We certainly had a little bit of rock and roll getting together with country at the Michael Peterson/New Holland Celebrity Tractor Race. One of the contestants who held the lead for a while was Rolling Stones keyboardist, Chuck Leavell (left), seen here with Michael Peterson.
Chuck is a central Georgia tree farmer where he and his wife have 2,500 acres. He’s the proud owner of a New Holland 2410. I asked him why he participated and one of the things he likes is supporting FFA, which he feels strongly about. As far as a celebrity tractor race goes, he thinks it’s the coolest thing in the world. When he’s not on the road rocking and rolling with the Stones, he says you’ll find him on his New Holland out in the woods.
He’s also a big believer in biofuels like biodiesel and has a special interest in cellulosic ethanol production. That makes sense for a tree farmer.
Listen to my interview with Chuck:
Watch Chuck ride:
2008 CMA Music Festival Photo Album
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One of the celebrities competing in the Michael Peterson/New Holland Celebrity Tractor race was Jimmie Van Zant, pictured on the left with Michael.
Mike Adams (right), Host of
My latest road trip ended at the Michael Peterson/New Holland Celebrity Tractor Race in Nashville, TN. So this week’s program has been produced there and includes an event wrap-up with Michael.
Michael Peterson has become a good friend after I’ve had so many opportunities to work with him since this event started 3 years ago. Today he got the crowd fired up as they enjoyed the competition and seeing some of their favorite artists get up on a tractor and for the most part, do real well. 
Joe Jobe, CEO of the
The winner of the 2008 Michael Peterson/New Holland Celebrity Tractor Race is Darby Ledbetter with a time of 47 seconds. He pretty much blew away the competition. Here’s Darby on the New Holland tractor with Michael Peterson (left).
If you missed it then you missed it. AgWired Live TV broadcast today’s Michael Peterson/New Holland Celebrity Tractor Race from the Chevy Zone at the CMA Music Fest.
Laura posted a
The first band on the Chevy Music Stage this morning here at Fan Fair was Michael Peterson’s. He attracted a big crowd. The seats were filled and people gravitated there since you could hear the music up and down the street. Last year Michael performed on the Riverfront Stage.
I’ve tag teamed with Laura McNamara, seen here busily agriblogging, at the CMA Music Fest where we’ve got some global warming going on. Thank goodness for air conditioning since it’s about 92 degrees out.
The line at singer/songwriter 



Hey country music fans. I’m already looking forward to this year’s 
To start with one of the contestants that I interviewed was
winner of the auction for last year’s celebrity tractor that was signed by the contestants in the first race. We didn’t know it at the time but he and his family were at this year’s race so we didn’t get to see each other. I talked to him by phone and learned that his son, Trey, is an aspiring music artist himself. You can find out all about him
One of the competitors in the Michael Peterson/New Holland Celebrity Tractor Race was