ALL ABOUT TRACTORS

BY PAUL WALLEM

A trip to a fascinating collection in Northern Illinois served up some rare and unusual tractors.

The huge 1918/1920 Avery was parked alongside a 1916 (?) Case. Two additional buildings house an historic mixture of wagons, hay rakes, threshing machines and even a burial wagon. Through this magnificent collection I walked through the history of Midwest agriculture.

The collection is the lifework of Wayne Hayenga, of Kings, Ill.

Multiple ownership

Russ Quinn, DTN staff reporter recently completed a study regarding tractor ownership. He asked readers how many tractors they owned, in these categories:

O to 5 represented 37 percent of the responses

6 to 10 represented 37 percent of the responses 

11 to 20 represented 20.8 of the responses

Over 20 represented 3.8 o  the responses

His summary of these results? “The farming community really does like to own tractors.”

The gambler in our midst

In 1974, I wrote this article for Rocky Mountain News. I came upon it recently and was surprised how little has changed. I’ll reproduce it here for you.

Today there are fewer farmers than ever before, because of the huge investment required. At the same time our population has grown to the point where each farmer must feed many more people.

How has the American farmer kept up with the increased demand? By producing more per acre. Even with fewer acres the increase in productivity increases each year.

Our American farmer has accomplished these increases even though he has absolutely no control over the price he receives for his product. He takes what he can get for his corn, beans, beef and everything else. In fact, some of the prices he is getting right now are below last year. Yet he is paying more for machinery and seed and other items needed to grow a crop.

Now add one more “cloud” in his sky. On top of all else the farmer is at the mercy of the weather. If it’s a wet year and he can’t plant on time he ends up with a poorer crop.

So where do America’s big stake gamblers live? Las Vegas or Reno? No. They are right here in our counties and call themselves farmers. And all they’re doing is feeding us better than any other country in the world. At the same time, they are overproducing enough so we can export much of our total food production.

Next time you buy a loaf of bread, it might help to know that the farmer has zero control over the price of the wheat in that bread. He doesn’t get 80 percent of the price of the loaf. He gets 15 percent. The rest goes for baking, trucking, processing, packaging, advertising, marketing, taxes etc.

However, our gambler farmer will keep on feeding us well, even though the odds are sometimes stacked against him. He’s done it since the Native Americanstaught him to use fish for fertilizer. He’ll keep on doing it because he wants to be his own boss, work outdoors, live further than 50 feet from his neighbors, and grow a crop in spite of all the problems that come along.

He will keep on being a laborer, accountant, mathematician, agronomist, business manager and livestock expert, even though his return on investment is one of the lowest in any industry.

The American Farmer. Best food producing machine ever invented.

Did you know this?

Famous FFA alumni include Jimmy Carter, America’s 39th president; country music singers Tim McGraw, Easton Corbin; also, Taylor Swift, Brantley Gilbert; athletes Bo Jackson and Jordy Nelson; and Daytona 500 winner Sterling Martin.

Paul Wallem was raised on an Illinois dairy farm. He spent 13 years with corporate 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 & INDUSTRY FIRSTS of IH. See all his books on www.PaulWallem.com. Email comments to pwallem@aol.com.