“It’s really a good thing to know other people thought of him like we did,” she said. “He was one to never really want any recognition, but he would have been really honored.”

Expo Executive Director Chip Blalock said that the recent rainfall may have kept farmers out of the field, meaning more people had an opportunity to come out on the 31st Field Day event.

He estimated that attendance could be as high as 500.

The farm crew experienced adversity this year as spring rains drowned corn plants, making it necessary to replant 100 of 120 acres of the crop, Blalock said.

“It’s just been an interesting year with extreme temperatures and rain,” he said.

The Expo show in October has an estimated $16 million economic impact in a 20-county area, Blalock said, and when Field Day, the two Calico shows, auctions and other events held at the site are factored in that figure doubles.

“Over the next 10 years we will have a $300 million impact throughout the region,” he said.