ALL ABOUT TRACTORS

BY PAUL WALLEM

The Tenneco purchase of International Harvester Farm Equipment Division was announced in November 1984. That entire year was extremely difficult for both Case and IH dealerships, with high new and used equipment inventory that was not selling and excessively high interest rates for farmers and dealers.

Our dealerships had new tractors, some three years old, that were not selling. At one point, we were paying 21 percent interest on them. They also showed paint fading, but there was no room to store them inside. The same was true with combines and planters.

Many of our customers had accumulated high debt loads since 1980. A sharp drop in their land values had diminished their borrowing power. They could not afford to trade even if they badly needed to replace some equipment.

After Tenneco announced the purchase of the IH farm equipment division, dealers were told that if both Case and IH dealers existed in the same town, a study would be made, and only one would be awarded an ongoing contract. The dealer that would no longer have a contract either had to look for another major supplier, turn to short-line products, or close the doors.

Our two IH dealerships did not face this problem, as there was no Case dealer in either town.

We were relieved when the new equipment’s color was announced: red for the combined Case IH company. I’m sure the former Case dealers found that decision difficult to accept.

Shortly after the merger, we were offered the opportunity to buy discontinued Case tractors at a large discount. We sold several, some with a strange request: they requested we repaint them red. They thought it would help the price when they eventually traded them in.

One decision that really hurt our dealership was the permission given to Case construction equipment stores (who were not CaseIH) to buy farm equipment parts. We stocked a very large parts inventory, and those Case stores could order and sell the same parts. Numerous sales were lost because our customers who lived nearer a Case construction store would buy from them.

During the years 1979-1985, almost 5,300 farm equipment dealers of all colors closed their doors, which amounted to half of the U.S. dealers. Those who survived continued, and many are still in business today.

These were difficult years for many agricultural producers and businesses.

Tractorcade

January 1979 – The largest Tractorcade in history traveled to Washington, D.C., from throughout the United States. Well over 3,000 tractors were involved in a protest organized by the American Agricultural Movement.

One group of 300 en route across Illinois stayed overnight in Greenville. Heritage Iron Magazine is headquartered there, and recently, Creative Director Christina Staff wrote the story of this event in their January/February 2024 issue. This summary is courtesy of Heritage Iron Magazine.

The group with the 300 tractors included almost 1,000 farmers and others who wanted to protest low farm product prices. The convoy was allowed to use I-70 through Illinois, led by a police escort at 15 mph. It stretched over 10 miles through a nasty 1979 snowstorm.

Similar clusters of tractors converged on DC from throughout the country. Messages sent to the DC press said, “The tractors are coming!”

Some tractors with other groups traveled more than 1,300 miles one way. Large signs were tractor-mounted, like the one pictured in this article. After arriving in DC, they occupied the streets around the Capital and the White House to lobby Congress for change. Traffic around the city was at a standstill, and government officials had plenty of time to read the signs. “BEWARE - MAD FARMER’S WIFE” was the protest on the side of a John Deere 4020 driven by Beverly Sander. She was one of the few women who drove from Kansas to DC.

The 1979 protest was long before the internet existed, but it was heard not just in Washington but everywhere in the U.S.

Your comments, please! Email me with ideas for future columns that you want.

Paul Wallem was raised on an Illinois dairy farm. He spent 13 years with IH in domestic and foreign assignments. He resigned to own and operate two IH dealerships. He is the author of THE BREAKUP of IH and SUCCESSES AND INDUSTRY FIRSTS of IH. See all his books on PaulWallem.com. Email your comments to pwallem@aol.com.