Rural Heritage October/November 2025

Publisher's Post A nother year, another Horse Progress Days, and another HPD issue. We featured a few of the newly developed products in the last issue, and we'll report on the forecarts, powercarts and a few odds and ends in the next issue. This issue covers the plows, harrows, weeders, planters, fertilizer and manure spreaders, cultivators, mowers and much more that were demonstrated at Clare, Mich., last July. • • • • I t has been a busy late summer/early autumn with trips to Nebraska, Colorado, North Dakota, Michigan and a few other locations I can't recall at the moment. One of the constants I've noticed at all these locations is that more young people are becoming involved in using draft horses, mules, oxen or donkeys. Of course,

as I get older, the definition of “younger” continues to include more people. That said, however, it sure a is treat to see grandsons and granddaughters learning from their grandparents and other mentors how to use their draft animals and care for them. I was reminded of this fact when I attended the annual Sodbuster Days in Fort Ransom, N.D., last month. I hadn't been there since 2017 when I got a shot I used on the cover in January 2018. People remembered that cover and remarked the same group of people in that photo would be doing the same thing at the 2025 event. Rodney Lugert drives his Belgian team on a full hayrack with Brody Nordick and John Kaline. • • • • W e are now shipping our new 2026 Rural Heritage Calendars. We've been publishing wall calendars

Above and Right: Rodney Lugert with Brody Nordick, and John Kaline.

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October/November 2025

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