Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org
Surnames: Krultz, Reiff, Djubenski
----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 9/28/2022
Rural Event Keeps Farming in the Family (2022)
Ed Krultz plows his field while riding his 1962 Farmall 560 Diesel, accompanied by neighbor Paul Reiff. Krultz hosted Ole-Time Plow Day on his land northwest of Greenwood earlier this month. Valorie Brecht/Clark County Press
By Edward DuBois, Valorie Brecht
On a sunny fall Saturday, a field just a few miles outside of Greenwood saw the second year of Old-Time Plow Day, an event to showcase antique tractors and plows, help farmers tend each other’s fields and give a new generation of farmers experience plowing.
Ed Krultz hosted the event in his field Sept. 17. Friends and neighbors gathered to take turns plowing, chat with one another or simply watch the progress being made.
“Last year, we did one near Christie and we had so much fun we thought we’d do it again,” Krultz said.
Krultz’s field was chosen this year simply because it was ready.
“I normally don’t plow because I do minimum till or conservation tillage, but I decided to plow this time… I have 47 acres; we’ll probably do 30 or 35,” he added.
He plans to plant corn there next year. Krultz rotates his crop selection, growing soybeans, corn and wheat. He enjoys collecting antique tractors. He started collecting when he first bought his farm a year after returning from military service, his first tractor coming with it.
The Granton Antique Tractor Club participated in the event, and several of the attendees were members, though it was not a requirement for participation. While it began in Granton, the Granton Antique Tractor Club is not just for people who live in or near Granton. Attendees came all the way from Neillsville and Loyal, at least. Tom Djubenski, with his John Deere 720, lives in Greenwood and owns land in Willard, for instance.
The event also provided an opportunity for the younger generation to get involved.
James Reiff Jr.’s son Nathan checks his plow as he works Ed Krultz’s field. Edward DuBois/Clark County Press
James Reiff Jr. lives just down the road from Krultz on his own farm, which he farmed “since he was a kid.” All three of Reiff’s sons were at the event, the older two, Nathan and Paul, taking turns plowing on their own while the youngest, Cliton, rode with his dad.
James Reiff Jr. and his youngest son, Cliton, ride his 4320 John Deere, that James bought from his father,
to plow Ed Krultz’s field. Edward DuBois/Clark County Press
“A lot of these kids have seen a plow before, but never actually pulled a plow, so now they have the chance to do that,” said Joe Pekovsek, Granton Antique Tractor Club president.
Krultz pondered making the event annual. When asked about the value of holding such an event, he agreed that instead of “Why?” the better question was “Why not?”. After all, people hold exhibitions for old cars, so why not tractors, too?
“It’s just for the fun of it,” said Krultz, smiling.
After the field was tended, the Granton Antique Tractor Club held a meeting at Krultz’s home, where lunch was served.
Some tractors gathered by the entrance or working the field were built as early as the late 1940s.
Petkovsek invited people to join the Granton Antique Tractor Club for a tractor ride starting at the BP in Granton on Oct. 1 at 10 a.m. For additional information, call 715-797-1112.
For more photos from Old-Time Plow Day, check out the rest of this week’s paper.
