If you participated in 4-H tractor driving growing up, you may wonder if it’s still around. The answer is a resounding yes, notes Tony Carrell, Indiana Extension 4-H specialist. He coordinates the state contest in the tractor project.

“I can assure you that participation at the state level [in this project] hasn’t diminished,” Carrell says. “4-H members must qualify through Extension area competitions to get to the state contest, held at the Indiana State Fair. There are six divisions, and each area can send three members per division. That gives us up to 180 participants each year.”

The coliseum is filled with participants on the floor, while parents and supporters watch from the stands. In 2019, Kelsey Kohlhagen, Rensselaer, took home top honors in the senior competition. Contestants drive through a timed course, navigating a tractor and wagon in the senior division, or a tractor and two-wheel trailer in the junior division, between poles with only a few inches of clearance on each side. It’s a figure-eight course, with penalties assessed for going out of bounds, hitting or brushing stakes, skidding tires, or not following safety rules.

4-H’ER AT WORK: Kelsey Kohlhagen puts the tractor and wagon through its paces inside the coliseum at the Indiana State Fair during the 4-H tractor driving finals.

And that’s only the part you see as you watch! Ryan Kohlhagen, Kelsey’s dad, helps with the 4-H tractor project at the local level. He notes that contestants must also take a 25-question test and identify either tractor or lawn and garden tractor parts from pictures.

Yes, the contest has been around for a long time, but it’s adapted as times change. Besides the tractor driving divisions for juniors and seniors, there are also lawn and garden tractor divisions and zero-turn-radius mower divisions for both junior and senior members.

Winners in the various divisions in 2019 at Indiana’s state competition were:

Tractor. Kelsey Kohlhagen, Jasper County, senior; Noah Hazelbaker, Wayne County, junior

Lawn and garden. Mark Smith, Fulton County, senior; Nicholas Beckner, Adams County, junior

Zero-turn-radius mower. Braden Geis, Decatur County, senior; Hayden Hinds, Benton County, junior

Carrell notes that the project is offered through Extension to 4-H members in each county. There’s also an option that allows members to complete a poster about some aspect of tractor safety or tractor operation.

Get involved

While state competition is keen and fills the coliseum each year, not all counties have organized tractor clubs with designated project leaders. Ryan Kohlhagen urges more 4-H’ers to consider signing up for the project, and more adults to consider volunteering to be a project leader or assistant. He sees value in the project.

Kelsey is one of Ryan and Amy Kohlhagen’s four girls; the others are Katlyn, Kristy and Kendra. They’re all part of a family farming operation in Jasper County. Ryan’s parents, Richard and Carol Kohlhagen, were named Indiana Master Farmers in 2015.

If you have a 4-H’er, Ryan suggests encouraging them to consider participating in the tractor project and attempting the driving contest in one of the divisions. It was a good way to learn skills decades ago, and it still is today.  

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