Farm Progress Show 2026: Boone puts digital agronomy on centre stage

Boone, Iowa, hosted the Farm Progress Show 2026, and the strongest signal from the event floor was the shift toward digital agronomy tools aimed squarely at next season's yields.

The show's "Best of FPS26" roundup captured the spread of kit and chemistry on display: biologicals (crop-input products derived from living organisms, such as microbial seed treatments), high-horsepower tractors, grain storage systems, digital agronomy platforms and planting technology.

That mix matters because it maps where farmers are actually spending attention. Storage and horsepower remain the hardware backbone of Midwest operations. The growth edge, though, sits in software and biology — tools that promise to change input decisions field by field rather than machine by machine.

For growers weighing capital plans, the show's emphasis offers a simple read: digital agronomy is no longer a side exhibit. It now shares top billing with the tractors.

Visitors should watch which of these digital and biological tools move from demonstration to documented trial results in the seasons ahead — that evidence, not the show floor, will decide adoption.

By James Calloway