ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — The QCCA Expo Center's Farm Show was much less crowded on Sunday than in years past, but a handful of farmers braved the cold to see the latest in farming technology.
The event is a showing of new equipment, products and services for the modern farmer, in addition to the latest in supply and livestock equipment — but new toys aren't the only thing featured in the Farm Show.
Joe Gates, the Rock Island County Soil and Water Conservation District's conservation specialist, shared a technique on how farmers can test the health of their soil with just a pair of cotton underwear.
Gates said farmers can bury the pair of underwear on their land in the spring, mark it with a flag then check the spot in 60 days. If the soil has a healthy amount of microbes, there will be "virtually no underwear left."
Rich Stewart, who works alongside Gates as a research conservationist, said healthy soil limits the need for farming chemicals.
"You can get by with hopefully less fertilizers, less herbicides, and you can have a healthy balance of soil in the field," Stewart said.
Gates also emphasized the need to protect healthy soil.
"We've lost a lot of our topsoil over the years to intensive agriculture, and that makes it more important that we protect what we do have left and try to make it better," Gates said.
The Farm Show will continue on Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with free admission and parking.