ST. LOUIS, Mo. — While farmers across the Midwest are transporting their grain to the elevator, Dagan Boothe of Meade County, Ky. was reflecting this scene - only on a model level.

Boothe, a 19-year-old farm toy collector, built an intricate grain loading and unloading display for the Gateway Mid-America Farm Toy Show and shared with visitors just how his grain operation worked.

Boothe’s display features the entire grain-unloading process from start to finish. He included the weigh-in, the unloading and the loading. What made this special was - not only does it look good - but it works.

“I built the building and everything had to fit,” Boothe told the judges and visitors who wanted details about how his model passed grain from elevator to truck.

The key appeared to be fitting the system together with hand-in-glove precision.

“The top fits perfectly and is sturdy. I made the tower and parking bumpers,” Boothe said.

He used mustard seed to represent the grain. To make the loading visible, Boothe used a simple clown balloon.

“I had to drill the bottom of a clown balloon that was transparent so (the grain coming out of the grain elevator) can be seen,” Boothe said. “All the braces are hand-built and painted.”

While Boothe is not a farmer or grain hauler, he has assisted with harvest and knows trucks, both the toy version and real ones, too. “I’m an avid toy truck collector,” he said. “I have over 100 1/64th-scale trucks and other farm toys in my bedroom.”

For a living, Boothe is an independent truck and car detailer out from Brandenburg, Ky.

“I worked for a man named Rick Myers of Myers Transport, also located in Brandenburg, Ky. and learned how to detail trucks from him,” Boothe said.

Boothe is already working on his project for next year’s Gateway show.

For questions, contact Boothe at 270-828-2841.

This farm news was published in the March 1, 2006 issue of Farm World.