1979 tractor cade

[from H to 80]

I was reading the newest Farm Journal and they had a big write up about this. I was 15 and can remember mom and dad taking us to watch it pass through. There were a couple of John Deere 4 wheel drives in the front with duals and blades,i think it was December when they went through.My dad made the comment that if they" could afford to wear out 8 tractor tires that they must not be too broke"

Anybody on here participate in this or remember it going through ?

[766 Man]

  I remember it making the evening news then and you along with me are close in age.  Supposedly, a couple of farmers from this area drove their tractors down but most were indifferent towards it.  I suppose that each person's situation was different but if you could not make it during the 1970's I don't know when a farmer could have made it.  FHA (FSA) and Farm Credit gave money to anybody with a pulse then.  A far cry from the 1980's when it was a bad thing if your banker wanted to see you.  I can still remember being at college for the worst of it and guys coming back to school from home dragging their chin about things.  Around here there were very few tractors sold on credit from FHA or Farm Credit.  Everybody knocks John Deere but I signed for a new 347 wire baler in 1983 that I could have not gotten the money otherwise for it.   

[Delta Dirt]

3 hours ago, from H to 80 said:

".........My dad made the comment that if they could afford to wear out 8 tractor tires that they must not be too broke"

Anybody on here participate in this or remember it going through ?"

 

None of my tractors were in good enuff shape to make it to D.C.!!!!😏

Somewheŕe I knew a couple of the boys from Louisiana  that were active in organizing the "tractor cade".  Seems  like ------ I held a "B-B-Q" cookout in my farm shop for them.  We had a nice crowd------even if we were all broke. Later received a sponsor plaque from them as thanks.  Still  have it in the office--‐----need to take a picture.

Didn't accomplish much-‐----but thanks for the effort Troops👍

 

DD

[Big Bud guy]

6 hours ago, from H to 80 said:

I was reading the newest Farm Journal and they had a big write up about this. I was 15 and can remember mom and dad taking us to watch it pass through. There were a couple of John Deere 4 wheel drives in the front with duals and blades,i think it was December when they went through.My dad made the comment that if they" could afford to wear out 8 tractor tires that they must not be too broke"

 

We bought a brand new Versatile 950 in 1979 so ya your father was spot on.  

[acem]

I remember watching it go buy. I don't remember exactly when but it was cold. I remember seeing open tractors with windbreaker and the drivers bundled up.

They drove up I40 which was against the law.

I was 12 in the winter of 79.

They were correct in their concerns. The ag economy fell apart just after.

Thx-Ace 

[oldtanker]

7 hours ago, from H to 80 said:

I was reading the newest Farm Journal and they had a big write up about this. I was 15 and can remember mom and dad taking us to watch it pass through. There were a couple of John Deere 4 wheel drives in the front with duals and blades,i think it was December when they went through.My dad made the comment that if they" could afford to wear out 8 tractor tires that they must not be too broke"

Anybody on here participate in this or remember it going through ?

Yea I was home on leave in route to Korea. My dad had about the same thoughts as your dad. Said if they could afford tractors, the tire wear and the fuel they were not hurting. I remember one news cast where a reporter had done his homework. As each tractor past he called out the brand, model and value. All the while the rest of the country was trying to make it during a recession. And when the people are hurting you can forget them being generous driving a tractor that cost more than a house.

 

And all that over crap the government did. The grain embargo, demanding minimum wage for farm hands so they could pay their fair share in taxes and  cutting subsidies all over just a few years.

 

Rick

[Dirt_Floor_Poor]

I imagine it was more about people banging the pots and pans trying to get people to listen about the coming crisis. They were obviously right since the 80’s claimed almost every single farm equipment company except John Deere and saw 1000’s of farm go bankrupt. It’s not much different now, I share concerns with someone and they don’t care because they think farmers are “rich”. My dad said that he went to some kind of farm strike meeting where they wanted farmers to agree to cut production by 20% or something. He said he was up to his eyeballs in ͏͏͏debt already and cutting back would have meant folding up for sure. 

[ray54]

Terrible being old and forgetful, planted 300 or 400 acres that year. Prices where going up. Oh I remember now it Peanut Jimmy time. The Russians invaded Afghanistan, we had been selling Russia or the USSR  lots of wheat. Jimmy cut them off. Other than crashing grain prices here did about as much as current sanctions are doing to make changes we can see here.

 

I drove combine from first week of June until early Sept for BTO in oats and barley. Put 100 highway miles on those Gleaner MH and MH2 hillside machines and 200 on back roads. He pre sold 1000 ton of barley at 90 a ton, broker put trucks in the field. By the end of June they where paying a 100 to 110 a ton. He could get upset about that.  Ah the good old days I got $50 a day 8 to 8 😉 but I had very good air conditioning. Still a lot of combines without here at that time. 

[SDman]

The last I knew there is still an IH 1486 tractor in the Smithsonian in Washington that is used as an exhibit for the 1979 tractorcade. IIRC, the American Ag Movement donated it in the 1980s a few years after the whole deal. 

There was a local around here(now deceased) who had a picture taken of him driving his tractor into one of the lakes in Washington that is a tourist trap....can't remember the name of the lake. 

One of my neighbors at the farm I grew up on was involved in AAM at that time as well. He was a foot soldier in Vietnam, earned a purple heart over there....lets just say he was a little rough around the edges at that time. Now, him and his son do some business with us at the dealership I work for now. Time has smoothed out the rough edges over time...he's actually a pretty good guy to visit with now.

[Big Bud guy]

1 hour ago, Dirt_Floor_Poor said:

I imagine it was more about people banging the pots and pans trying to get people to listen about the coming crisis. They were obviously right since the 80’s claimed almost every single farm equipment company except John Deere and saw 1000’s of farm go bankrupt. It’s not much different now, I share concerns with someone and they don’t care because they think farmers are “rich”. My dad said that he went to some kind of farm strike meeting where they wanted farmers to agree to cut production by 20% or something. He said he was up to his eyeballs in ͏͏͏debt already and cutting back would have meant folding up for sure. 

Not to make light of the 80s but the farms that went bankrupt around here was their own fault.  And what I mean by that is they would have went broke anyway when times were good.  The corn planter used came from a neighbor farm that went bankrupt.  He bought it to plant various crops to make bird seed with.  Thats fine if you are playing around on 10 acres but he was seeding up to 1,000 acres.  Acres that should have been used for cash crops to generate income.  His sunflowers and whatever he seeded just sat in the shed until it was rotten.  That was one of 100 reasons he lost the farm.  What hurt us in the 80s was drought.  My dealer I mentioned in the other thread double their sales in 1980 and 81.  What killed the dealers around here beside drought was CRP.  

[Dirt_Floor_Poor]

23 minutes ago, Big Bud guy said:

Not to make light of the 80s but the farms that went bankrupt around here was their own fault.  And what I mean by that is they would have went broke anyway when times were good.  The corn planter used came from a neighbor farm that went bankrupt.  He bought it to plant various crops to make bird seed with.  Thats fine if you are playing around on 10 acres but he was seeding up to 1,000 acres.  Acres that should have been used for cash crops to generate income.  His sunflowers and whatever he seeded just sat in the shed until it was rotten.  That was one of 100 reasons he lost the farm.  What hurt us in the 80s was drought.  My dealer I mentioned in the other thread double their sales in 1980 and 81.  What killed the dealers around here beside drought was CRP.  

I would tend to agree that most of the good operators made it through the 80’s. There were terrible droughts here as well. 1980 and 1983 were terribly dry years. There were many people who got out of farming because they just didn’t want to fight it anymore. They maybe could have held on, but they gave up rather than borrow more money at very high interest. The farms that had the most trouble were the ones that had expanded a lot in the late 70’s. There were several large operations that were throwing money around in the late 70’s that were gone by 1986. My dad made it through, although he told me there were times that he thought he might not. He was like a lot of people, his farm wasn’t worth what he owed on it. There were some heartbreaking stories from that period in time, although nothing like what my grandfather told of the 1930’s. 

[Big Bud guy]

36 minutes ago, Dirt_Floor_Poor said:

There were many people who got out of farming because they just didn’t want to fight it anymore. They maybe could have held on, but they gave up rather than borrow more money at very high interest. 

Thats what pretty much happened around here except instead of selling out, they just put their whole farm into CRP.  There was one local who was able to get his whole farm in.  When the first check came, he actually stood out in front of the post office right there on Main Street bragging and waving the check showing it to anybody who walked by.  And it was a $50,000.  I think somebody eventually told him he would have give good portion of it back since he didn't have any expenses to write off anymore.  Of that era we made two major land purchases in 1967 and in 1983.  There was a few years after 83 were dad had to dip into his live savings to make the payment.  

Far as the 1930s go, from what I have read in the local publications and what I have been told, figuratively speaking we didn't know there was a depression.  Great grandpa who started the homestead never borrowed a cent during his life.  Didn't own the banks or anybody anything and just lived off the land.  More homesteads went under in the 1918-1921 period "here" then the Great Depression.  Our county lost around 1/3 of its population during that time and the only thing that saved the area was the discovery of oil in 1922.  

[766 Man]

8 hours ago, Big Bud guy said:

Thats what pretty much happened around here except instead of selling out, they just put their whole farm into CRP.  There was one local who was able to get his whole farm in.  When the first check came, he actually stood out in front of the post office right there on Main Street bragging and waving the check showing it to anybody who walked by.  And it was a $50,000.  I think somebody eventually told him he would have give good portion of it back since he didn't have any expenses to write off anymore.  Of that era we made two major land purchases in 1967 and in 1983.  There was a few years after 83 were dad had to dip into his live savings to make the payment.  

Far as the 1930s go, from what I have read in the local publications and what I have been told, figuratively speaking we didn't know there was a depression.  Great grandpa who started the homestead never borrowed a cent during his life.  Didn't own the banks or anybody anything and just lived off the land.  More homesteads went under in the 1918-1921 period "here" then the Great Depression.  Our county lost around 1/3 of its population during that time and the only thing that saved the area was the discovery of oil in 1922.  

  Late during WWI wheat was in tremendous demand because European countries such as France and Belgium had minimal plantings due to the war.  If a farmer could get a plow through it a field was seeded to wheat.  Farmers bought land at 3-5 times the value of just a few years prior to WWI.  1920 comes and Europe pretty much was producing its own grain again and wheat produced here piled up.  Worse for you guys as here in the east most farms were still heavily weighted towards livestock production and vegetables so not so many were heavy into wheat.  Interesting nonetheless as when I went to college it was mentioned in my soils class that a lot of ground got tore up in that area that was very steep and shallow.  Made me think about that terrain and how they could have got a horse on those hills to plow or pull a grain drill.  A lot of that land started out as lumber production then later pasture or hay for small dairies.  During the early 1970's a hurricane stalled out there with some of the ground recently planted to corn.  The soil loss was tremendous in some localities.  A lot of it washed down the Genesee River into the gorge behind the dam at Mt Morris.

  Both pairs of grandparents were for the most part unaffected by the Great Depression and locally there were very few farms lost.  My uncle who liked to complain about just everything said that a meal was never missed and he never had to settle for reduced portions.

[766 Man]

8 hours ago, Dirt_Floor_Poor said:

I would tend to agree that most of the good operators made it through the 80’s. There were terrible droughts here as well. 1980 and 1983 were terribly dry years. There were many people who got out of farming because they just didn’t want to fight it anymore. They maybe could have held on, but they gave up rather than borrow more money at very high interest. The farms that had the most trouble were the ones that had expanded a lot in the late 70’s. There were several large operations that were throwing money around in the late 70’s that were gone by 1986. My dad made it through, although he told me there were times that he thought he might not. He was like a lot of people, his farm wasn’t worth what he owed on it. There were some heartbreaking stories from that period in time, although nothing like what my grandfather told of the 1930’s. 

  A few good operators here did not make it through the 1980's as the lenders put the clamps on loans in general.  It was the guys who did not borrow typically so they did not have a credit record when they needed to upgrade facilities for a dairy.  Yes, guys who expanded by leaps and bounds during the 1970's had problems during the 1980's and a fair number were forced out but not as bad as the Midwest.  Things were pretty bad for my parents but we kept on pushing and made it through.

[iowaboy1965]

There was a movement or line of thinking if you will throughout the 70s pushing expansion and leverage via borrowed money.  In other words borrow and buy or expand today and inflation ( which remember was fairly high in the early to mid 70s) would surpass your borrowed money and your new inflated net worth would balance things out. 

Hey the feds been doing it with our nat budget for years. Unfortunately the Carter grain embargoes and lowered inflation and high interest rates didn't work out like that line of thinking preached. 

And yes I agree those who participated in the tractorcade may have been able to afford going weren't in trouble YET but they foresaw what ended up unfolding. I think the indifference or at best mixed feelings was common amongst many at the time.

[Big Bud guy]

3 hours ago, 766 Man said:

  Late during WWI wheat was in tremendous demand because European countries such as France and Belgium had minimal plantings due to the war.  If a farmer could get a plow through it a field was seeded to wheat.  Farmers bought land at 3-5 times the value of just a few years prior to WWI.  1920 comes and Europe pretty much was producing its own grain again and wheat produced here piled up.  Worse for you guys as here in the east most farms were still heavily weighted towards livestock production and vegetables so not so many were heavy into wheat.  Interesting nonetheless as when I went to college it was mentioned in my soils class that a lot of ground got tore up in that area that was very steep and shallow.  Made me think about that terrain and how they could have got a horse on those hills to plow or pull a grain drill.  A lot of that land started out as lumber production then later pasture or hay for small dairies.  During the early 1970's a hurricane stalled out there with some of the ground recently planted to corn.  The soil loss was tremendous in some localities.  A lot of it washed down the Genesee River into the gorge behind the dam at Mt Morris.

  Both pairs of grandparents were for the most part unaffected by the Great Depression and locally there were very few farms lost.  My uncle who liked to complain about just everything said that a meal was never missed and he never had to settle for reduced portions.

What happened here was most of the homesteaders came in the 1907-1912 years.  Great grandpa started ours in 1910.  Starting around 1915 this area got wet and nice crops were harvested which coincided with WW I and the high prices.  So everybody thought this was the holy land.  Then 1918 came and it was so dry you didn’t even get your seed back and all the BTO ranches had to ship hay in by rail from back east to have some winter feed.  1919 and 1920 weren’t much better and combine that with the slump is grain prices, people left in droves.  This area is semi arid climate 12-14” ave precip so even in a good year it was a fine line to make it on 320 acres to by yourself  

Before the homesteaders came this are was mostly run by huge BTO ranches that ran sheep and cattle free range all over Montana.  These ranchers had lots of hired hands and when the land was getting divided up, they encouraged their hired hands to take up homesteads and hope they would fail so they the ranch could gobble up these homesteads for nothing.  My great grandpa was one of them hired hands.  Just to give you an idea how hard it was to make a living here, he had to work 7 years off his homestead for the BTO before he was self sufficient.  He herded sheep and was part of the threshing crew.  When it came time after 5 years to go to town and fill out the paper work with a witness in attendance to finalize the claim on the homestead he wouldn’t do it because he didn’t want to lose his job.  Needed the money.  Finally did go in after 7 years and the government still gave it to him even though the Homestead Act only allowed 3-5 years.  That was just one guy trying to make a living on 320 acres.  We all know how cheap we could live by ourselves especially in tough times.  The homesteader that brought a wife and kids, those guys failed first when the tough times hit on the late 1910s.  Great grandpa didn’t get married until 1921.  

[oleman]

Land that only supports goats and sheep takes alot of acres to support a family above dire poverty!

UNLESS I am living on a Government Program.

  One of my relatives, the only lifetime farmer I know, once told me, "when I was a boy we only had 2 mules to farm this place, today we have 2 tractors to grow the same stuff." He was in both WW2 and the Korean events, only time he ever left the farm.   He was the oldest kid in a family of 4 children and the only boy.  Same age as my Mother.

[acem]

Dad bought our place in the 50s but it was settled in the early 1800s.

I farm along the river but most ground is Prarie ground or hill/mountain ground.

The river bottoms were originally covered in timber, cane thickets or swamps. It was cleared, mostly, and  various crops have been grown since. We are subject to flooding and drought but the alluvial soils are deep and naturally fertile. Cotton was king until the last gin went out in the late 80s. Round that time the poultry business took off and corn is king now. My crop ground is mostly too wet for corn. The government opened up rice allotments in the 70s and dad got into rice. It's unusual for my area but a good fit for my place.

The Prarie and mountain ground was cleared for cotton where feasible. It was farmed until it played out. Then cattle and forestry took over. Now poultry is huge as well. There are a few dairies still.

The depression was horrible round here. Most people lost everything and moved to California as migrate workers on fruit and vegetable farms.

1980 was a terrible drought, intrest rates were terrible and prices were bad. The rest of the early 80s were bad for farming here. we lost 2/3 of the bottomland farmers. Almost all the farmers quit farming the Prarie ground during the 80s, mostly due to the numerous droughts. I think no till and cover crops could have saved many of the Prarie farms but it wasn't around yet. Dad barely made it.

My farm was likely cleared and farmed by slaves before the Civil War.

 

[ray54]

Putting a little meat on the bones of old stories. Always told areas under 12-15 inches average rain where just getting by until tractors as you needed many acres for feeding horse or mules. So more acres of sellable crop with tractor.

 

Also told more Arkansas people than Oklahoma's came to California in the 30's . But all where referred to as Oke's. 

[Big Bud guy]

19 hours ago, oleman said:

Land that only supports goats and sheep takes alot of acres to support a family above dire poverty!

Grandpa and grandma on my mother’s side raised 4 kids on 200 head of sheep on a 900 acre ranch.  They didn’t live in poverty or near it.  They had a house but no central heat.  Had to have a heater in each room.  Life for her wasn’t as good as dads far as convenience/luxuries go but in some ways it was better.  The ranch was at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains with a creek running through the ranch with fish.  She would ride her horse right up into the mountains on a nice day.  She and my aunt/uncles could literally go camping everyday if they wanted to.

[Big Bud guy]

22 hours ago, ray54 said:

Putting a little meat on the bones of old stories. Always told areas under 12-15 inches average rain where just getting by until tractors as you needed many acres for feeding horse or mules. So more acres of sellable crop with tractor.

 

Also told more Arkansas people than Oklahoma's came to California in the 30's . But all where referred to as Oke's. 

Our homestead was actually 340 acres.  Great grandpa laid it out with 100 in pasture/farmstead and the rest crop land.  He didn’t get his first tractor until around 1927.  By that time he had acquired more land but I’m not sure how much at that moment.  He ended up buying 960 more acres to go with the homestead by WW II.  He had a 25 head cow herd the last half of his career and I’d like to think he couldn’t have too many cows until the oat burners left.  

[Lazy WP]

I was 19 in March of 83. Dad broke his back and was in the hospital from March to, 1983 until September 15. I am the oldest of 4 kids and was attending the University of Nebraska. Should have dropped out the day he got hurt. 
Anyway, we had 200 head of registered Pinzgauer cattle as well as 200 commercial cows, farmed 400 acres of irrigated corn. 
Went to the bank and borrowed $150,000 to operate on at 21% interest. 
If I would have sold the cows the week he broke his back, I could have got $1200/cow. Sold them in 85, and got 300. 
Don’t tell me that poor operating is what caused the farmers to go under. My banker was positive that I needed twice what I borrowed to operate on. 
That bank is gone. Dad was able to hold to his land until he sold it to my brother. 
I ended up with bleeding ulcers and a fear of borrowing money that lasted until I bought my truck. 

[gafarm49]

I struggled through the 80s and barely made it. I had a close friend, great farmers, came up short and farm credit refinanced them. They met all obligations the next year and farm credit cut them off. They sold almost all their land and quit

[Lazy WP]

The 80’s were not fun for ag individuals. I just wish we would learn from it, but I am afraid that we are headed in the same direction. 
You can leave politics out of it, it is just a cycle that we all have to experience, I guess. 

[Big Bud guy]

15 minutes ago, Lazy WP said:

The 80’s were not fun for ag individuals. I just wish we would learn from it, but I am afraid that we are headed in the same direction. 
You can leave politics out of it, it is just a cycle that we all have to experience, I guess. 

It wasn’t kind for guys that had to get operating loans from what I saw around here.  We were fortunate as the only debt we had was land and a JD 4640 we financed.  My part of the world farming was cheap as in the inputs were pretty low.