Ag PhD, a regular feature carried on RFD-TV, has officially announced the company’s first-ever float in the 2018 Tournament of Roses® Parade. Their float, Salute to Farmers, brings a whole new meaning to Making a Difference. "RFD-TV is proud to support the Ag PhD float in the Rose Parade in every way possible," said Patrick Gottsch, Founder & President of RFD-TV. "If there is one thing that unites all rural America and agriculture, it’s that we have to do a better job of communicating and connecting with urban folks. The Ag PhD float will be a great step forward in that effort, and we congratulate the Hefty family for this terrific initiative. What a great way to kick off the new year."
Patrick continued, "RFD-TV will feature the Ag PhD float and its riders heavily in our pre-show broadcast prior to the Rose Parade at 9:30 a.m. ET, 8:30 a.m. CT. In addition, we will have a ‘live’ camera on the float as it goes down the parade route. The Rose Parade will be ‘live’ and in HD on RFD-TV with limited commercial interruptions, showing all the great floats, bands, and equestrian groups." As explained on Ag PhD website, “Who makes more of a difference than farmers? Without farmers and the food supply farmers produce, none of us would be here. Farmers work tirelessly to feed our growing world, and they do a fantastic job. In the United States, for example, we have the healthiest, most abundant, safest, and cheapest food supply in the world! And that’s all thanks to farmers!” The website feature adds, “When you ask a non-farmer what they think about agriculture, you might hear words like GMOs, BioTech, food safety, water quality, genetics, big equipment, GPS, traits, and soil. While all those things play a role in modern farming, the strength of agriculture has always been, and I expect it will always be, the people.” In further description of the float, the website notes, “From everything we’ve been told, there has never been a Rose Parade float with more riders than what the Ag PhD Salute to Farmers float will have, 100. Yes, 100 riders on a float is a lot, but that’s the whole point. What a better way to show that modern agriculture is still about great people than to have 100 amazing farmers from across the country? The farmers on the float have worked with us at Ag PhD over the years to help us conduct research on a large scale so we can continue to do our job better.” The website explains, “At Ag PhD, our goal is always to give great agronomy advice to farmers around the world so farmers can improve yields profitably, while at the same time improving the land and the environment. The Ag PhD Salute to Farmers float will be one of just 18 commercial floats in the parade, so it was an honor for this float and the theme to be chosen. As always, the Rose Parade will be an incredible spectacle of bands, equestrian entries, commercial and non-commercial floats, along with millions of live plants and flowers.” The Ag PhD float will be approximately 110 feet long and 18 feet wide, towering over 30 feet high at its peak. For more information, go to: http://www.agphd.com/rose-parade-2018/.
