(Photo by Kris Todd) In front of a John Deere 36-row planter and beside a 1940s-vintage John Deere 999 two-row corn planter, Lon Rossiter of rural Spencer imagines what it was like behind this 1915 John Deere one-horse corn drill owned by L.R. "Pete" Petersen. Antique hand-held planters are placed on either side of the 93-year-old drill. [Order this photo]

Following a steak dinner, the 2008 Clay County Growers' "field day" featured Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey, Iowa State University College of Agriculture Dean Dr. Wendy Wintersteen, Dr. Palle Pedersen, an ISU soybean specialist, plot manager Dave Hessman and Paul Kassel, an ISU Extension area agronomist, as speakers Thursday evening in the Clay County Regional Events Center. The Clay County Growers' noted corn and soybean test plots are located eight miles south of Spencer on U.S. Highway 71.