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A Farmer's Idea
“Want to see how it works?” Illinois farmer William
Russ says excitedly as a Texas rancher pauses by his booth in
the exhibit hall at the 2002 American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF)
annual meeting in Reno, Nevada. Not waiting for an answer, Russ
quickly pulls a scale-model forage wagon across the skirted table.
“You’ll have to keep your eyes on it or you’ll
miss it,” he warns. Then he flips a switch, trap doors on
the underside of the wagon fall open, and the load of artificial
forage drops on the exhibit table as the model wagon keeps moving.
“That’s all folks,” he grins proudly. The full-size
wagon dumps just that fast, and you’re heading back to the
field for another load.
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William Russ and his wife, Joyce, display a scale
model of his invention, the “Trap Door Forage Wagon,”
at the National American Farm Bureau Convention, where he
won first prize in the Farmer’s Idea Exchange.
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The Roscoe, Illinois farmer runs through the routine hundreds of times
during the exhibit hours, and never loses an ounce of enthusiasm. After
all, his innovation, the “Trap Door Forage Wagon” had just
earned top honors at the 14th annual Farmer’s Idea Exchange at
the AFBF convention. His operator-friendly wagon allows farmers to unload
silage without stopping. Best of all, he says it is safe plus saves
time and money. His prize is a year’s use of a 105-PTOhp New Holland
TV140 Bidirectional™ – an innovative tractor for an innovative
farmer.
The AFBF Farmer Idea Exchange is designed to provide an opportunity
for Farm Bureau members to share their ideas, innovations and inventions
with other farmers across the nation. New Holland has been the top prize
sponsor of the program since its inception. Check out www.fb.com.
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Thirteen-year old Jessica Ratliff was the youngest
entrant in the history of the Farmer’s Idea Exchange
competition.
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Youngest Innovator
“I came up with this idea after a 10-year-old boy
we know was playing tag at another farm and ran into a bale
stabber,” said Jessica Ratliff, 13, of Eddyville, Iowa.
“The boy had to have reconstructive surgery and almost
lost his eye.” So, with a PVC pipe, a PVC pipe cap,
a reflector, two bungee straps and two eyebolts, Jessica
invented the “Bale Stabber Guard” and became the
youngest entrant in the history of AFBF’s Farmer Idea
Exchange. “The peace of mind knowing that the same
type of accident will be prevented with the use of the guard
is hard to put a dollar value on,” Jessica said.
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