The 4th annual New Holland/Michael Peterson Celebrity Tractor Race was another rousing success at the CMA Music Festival. Not only is it a great promotion for New Holland and a fun way for fans to see some of their favorite stars in the tractor seat, it also raises money for the National FFA.
“The tractor is going to be sold at auction this year, as it has been for the last four years, at the National FFA Convention,” Michael said. “Fifty percent of the proceeds go to the charity of the driver’s choice and the other 50 percent goes to support FFA programs.”
Michael is pictured here with this year’s winner for the second year in a row, Darby Ledbetter, who is not only a great tractor driver, but also a singer/songwriter and proud member of the National Guard! Michael is on the right, by the way, Darby on the left – and that guy in the middle is the famous host of AgriTalk, Mike Adams, who was the announcer for the race once again this year.
2009 CMA Music Festival Photo Album
Listen to or download my interview with Michael here:
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Here are two biofuels promoters. Chuck Leavell, Rolling Stones (left) and Joe Jobe, CEO of the 
One of the great things about the CMA Music Festival is the opportunity to meet stars of the stage. Michael Peterson introduced me to Ricochet. They were in the kickoff parade and will be competing in the New Holland Celebrity Tractor Race on Sunday.
Sharing a booth with New Holland at the CMA Music Festival in Nashville this year is the 
APHA is the second largest horse breed registry in the United States with nearly 100,000 members and Ginger says they are a very exceptional horse. “The color really sets them apart, they’re basically a stock horse with color and each one is unique – no two are alike, they’re like a snowflake,” said Ginger. “They’re very fun to ride and they can do all sorts of things.” 
For the third year in a row I got to sit in the studio with Joe Jobe, National Biodiesel Board (left) and Michael Peterson (right) while they were guests on the 
In this week’s program we’re going to hear all about how well the New Holland Celebrity Tractor Race, hosted by Michael Peterson, is working for the company. I sat down with Gene Hemphill, New Holland Public Affairs, and we talked about this project that we’ve been involved with for 4 years now. Gene says he and Michael took the idea to the CMA about a year before the first tractor race and were welcomed to become CMA Music Festival participants. The event has grown to the point that, outside of the evening concerts, it’s now one of the top attended events during the festival.
You’ll hear Gene say that this project has accomplished a lot of things for New Holland as it has developed. Besides just the race event and all the celebrities New Holland is also able to support the FFA, work with Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board and Chuck Leavell, keyboardist for the Rolling Stones and interact with people who fit the ideal demographics for the company and its products.
Michael Peterson recruited Carly to ride on in the parade with him here at the CMA Music Festival. 
In case you’re wondering if that really works, there are pictures in the photo album from Cindy when I took this photo of her. 
New Holland and Michael Peterson showed their support for the FFA here at the CMA Music Festival once again. The officers of the Westmoreland FFA chapter rode with Michael in the kickoff parade. Before we got started I interviewed them. They’re north of Nashville about 45 minutes. 
The CMA Music Festival is underway in Nashville, TN. My good friend Michael Peterson was a crowd pleaser in the opening parade this afternoon. He and I found a cool place for an interview after the parade.
AgWired goes country this week at the 2009 Country Music Association’s annual summer Music Fest, commonly known as Fan Fair. Once again we’re sponsored by 
It looks like my friend Michael Peterson, who is a real friend of agriculture, just received a major award from the 
It’s hard to appreciate from this little thumbnail photo just what a cool venue the Sara Wyant/Allan Johnson lake house was for the Farm Foundation Michael Peterson concert Friday night. You have to go look at the photo album to get a bigger view. 
The event was made possible by our very good friend Gene Hemphill and New Holland. It was his idea two years ago to offer a private concert with Michael to the highest bidder at the NAFB Farm Foundation auction. In 2006, farm broadcaster Pam Jahnke of Madison, WI bought one package and used it for a Wisconsin FFA fundraiser, while the National Farmers Union matched her bid and bought another for their annual convention. Gene says they will offer it up again at the 2008 convention in November.
People from all over the country attended the concert, including some corn guys from Illinois and Kansas who might be familiar faces to AgWired readers. We also had the famous singer and National Biodiesel Board executive director Joe Jobe and his family, as well as some people from as far away as Washington DC, like Karen Coble Edwards who was visiting with Charlene Finck of Farm Journal down at the lake and they both came with their families. 
If we were a radio station, this would make a great promo spot.
Country music singer Michael Peterson made some young fans happy at a private party at Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks Friday night, singing autographs on copies of his “Down on the Farm” CD supplied to guests courtesy of New Holland. But he also got an autographed memento of his own from the event.
The party was a benefit for 
Sara presented the book to Michael in gratitude for his performance and in recognition of his tremendous contributions to rural America. 
While Chuck was busy chasing spotted horses in Mississippi this weekend, I got to go to a really GREAT party at beautiful Lake of the Ozarks, featuring our good friend Michael Peterson. 
Our gracious hosts were Sara Wyant and Allan Johnson, who bought a private concert with Michael at the NAFB Foundation auction last November, courtesy of New Holland and the still-not-retired Gene Hemphill.
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.