KINDRED, N.D. -- Green and yellow. For many, these colors trigger thoughts of the Green Bay Packers, but for the Richard family they bring back memories of John Deere tractors.
George Richard's life on the farm has turned into a love for John Deere tractors. His experience in using the tractors that were once used by his father and grandfather has grown into continuous use of old tractors on the farm and a collection of tractors he will have for years to come.
In 1890, Alex Richard, his great-grandfather, purchased four farmsteads near Kindred. The farms have been in the family since. George now maintains and works one of the farms. He grows wheat, soybeans and sugar beets.
The Richard family has used John Deere tractors for 65 years. The first John Deere tractor was purchased by Emio Richard, George's grandfather, in 1937. It was an AR John Deere. A few years later Emio purchased a B John Deere 1941 long-hood. Ever since, John Deeres have been a family tradition.
George Richard was born in 1942. He grew up on the farm. He attended high school at St. Benedict School. On Nov. 19, 1966, he married Sharon Trottier who lived half a mile away while growing up. They lived on the farm until a couple of years ago when they moved to Fargo.
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The couple has five children: Tim, Matt, Mark, James and Sara. At this time, none of their children plans to take over the farm, but if one of them does, the farm and the tractors will go to them.
George stores the John Deeres on his farm near Kindred. He uses them often and also allows friends and family to use the tractors if they need them.
Even though the farm equipment industry has made revolutionary changes, George still employs the use of many of the old John Deere tractors. One of the tractors he still uses is a 1958 5-30 that was purchased in the 1960s.
"The 5-30 is my favorite tractor because I put a lot of hours into it," George said. His collection of farm tractors began when his children gave him a toy replica of a 40-20 John Deere as a gift. "I had a tractor like that from Dad," recalls George. He has since begun collecting his favorite series, the 30-series. He prefers the 30-series because his dad used them when he was farming. He likes the 5-30 best because it was the last two-cylinder tractor produced. After the 5-30 was made John Deere began producing four and six-cylinder tractors.
The last tractor he purchased was a 4-30 he found in Michigan. It was produced by John Deere in 1959. He only has two tractors left to collect: the 6-30 and the 8-30. Those models will complete his collection of 30-series tractors except the 5-30. George doesn't think that he will be able to find a 5-30 model because it is very rare.
The farm near Kindred has been in the Richard family for 112 years and will probably always be.
"The old tractors are a big part of the family," said daughter Sara. "There is only John Deere parking on the farm."
Brendel is a communication student at North Dakota State University; she wrote this story for a journalism class.
