Now known as “North America’s Premier Farm Show” tm, the 3-day Sunbelt Ag Expo has attracted more than 1,200 exhibitors to showcase the latest in farming technology and 145 exhibitors are new.

The Expo’s mission is to produce the premier farm show in the world, one that is conducive to trade and that emphasizes information, education and the implementation of the latest agricultural technology, research and equipment.

A major new improvements this year is the new Rural Lifestyle exhibit section.  The Rural Lifestyle exhibits will feature demonstrations, seminars and exhibits catering to backyard gardening, backyard poultry, locally grown food crops, and organic crop production.

Andy Schneider of Ideal, Ga., known as the Chicken Whisperer, will be making daily presentations on raising backyard poultry in the Rural Lifestyle section.

The vegetable garden in the new Rural Lifestyle section will remind longtime Expo visitors of the extensive vegetable gardens planted during the earliest years of the farm show in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

In the Family Living building, a new daily highlight will feature cooking demonstrations featuring celebrity chefs. Lauri Jo Bennett of Norman Park, Ga., will be coordinating these cooking demonstrations. Bennett has made a name for herself with her successful Lauri Jo’s Southern Style Canning company, and its slogan of “preserving the South one jar at a time.”

Bennett has invited several celebrity chefs to join her in the cooking. These guests include members of the Highway 55 band, Rodney Miller and Jann Carl who host the Small Town Big Deal program on RFD TV, and James Farmer who is an author and a food and gardening expert from Kathleen, Ga. Bennett and her celebrity chefs will be cooking with Georgia-grown products.

The 2014 Sunbelt Expo will also celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year awards. This year’s overall winner of the Farmer of the Year award will be announced on Tuesday, Oct. 14, the opening day of the Sunbelt Expo.

The Swisher International exhibit located in the center of the exhibit grounds will be hosting charitable organizations serving U.S. military veterans. These include the Wish for Our Heroes and K9s for Warriors organizations.

Also, the Expo will extend a special welcome to the Peterson Brothers from Assaria, Kansas. They’ve made a name for themselves as entertainers whose parody songs portray a positive image of farm life. Their first big hit in 2012 was “I’m Farming and I Grow It.” Their Expo debut is sponsored by AgAmerica Lending at location A-9 of the exhibit grounds. Blalock encourages Expo visitors to extend a warm welcome to brothers Greg, Nathan and Kendal Peterson in the AgAmerica Lending exhibit.

“Our field demonstrations and our livestock demonstrations are a staple of the Expo, and they will be bigger and better than ever,” says Blalock. The crop fields will again be the site of tillage and land preparation demonstrations along with harvesting demonstrations for cotton, peanuts, corn, soybeans and hay. The R.W. Griffin firm of Douglas, Ga., is a new fertilizer sponsor for the Expo farm. R.W. Griffin supplied most of the nitrogen for this year’s crops while Southern States continued to provide much of the other nutrients used on the Sunbelt soils.

Blalock invites Expo visitors to spend time at the driving ranges in the Expo crop fields. You’ll be able to drive tractors with the latest in tire technology at the Titan Goodyear driving range. Trimble will be offering test drives of tractors equipped with the latest in auto steering and guidance technology. Deere will have a test track where visitors can drive the newest Gator utility vehicles. Can-Am will also have a driving track for its all terrain vehicles in the Expo fields.

Additional driving tracks will be located within the exhibits, and these will feature ATV’s from Honda and Yamaha and pickups from Chevrolet.

Georgia is this year’s spotlight state for the Expo. The spotlight state exhibit can be found at location B-6, and will feature a new permanent exhibit building. This is the first time in 36 years that the spotlight state exhibits will be located in a permanent building.  This building will be used in future years to host spotlight state exhibits. Georgia agricultural organizations will be featuring exhibits focusing on the overall theme: “Always in Season, Georgia Agriculture.” The exhibit will also feature a painted mural of farm products and Georgia communities.

The horse arena will feature Brian Sumrall from a farm near Liberty, Tex., who will be representing the American Stock Horse Association and the Stock Horse of Texas organization. Sumrall and his horses will be in the equine arena during all three days of the Expo with appearances scheduled for 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. each day. Sumrall will be teaching basic horse handling and how to compete in horse shows.

The Georgia Peanut Commission sponsors racecar driver David Ragan from Unadilla, Ga. Ragan will be making appearances at the Peanut Commission’s exhibit at location WC-9 on Oct. 14 & 15.

The beef cattle exhibits are now highlighted by presentations from experienced beef cattle farmers who will explain during each day of the show how they raise and market their animals. In addition to the beef cattle section at location E-8, animal agriculture will be well represented again at this year’s Expo with other special exhibit sections for dairy cattle, sheep and goats, alpacas, catfish and poultry.

The show hours are 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, and 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Thursday. Admission price is $10 per person per day. Children under 10 are admitted free with a parent. A multi-day admission ticket costs $20. Credit cards and personal checks will not be accepted at the ticket booths during show days.

The Sunbelt Expo’s permanent home is on 1,680 acres located four miles southeast of U.S. Highway 319 on Georgia Highway 133 near Moultrie, Ga.