Agricultural machinery returns to fairgrounds to support agrarian roots of annual event

By Ed Runyan

runyan@vindy.com

BAZETTA

It goes without saying that the Trumbull County Fair, like most county fairs, is a celebration of life on the farm — of growing crops and raising animals.

But in recent years, the Trumbull fair has lost some of its connection to farming, lifelong farmer and first-year Trumbull County Fair Board member Joe Turon of West Farmington, says.

For about 10 years, essentially there has been no farm equipment available for visitors to see, Turon said.

This year, Turon and another first-year board member, Dave Lynn of Southington, have tried to change that.

They’ve not only persuaded several farm-equipment dealers to bring equipment to the fair, they’ve talked other farmers into bringing their equipment for public viewing.

Turon says he hopes that the weeklong event that continues through Sunday will re-establish some of the connection people have with the land and where their food comes from.

Though Trumbull County is best known as a manufacturer of steel and cars, Turon said he thinks people forget that agriculture is still the No. 1 industry in Trumbull County by total sales, even though farming makes up only 1.2 percent of its workforce.

So few people work in agriculture because farmers are efficient at making food, Turon said.

“We have cheap food in our country because farmers do a good job,” Turon said. “Our grocery stores are filled with wonderful things.”

Asking a farmer to give up use of his most expensive farm equipment for a week is a sacrifice, Turon said, because it can rust while sitting out in the elements, and visitors can scratch the paint if they’re not careful.

Ray Lutz of Lordstown helped the cause by volunteering to show his new combine — a quarter of a million dollar piece of equipment that harvests grains — before Lutz has even used it on the farm.

It’s a 15-foot high tool with a 40-foot wide head on the front that tends to make an impression, Turon said.

“When you walk in to see that red machine, it’s impressive,” Turon said.

“This is the bread and butter. To bring it here to let everybody see what it is, it’s really neat,” agreed fair board member Jan Solomon.

“We’re trying to bring the agriculture side of it back so people can see an up-close view,” Turon said, adding that people don’t get a true appreciation for the size of such equipment from their cars as they travel past a farm.

Such equipment also contains a great deal of sophisticated technology such as global-positioning devices that automatically steer the vehicle and a computer that tells the farmer the amount of product that was gathered that day.

The King Brothers company of Bristol have provided a huge pile of sand — sort of like the world’s largest sandbox — near the farm equipment so that children will have something to do there, Turon said.

Turon, 41, who graduated from the Ohio State University, says he’s an example of how farming has changed. Turon’s father came home at the end of the day dirty and sweaty.

But Turon’s equipment has an enclosed cab, so he stays clean and cool. It also allows him to work a larger amount of ground.

“Some farmers spend much of their day on the computer. Some have exports going to China, soybeans going to Japan,” he said.

“We’re a world economy. Stuff is going everywhere.”