Tractorcade

 

October 19, 2021

Tractorcade: In 1978 and 1978, farmers from Kansas joined the American Agriculture Movement which consisted of small American farmers which began in 1977 in Colorado. The movement began as an attempt to strike in which farmers would no longer buy or sell to raise crop prices by the Federal Government. Farmers wanted to heard. 

 

As the movement grew, farmers would travel from various regions of the U.S. to join the protest. In January of 1979, nearly 3,000 farmers drove their tractors to Washington D.C. until the Carter Administration agreed that the Farmers Home Administration would stop the foreclosures of farms. Tractor convoys headed to the Nation's capital in protest. 

 

Learn how some viewed the farmers as the agitators, and others viewed them as heroes. Visit the Santa Fe Trail Center to see the temporary "Tractorcade" display to learn the rest of the history. This display will only be onsite until Friday, October 22. 

 

Thank you to Joan Weaver of the Kinsley Public Library for her informative research and for creating this exhibit.