Oregon farmer’s John Deere collection led to national Farm Bureau role
Oregon farmer’s John Deere collection led to national Farm Bureau role
Published 11:00 am Monday, April 20, 2026
Roy Hofer joined group to share historical past with like-minded farmers
CANBY, Ore. — Roy Hofer grows hazelnuts and is a “history nut” — a barn on his acreage holds a personal farm equipment museum specializing in John Deere tractors.
In a roundabout approach, the collection led to him changing into an American Farm Bureau Federation Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee member for 2026-27.
After graduating from faculty, Hofer disappeared into farming and work and felt remoted.
He received concerned with the Clackamas County Farm Bureau to share agricultural historical past with like-minded people.
The 35-year-old recalled attending his first assembly and pondering, “’Wow, these are really my people.’ “It’s a great way for farmers to get together.”
Besides socializing and networking, Hofer gained enterprise growth and management expertise.
He chaired the Oregon Farm Bureau YF&R committee from 2024-25, testifying earlier than ruling in Salem, earlier than being named to his national role.
Hofer made associates with farmers all through the US, and lots of visited his orchard and museum in March when the YF&R Leadership Conference was held in close by Portland.
He usually visits Farm Bureau associates on his journeys to tractor exhibits in different states.
‘I really like engaged on tools’
Hofer, who additionally works because the farm supervisor of Oregon Flowers Inc., in Aurora, Ore., has about 12 tractors and he is all the time restoring one other.
“I love working on equipment. … I’ve just done it since I was a kid,” he mentioned.
Hofer’s John Deere 320, solely constructed from 1956-58, is on show on the John Deere Tractor and Engine Museum in Waterloo, Iowa.
Older machines are easy and there isn’t any want for computer systems and fancy fixes, Hofer defined.
He notably likes two-cylinder John Deere tractors from the Dubuque Works manufacturing unit, which produced smaller machines.
“That specific size range, it’s kind of what I grew up on,” he mentioned. Hofer, who grew up within the space, mentioned he might drive a tractor earlier than he might attain the pedals.
The versatile Dubuque Works tractors, which have a three-point hitch, can nonetheless be used right now, Hofer added.
A teen within the tractor amassing world
Most tractor collectors are older and from the Midwest, and so they initially have been curious in regards to the West Coast teen.
Hofer is known as after his nice uncle who was a John Deere vendor in the course of the Forties and Nineteen Fifties.
Many of Hofer’s tractors have been handed down, however he additionally bought outdated equipment from close by farms.
Besides tractors, Hofer has a horse-drawn plow, and an early Weygandt Machine caneberry harvester, which might substitute 40-50 employees.
Hofer’s museum holds Farm Bureau conferences and different gatherings, and seniors from an area retirement neighborhood have visited.
West Coast illustration
YF&R Committee members serve two-year phrases, that are staggered to restrict turnover.
Trelawney Bullis of California, AC Foods’ director of water, GIS and sustainability, was additionally appointed this yr and Johnathan Quigley, a Washington tree fruit grower, was appointed in 2025.
Hofer mentioned it’s uncommon to have a lot West Coast illustration on the national group, which is usually dominated by agricultural professionals from the Midwest and South.
I’ve inspired younger agricultural professionals to get entangled in Farm Bureau by attending county-level conferences, the place they’ll be taught extra about YF&R regional and national occasions.
