On January 30, 2007, the City of Boone, Boone County and the newly formed Central Iowa Expo, Inc. were selected to be the biennial host site of the Farm Progress Show, scheduled every other year for the next twenty years on a site at the intersection of U.S. Highway 30 and Iowa Highway 17.  Nearly 600 acres of farmland will be turned into a long-term facility for the nation€™s largest outdoor farm show.  The site will host over 500 hundred exhibitors and over 240,000 attendees over three days for the Farm Progress Show as well as be developed to host additional events, outdoor festivals, training sessions, and other recreational and educational opportunities.

Boone County, the city of Boone, Boone€™s Future, the Ames Convention and Visitors Bureau and three area families worked together to make the new show location possible. 

The central Iowa location presents many advantages to Farm Progress Show visitors and exhibitors, as well as other potential events to be held at the site.  The site offers close proximity to major four-lane and interstate highways, as well as access to a wide range of hotels and restaurants.  Iowa State University, a leader in agricultural education and biotechnology research, is located just a few miles away in Ames.  ISU is developing its Century Farm to be located a few miles to the East, just south of the United Community School.  With all of these factors as well as Iowa State University€™s Extension€™s role in educating the public, U.S. Highway 30 can become a great corridor to promote agriculture and bio-technology through educational transfer.