Once a year, Sublette, Ill., swells from a population of 500 to more than 1,000 visitors who come to the Sublette Toy Show; this year, Massey Harris was the featured tractor and toy brand at the 28th annual event.

The night before, at the annual banquet, Orion Samuelson – “The Voice of America” – was the featured speaker. The WGN broadcaster and star of RFD TV hails from Ontario, Wis.

“I’ve said for years that people who restore antique tractors are the craziest people I know, and following are those that spend thousands on toys,” he said. “Max Armstrong (his broadcast partner) kept telling me I need to find my father’s tractor. Max called my sister and they found what was left of the F20 from when I grew up.

“Max got a friend with a truck to get the tractor and hauled it down to Illinois for the Heritage Tractor Drive. I asked Max, ‘What are you going to do with it?’ He said he was going to auction it off for Ag in the Classroom. I thought we would get $50 for it, and it sold for $6,700.”

Samuelson said he is often asked about the biggest change that has occurred in farming over the years. “I tell them April 11, 1948, Rural Electric Co-op turned on the lights at the Samuelson dairy farm. I was 14. That day, life changed.

“We no longer had to put perishables down a 40-foot cistern and could put them in the refrigerator. We no longer had to worry about the windmill pumping enough water. Seventy-five years ago in May, Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the (Rural Electrification Bill).
“Kids today would say that the computer was the biggest change,” Orion continued, “but we need electricity for computers.”

Many in the crowd were surprised when Samuelson shifted gears and said the biggest challenge in agriculture today is the Humane Society of the United States: “Their goal is to eliminate animal ag in the U.S.”

He said bills like Proposition 2 will shut down the poultry industry in California. This proposition will become law on Jan. 1, 2015. The bill prohibits the confinement of certain farm animals in a manner that does not allow them to turn around freely, lie down, stand up and fully extend their limbs.

Samuelson encouraged those in the livestock industry to “follow the rules and for those of you not involved, if you hear them picking on ag, don’t stand back. As Will Rogers said, ‘We’re not making any more land.’ If we are going to feed a growing world population, we need to tell our story.”

Those in the Land of Lincoln were excited to hear Samuelson sing the praises of Abe Lincoln, who he said “was the best friend a farmer ever had in the White House.” He was referring to the Homestead Act, establishment of land grant colleges and the USDA, “all of which are still alive and working today.”

Although he addressed several other issues, before closing, Samuelson turned his attention to youth. “You can’t dream big enough,” he shared. “Dream big and when you accomplish it, dream even bigger.”

Those at the banquet may have fulfilled one dream: Seeing this renowned orator speak.

Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication.