Tractor parade on USU’s campus celebrates agriculture

LOGAN – It’s not every day you see a parade of tractors on a university’s campus. However, it’s an annual occurrence at Utah State University. As the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences Week, formerly known as Ag Week, comes to a close, students of the college drove tractors from 800 E. and down Aggie Boulevard. Ten tractors were featured in the parade with a horse drawn wagon leading the way.

“We just want to showcase what agriculture is,” said Ag Council Marketing Vice President Mason Anderson. “A lot of the students now are from urban areas and so they’re not that familiar with agriculture. Our opportunity here is just to advocate for the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences and let people know what we do and how they benefit from us in their everyday lives from food, clothing, shelter—all of those essential needs for life.”

The tractor parade started as a memorial after the 2005 van rollover that killed eight CAAS students and one instructor, but Anderson said it is now just a way to celebrate the close of Ag Week.

“The conception of agriculture in most people’s minds today is the farmer with a straw hat with some chickens and a milk cow, but it’s really not that way,” said the student from Central Utah. “There’s a lot of new technology with seeds, with tractors, equipment. Just everything that is going into agriculture is getting very precise and scientific.” Anderson went on to explain how tractors have evolved and now use GPS systems to make straight rows.      

He added that for this year’s CAAS Week, they wanted to really focus on all the diverse departments within the college, ranging from Nutrition and Dietetics to Aviation.

Anderson also mentioned how important agriculture is to the history of USU, pointing out that the University was originally called Utah Agricultural College.

The last event of CAAS Week will be a benefit dance tonight. The dance starts at 9 pm in the TSC Ballroom. Admission is free but donations will be accepted. Anderson said all donations will go to a CAAS student who was in a car accident this summer.  

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