AgTexas Tractor Drive Kickoff Scheduled for August 16th

The 2013 AgTexas Farm Credit Tractor Drive will begin its 1,000-mile trek across Western and Central Texas on August 16th to raise awareness of food insecurity in rural Texas while supporting the fundraising efforts of FFA Chapters.

The Kick-Off Event will be held at the American Museum of Agriculture in Lubbock and representatives from AgTexas Farm Credit Services, Texas Food Bank Network, Sponsors and FFA Chapters will be in attendance.

Over 2,500 FFA Chapter Members have signed up to conduct fundraising and hold tractor appearance events across a 23 county area. All proceeds will go to the Texas Food Bank Network and will be allocated to support local food banks from where the Chapters reside. The FFA Chapter that raises the most funds, based on a per-member basis, will win the actual tractor after the Drive.

“Poverty and the lack of nutrition is not just an urban problem, it is also a problem of rural communities,” says AgTexas Board Chairman, James Ray Schronk. “Although the number of people living in poverty is lower in rural communities, there’s still one in eight rural Texas families living below the poverty line.”

AgTexas Farm Credit Services is the major underwriter for the program and additional sponsors have signed up to support operating costs for this extension effort. Sponsors include B.E. Implement, Bramlett Implement, Enterprise Car Rental, ARMtech, CoBank Farm Credit Leasing, United Supermarkets, Lubbock County Farm Bureau, Crosby County Farm Bureau, Plains Cotton Growers, Ag Workers, Hill County Farm Bureau, Monsanto, United Cooperative Services, South Plains Electric Cooperative, Comanche Electric Cooperative, Lyntegar Electric Cooperative, Essence Bottling, La Quinta Inn & Suites, Eastland County Farm Bureau, Erath County Farm Bureau, H&H Trailers, KRFE AM 580, Fox34/Lubbock, American Museum of Agriculture and AgCareers.com.
“As part of the agricultural community, we sometimes take food for granted,” says Mitchell Harris, AgTexas CEO. “I don’t know one AgTexas member who isn’t concerned about the nutritional needs of our fellow Texans. If we all pull together, we can accomplish so much in assisting the less fortunate.”

AgTexas members, 4-H and FFA Members, as well as other area farmers and ranchers are invited to join the tractor caravan as it enters their community. This will increase awareness of the program and demonstrate our commitment to fighting hunger.
FFA Chapter community events will include cookouts at local supermarket parking lots where the official drive tractor will be on display. In addition, many FFA Chapters are planning tractor appearances at school and sporting events or designing custom events such as a 5K Run to support the fundraising efforts.

The tractor crew will be documenting their daily travel on the Drive’s website as well as through the popular social media sites.
“It’s an ambitious project, but the need is worthy of our attention and community-service efforts,” Harris comments. “By pulling together, we’ll make this a great event.”

The Avant Marketing Group is managing this 12-week event. For more information about our market planning and implementation services, contact Mark Vogel at: vogelm@avantmarketing.com.