Murphy, Donald R

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Masthead Logo The Palimpsest
Volume 37 | Number 9 Article 5
9-1-1956
Wallaces' Farmer
Donald R. Murphy
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Murphy, Donald R. "Wallaces' Farmer." The Palimpsest 37 (1956), 470-474.
Available at: https://ir.uiowa.edu/palimpsest/vol37/iss9/5
State and Interstate Matches
State and interstate plowing matches, forerun­
ners of the present National Plowing Matches, 
were started in Iowa in 1939. Herb Plambeck, 
Farm Director for Radio Station WHO and 
WHO-TV for the past twenty years, has been 
generally credited with originating both statewide 
and nationwide matches. A former Scott County 
4-H Club leader and assistant county agent, 
Plambeck had been closely associated with state 
and national husking contests for a number of 
years and had helped develop Ralph Keppy and 
several other top husking champions. As farm 
editor for the Davenport Democrat, Plambeck 
helped conduct the 1935 Iowa husking meet on 
the Grover Hahn farm near Davenport. Later he 
accompanied the Iowa winner, Elmer Carlson of 
Audubon, to Indiana, where the Iowan won the 
national title. In 1937 Herb Plambeck, then 
WHO Farm Director, was one of three broadcas­
ters chosen to report the ear-by-ear account of the 
national husking match in Missouri.
From the start Herb Plambeck was impressed 
with state and national husking bees as a great 
competitive outdoor sport. By 1938, however, 
while broadcasting the national meet from a trac-
417
418 THE PALIM PSEST
tor in Missouri, he became convinced that agricul­
ture would soon be completely mechanized and 
that hand husking would become a lost art. Ac­
cording to Plambeck:
I had the fear that this would mean the end of all the 
color, drama, suspense and fun the National Husking 
Matches meant to contestants and participants alike. I 
hated to see this happen so I started thinking about other 
events that would enable farmers to continue having some­
thing of their own, where they would be “King For a 
Day," and where agriculture would be in the national 
spotlight.
The more Herb Plambeck thought about it the 
more the WHO Farm Director felt that whatever 
activity succeeded the husking bees, it ought to 
have practical value to agriculture. He finally hit 
on a plowing match as the answer because it 
would focus attention on better land use. Joe Ma- 
land, manager of WHO, was willing to lend a 
sympathetic ear, and Plambeck promptly pro­
posed that the winners of the Wick, Pilot Rock, 
and other local or county matches vie for the state 
title. Maland was quick to see the possibilities of 
such an event, and he gave it his hearty approval, 
along with the radio station’s blessing and sup­
port. A meeting was called of officials represent­
ing the state Department of Agriculture, Iowa 
State College, the Grange, the Farm Bureau, and 
similar organizations. All attending expressed en­
thusiasm for a state plowing match.
ST A T E  AN D  IN T E R ST A T E  M ATC H ES  419
Plambeck's proposal for a state plowing match 
was first mentioned publicly in the spring of 1939. 
Commercial clubs and other civic and farm groups 
in eight Iowa communities immediately responded 
with invitations. A committee inspected proposed 
sites and met with each of the interested groups. 
After all factors were considered, the Mitchellville 
community, where 400 farmers signed an invita­
tion, was named as the location for the first state 
match.
A farm owned by Mrs. Ida Patterson and op­
erated by F. A. Fraker was chosen for the site. 
The date for the event was set for September 23. 
Committees were named to handle parking, traffic, 
concessions, programs, housing, displays, and a 
dozen other activities. C. C. Glenn, now manager 
of the Iowa Agricultural Conservation and Stabi­
lization office, was named general chairman. It 
was decided to call the event the Corn Belt Plow­
ing Match.
Plans were made to have four classes of compe­
tition: an open class for men using two or three 
bottom plows used with tractors; a similar class 
where plows would be drawn by horses; a boys 
class; and an ‘‘old-timers” division. Station WHO 
offered $500 in prize money. Top Iowa agricul­
tural officials, headed by Secretary of Agriculture 
Mark Thornburg, were designated judges and 
officials. Information on the conduct of plowing 
matches went to all interested communities.
420 THE PALIM PSEST
Widespread interest quickly developed through­
out Iowa. Newspapers and radio stations carried 
announcements, as did Wallaces Farmer and 
Successful Farming. In addition to the Depart­
ment of Agriculture and Iowa State College, 
many other organizations cooperated, including 
the Iowa Horse and Mule Breeders, the Iowa Im­
plement Dealers Association, the Farm Bureau, 
Grange, Rural Youth, 4-H and others. A “Mas­
ter Plowman’s Banquet” was arranged, and pret­
ty Virginia Cross was named plowmen’s queen. 
Five other lovely young ladies served as Virgin­
ia’s court of honor.
Lack of rain had left the plowlands dry and 
dusty. Contest day dawned dark and threatening, 
but despite unfavorable weather conditions autos 
started arriving early from all parts of the state. 
All told, some 8,000 people came. A number of 
displays and stage programs held the visitors’ at­
tention until time for the first match featuring 
horses. Harry Linn, of the Horse and Mule Breed­
ers’ Association, was official starter, using a shot­
gun to get the contests under way.
Tremendous interest was seen in the horse divi­
sion. Snow fences were placed all around the 
plowlands, and at times spectators were crowded 
four and five deep behind the barrier. Special at­
traction was the Pioneer Hi-Bred Corn Com­
pany’s twelve-horse-hitch driven by Lyle Hinckly. 
The twelve beautifully matched Belgians per­
S T A T E  A N D  IN T E R ST A T E  M ATC H ES  421
formed nicely, and furrows were turned over 
quickly. Eight entries in the horse classes gave 
the crowd a good look at what was soon to dis­
appear from the Iowa landscape.
Tractor drivers, like horsemen, encountered 
rough going in hard soil, but they did a good job 
in demonstrating plowmanship. Judged on the 
basis of uniformity and straightness of furrows, 
trash coverage, and neat land ends, the 8,000 visi­
tors saw new emphasis on the ancient art of plow­
ing and witnessed genuine pride in the perform­
ance of a commonplace farm task. Eleven entries 
in the men’s division, and four in the boys’ class, 
kept the huge crowd on its toes.
Of special interest to many was the walking 
plow class, limited to men 70 or over. Winner 
was 79-year-old Jess Bane, a pioneer Bondurant 
farmer and Polk County farm leader. Second 
honors went to 83-year-old W. W. Pearson, 
using a team furnished by a grandson.
Radio broadcasts and other features, talks by 
Governor George Wilson and Lieutenant Gover­
nor Bourke Hickenlooper, coronation of the 
“Queen of the Furrow,’’ a hitched-team contest, 
and a machinery demonstration highlighted the 
afternoon’s program, which was climaxed with the 
announcing of the plowing contest winners.
When final scores were computed the first 
Corn Belt Plowing Match winner was Ray Witt, 
43-year-old Mahaska County farmer. Orville
422 TH E PALIM PSEST
Johnson of Polk County stood second. In the 
state horsemen’s section F. F. Martin, who had 
used five horses, was first, with Hinckley’s twelve- 
horse-hitch second. The first state boys’ tractor 
match champion was 17-year-old Lyle Mason, the 
Pilot Rock entrant from Meriden in Cherokee 
County. Twelve-year-old Lee Klett of Sigourney 
took second place.
About 14,000 attended the second state and 
interstate plowing matches held near Boone on 
the Harold Blansham farm in 1940. The Boone 
Chamber of Commerce, Boone Service and Civic 
Clubs, and Boone County farm groups were local 
sponsors and Station WHO again provided $500 
in prize money. Young Lyle Mason, the Pilot 
Rock entrant, won the state tractor match, defeat­
ing other entrants. F. F. Martin again won the 
horsemen’s division. Duane Sherrill of Washta 
was the boys class winner, and 72-year-old C. H. 
Crispin of Boone won the walking plow class. A 
three-oxen hitch was a special attraction.
The Iowa plowing events first received na­
tionwide attention in 1941 when Life magazine 
sent a photographer and reporter to cover the 
matches held on the Turner farm near Albia. 
Hard rains on the previous day had left plowlands 
slippery and muddy, but officials decided against 
postponement. It was well that they did. More 
than 20,000 persons came from several Midwest­
ern states to watch the interstate competition in
S T A T E  A N D  IN T E R ST A T E  M ATC H ES  423
which a Missourian, Leo Drake, nosed out Iowa’s 
champion furrow turners. Meanwhile, Garret 
Rosenboom of Wright County became the new 
Iowa champion, with Kenneth Hill of Baxter, the 
junior winner, and Frank Poortinga, of Monroe, 
victor of the horse-drawn plow classes. A woman 
entrant, Mrs. William Holmstrom of Illinois, 
though placing low in the contest, was a major at­
traction — and so was her six-months-old baby, 
being carried by her husband while she plowed. 
Prize money was increased to $750. Life carried 
a three-page spread.
Hosts and sponsors of the first three statewide 
plowing matches felt gratified with their original 
efforts back in 1939, 1940, and 1941. That they 
must have set a good pattern is evidenced by the 
fact that matches have continued in Iowa ever 
since, except for the war years, and a dozen other 
states have sponsored similar events. Moreover, 
the early work of Herb Plambeck and other pio­
neers in this field has developed into far-reaching 
significance, as seen in the undertaking of Na­
tional Plowing Matches, first held in Iowa, and 
since then in seven other states. Crowds of up to 
100,000 have seen the national meets, which were 
patterned after the first state plowing event held 
in Iowa in 1939, and which are now regarded as 
the major national farm contest of the year.
W illiam }. Petersen


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