Many years ago, I lived near the Kansas State Fairgrounds in Hutchinson. I largely avoided the event that drew hundreds of thousands to the prairie city.
One year, I did make my way to the tractor pull, an event that drew thousands of fans.
The one moment that stands out is someone shouting Go, Oliver!
We thought that was the name of the driver. It turned out that the spectator was cheering for the Oliver tractor, one of many companies that duked it in a crowded agricultural equipment industry.
Oliver was later acquired by White, a now-defunct maker of trucks and the brand was later dropped after White’s ag equipment business was acquired by AGCO, a multinational company that snapped up the remains of many tractor makers, including Canada’s Massey Ferguson (referred to by some Kansas farmers as Canadian SOBS).
This blast from the past brings me to the antique tractor pull that comes on the last night of the Delaware State Fair.
The tractor pull has been around for 29 years and attracts machinery and drivers from surrounding states.
The tractor pull also serves as a fundraiser for the Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee activities like convention attendance and scholarships for Delaware students.
My money is on Oliver, if any have survived – Doug Rainey, chief content officer.
