Farmers Facts

Thousands of farmers drove tractors into Washington DC in February 1979 to protest farm policy. Police barricaded the tractors on the National Mall, and locals called them a nuisance. A Presidents Day blizzard then buried the city under two feet of snow. The stranded tractors were among the only vehicles still moving. Farmers plowed streets and drove doctors and nurses to hospitals. The city that scorned them started thanking them.