Each February in Louisville, farmers, agribusiness executives and leaders in the field gather at the annual National Farm Machinery Show. Held at the Kentucky Exposition Center, the show addresses the challenges of farmers today and the value of the crops that are so important to us.

This year, as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the show, the show’s importance to the agriculture industry and the citizens of Kentucky still proves its worth.

In February 1966, a few hundred farmers, salesmen and crop experts gathered in the then-named Kentucky Fair & Exposition Center to start a farm show. That year, commodity prices were high and farmers were feeding 90 percent of our nation. No one knew what the show could be or the impact it could have on future generations.

At the opening address of the first annual National Farm Machinery Show, then-Governor Edward Breathitt remarked that the future of the show has “a myriad of other possibilities [for the] agricultural industry.”

Foreshadowed by Breathitt, five decades later, more than 850 exhibitors from around the country will journey to Louisville to discuss, share and showcase the industry. This once-tiny farm show is now the nation’s largest indoor ag trade show and is the one of our most powerful tools to meet the needs of the industry.

A recent analysis by the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture puts the total economic impact of agriculture production, inputs, processing, and manufacturing at nearly $46.3 billion and represents 263,000 jobs in Kentucky.

Agriculture is Kentucky. And the National Farm Machinery Show is agriculture.

Clifford “Rip” Rippetoe President and CEO of the Kentucky State Fair Board