June 23, 2025

Brothers plan — and plant — ahead for harvest show

By Jeannine Otto

Even though spring is just around the corner, “snirt” season will linger, that combination of snow and dirt that wedges into the smallest spaces. Grethe Clements, CEO of High Plains Industries in Osage, Minn., said Snirt Stopper, the garage door bottom and threshold seal, can fix the problem. The seal was invented by Montie Beyer, owner of the company, during a military deployment in Kosovo. The seal, which mounts to the inside face of the door, gives the user the ability to adjust the seal to account for uneven floors and doors.

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — When it comes to farm shows focused on vintage farm machinery, the best way to get the word out and get participants isn’t text, Snapchat or email.

“It takes a huge amount of footwork, face to face, not all Facebook or emails or phone calls. It’s face to face. Can you bring this to our show? I’ll bring my stuff to your show, you bring yours to my show. That’s how you get good shows,” said Kevin Bos.

Bos, owner of Bos Brothers Farm Repair, and his brother, Chuck, were getting the word out face to face at another farm show, the 2020 Quad Cities Farm Show.

The Bos Brothers Fall Harvest Days are scheduled for Sept. 11-13, at the Bos Brothers Historical Farm near Erie.

The brothers had a lot to talk about to visitors at the farm show who stopped for more information.

The first thing people wanted to know about was the red-and-white barn at their farm show booth.

“I built the miniature barn. I just built it. I had the idea last year but I didn’t get it done. The outside boards are from an old barn in Chadwick, the beams are from a barn in Erie. Other than the roof tin, the rest of it is repurposed,” Kevin said. The 8-by-10-foot barn attracted plenty of inquiries for its potential as a future “she shed.”

The next question? No, he doesn’t plan to make any more.

“I don’t want to get into the barn-building business,” Kevin said.

He said he had enough on his plate with his business, as farmers continued to tie up loose ends from the 2019 crop year and then get ready for the 2020 planting season.

“We’ve got some leftover combine repairs that people want to get done. I’ve got guys who are so far behind that they were chisel plowing in January, trying to finish up. People don’t think about repairs until they’ve got the crop year’s stuff done,” Kevin said.

Their own harvest show will celebrate several firsts in September.

“This is the first time we’ve actually featured a brand,” he said.

John Deere will be the featured brand for the show.

“We’re going to bring in some Deere stuff that you might not normally see at a show.”

The 2020 show will take place in a new location, just down the road from its former location.

“We have a permanent show site, 8105 Springhill Road in Erie. It’s near the old show site. Previously, we were on borrowed ground. They let us use it so we had to be cautious about what we plant, how we plant it. The guy loaning us the ground had to make money so we just had to do what we could,” Kevin said.

They purchased ground to be a permanent site for the show that brings in vintage farm equipment from tractors to corn pickers and other equipment that was used around farms and rural homes. The advantage of having their own site is that the crop they plant — corn this year — can be planted to accommodate the vintage corn pickers and tractors that will harvest it.

“Some of it can be planted with thinner populations so that the old machines can better handle it,” he said.

One factor that sets the Bos harvest show apart is that visitors can see the equipment harvesting the crop and can then follow the crop from field to table on site.

“Our aim is to not only preserve and demonstrate the machinery but to educate. One thing that sets our show apart is we go from a standing crop, whether it’s wheat or corn. We harvest the crop. We take the grain out, either through threshing wheat or shelling corn, clean the grain, grind it into flour or meal. Then we have a cook shack and a lady that bakes bread in an antique stove from the grain that we harvest and mill. You can stand there with a warm slice of wheat bread or cornbread in your hand and be able to have seen all the steps it took to get there,” Chuck Bos said.

Admission to the show is free and the Bos brothers plan to keep it that way.

“We don’t ever plan to charge a gate fee. I feel bad that younger families with kids, that actually need the education, should be condemned not to go because they can’t afford a gate fee. We’re trying to get sponsors, individual and corporate sponsors, to help us run the show. That way, everybody can see it and get some education about farming and food production,” Kevin said.

For more information, to bring equipment or to become a sponsor, contact Kevin Bos at 309-945-8117 or Chuck Bos at 309-781-6394.