Washington Hated These Farmers Then the Blizzard Hit

When the 1979 Tractorcade reached Washington, D.C., the city tried to fence them in. Then, the snow began to fall. In February 1979, the American Agriculture Movement organized a convoy that stretched for miles, demanding fair prices for their crops. These farmer protests were not just about politics; they were about the survival of the family farm. Thousands of men and women drove their heavy machinery to the Capitol, only to be met with steel barricades and a cold shoulder from Congress. Two weeks later, the Presidents' Day blizzard buried the capital in nearly two feet of snow. As the city ground to a halt, those tractors became the only machines capable of cutting through the drifts to help essential workers reach their posts. One farmer, Don Kimbrell, made the journey on a 1956 John Deere G he bought for just five hundred dollars. When the world stopped, those machines kept moving. Did someone in your family farm through the late seventies? Tell us about it in the comments. 0:00 The City That Stood Still 1:26 From Diner Complaints to a Movement 3:38 The Long Journey on a John Deere 5:43 Tractor Town on the National Mall 7:20 The Storm That Changed Everything #Tractorcade #FarmHistory #JohnDeere