Tractor restoration has deep roots in farm country

TULARE, Calif. – At this year’s annual World Ag Expo, there was a star exhibit: a young man and an old tractor. Ryan Haas, 19, of Devine, Texas, a two-time national grand champion at the Delo Tractor Restoration Competition, is at the top of a hotly contested field largely unknown to urbanites. But in rural places that aren’t color-coded blue versus red, but rather green versus orange – as in big green John Deere tractors, or smaller, sunny-colored Cases – tractor restoration is an obsession. Youth participation in restoration competitions is growing especially fast in struggling agricultural areas. It’s deep-rooted in drought-plagued Texas and gaining momentum in California’s Central Valley, where the dairy industry has been pummeled by high feed prices and low milk prices. More than just a symbol of hanging on to a slipping heritage, the competition requires the skills needed in modern agriculture jobs: engineering, budgeting, marketing and social media. There is also the allure of big cash prizes at fairs and stock shows and the chance to make a profit selling a vehicle to a wealthy collector. Haas’ restored beauty, a 1970 Case tractor – its vintage “Desert Sunset” and “Flambeau Red” paint gleaming in the Central Valley sun – took two years of long nights and $12,000 to rebuild and restore. His earliest memories are of being in a tractor.