Model tractor this year is Minneapolis Moline

DRAYTON – A model tractor is selected every year as part of the Drayton Farm Show, in an effort from the Drayton Kinsmen to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis Canada and other initiatives supported by the Kinsmen.

This year, the chosen tractor is the Minneapolis Moline U, a line of tractors from the 1950s and 60s that Kinsman Jon Johnson said were once considered “some of the strongest tractors around.”

He said the toy is “a 1/16 model, so collector’s edition, not much of a play toy – to go on a shelf.

“It’s a really good replica of the Minneapolis Moline,” he added.

The Kinsmen have offered a different scale-model toy tractor since the farm show’s early years in 1987. Johnson chose the Minneapolis Moline as this year’s model tractor because it’s one he’s yearned for since childhood.

The models will be available to purchase during the show on April 9 and 10, and are also available through the Drayton Kinsmen’s Facebook page.

There are 40 tractors for this year’s show, selling at $130 each. Johnson said there were only 16 remaining as of March 28.

He said proceeds from the toys sale go towards Kinsmen’s efforts “to support anything we can that is to the betterment of ... Mapleton here.”