Live from Agritechnica 2

Yesterday, I gave you a few stats on just how many exhibits were on site here at Agritechnica in Hanover Germany. But here's a little trivia on the facility itself—or the Hannover Messe, as it's known locally.

Hanover is in the northern region of Germany and the Messe (fair grounds) is located on the south side of the city. Covering a total of 91 acres, the Messe has 24 halls offering a total of 388,452 square metres of occupied, indoor exhibit space for this show. And almost every exhibit is under a roof, making this an all-weather event.

About half of the available floor space is occupied by the 1,361 exhibitors representing German companies. So as you'd expect, there is a lot of German being spoken on the floor. But you can expect to frequently overhear conversations in Russian, Italian and English as well. Representatives at each exhibit wear lapel pins with flags of the countries whose languages they speak. That makes it easy to know who to approach if you have a question.

Because the site is so large, you can wear down a lot of shoe leather getting from one end to the other. Fortunately, the show offers complimentary shuttle buses that run around the entire grounds, making it surprisingly easy and fast to get from one end of the Messe to the other.

To satisfy your appetite, there are countless restaurants and food stands offering everything from high-end cuisine to bratwurst and beer. And you can wander through the exhibition with your beer if you want.

Before I wrap up today's post, here's a look at New Holland's second-generation hydrogen tractor prototype, which is on display at the company's large exhibit. Aside from the updated appearance, this tractor has seen some significant redesigning under the sheet metal. With a rated output of about 140 horsepower, this one has a little more muscle than its predecessor. And it has an increased fuel-cell capacity of 340 litres, but that still only gives it two to three hours of working time. Product reps acknowledge that is an area that needs further development.

This tractor heads out for field trials near Turin Italy next season. The farm chosen for the testing will be producing its own hydrogen for the tractor and other energy needs. Engineers will evaluate the tractor's performance after the season is over and the challenge of making improvements will begin all over again.

Scott