03/31/06 Tractors on the Move

Tractors on the move. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. Just this morning I received a press release from the Massey-Ferguson company touting their new line of compact tractors and that got me thinking about the venerable tractor. The tractor has a certain mystique attached to it that many "city" kids will never know about. As a kid growing up in Kansas, I was fascinated with tractors. The grain elevator just down the street even sold a few so I would manage to sneak away and play on them. I even managed to get one started once and scared the devil out of my mother. As a teenager, I spent many summers with my backside firmly attached to an old Case tractor running a spring tooth round and round the fields. The hours that I spent on that tractor eating diesel exhaust will not soon be forgotten. But at the same time there was this feeling of power attached to that experience. Knowing that I was doing something with a long history attached to it. Tractors have been around since the late 1800's and many names have come and gone. But I have to ask myself where we would be without the aid of that iron horse? Still urging on a team of mules or that plow horse? Would we ever get around to tilling more than a few acres? Fortunately we have this great machine available to us and while today's tractors bear little resemblance to their forerunners, they do basically the same thing. They give us the ability to work more of the land in less time and therefore increase our output. Bottom line, we produce more and feed more people. Tractors come in all shapes and sizes from the massive 500 plus horse power varieties to the weekend warrior lawn tractor in your garage. Red ones, blue ones, yellow, orange and of course the green ones. Where would we be without the tractor? It has been many years since I've been on a tractor, so as you are climbing up into the seat of your air-conditioned, gps outfitted, rolling easy chair, take a moment and remember the view from behind the plow horse. Then give that trusty steed a slap for me and we'll see you back at the barn. (Kenny Chesney's "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy) That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.