinions may differ on the future of ag tech, but many attendees were intrigued by the equipment on display. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen a lot of people take a lot of pictures. They\u2019ve been really impressed with the show, and not only with the show, but with the new technology they see,\u201d Bull said. \u201cI\u2019ve seen people get group pictures in front of the tractors outside, or the drones in here, or just the cool stuff.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Ag Mech Farm Expo<\/a> continues Sunday, Feb. 8 in WIU\u2019s Western Hall from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. <\/p>\n

Presentations begin at 11 a.m. in the Hall of Fame Room.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WGEM. All rights reserved.<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… massive leaps automated farm technology<\/span> has made in recent … McGrew noted. \u00e2\u0080\u009cWith autonomous technology<\/span> just getting better and better … technology<\/span>,\u00e2\u0080\u009d Bull said. Opinions may differ on the future of ag tech<\/span> … show, but with the new technology<\/span> they see,\u00e2\u0080\u009d Bull said. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80509\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}