Instead, he makes bigger, better meat smokers in the shape of tractors out of spare John Deere parts to prepare the most succulent meats. What seems like a child's toy tractor from the front of Kaiser's farm actually transforms into a giant meat smoker, oven and pancake griddle. The John Deere parts, including the wheels, came from his father's machine shop, also on the farm. Keiser's latest tractor-turned-smoker creation contains an 82-gallon water heater, and a wood-fed oven in the...

But, it s up to the trustee to decide what is done with the farm. He veers into a field, and a few moments later, gradually descends from the machine to open the rusted metal gate that leads to his tree farm. I m a firm believer in conservation, and timber to me is a prime example of conservation, he said. Pine trees he and his late wife Joyce planted together in 1952 not long after their marriage help make up the lush woods all around him. After planting a new batch of trees, Riggle marks...

They've gone from selling farm produce on a table to a wagon, to a farm store, and from picking peas by hand to a pea-shelling machine. Stability and predictability are rare commodities in today's industry, wrote James Baarda, in his article, "Major changes in agriculture raise big questions for nation's cooperatives. And, Baarda said, farmers face potentially rapidly changing international and transnational political forces, fluctuating exchange rates and new communications systems and...

Today, the tractors raced by Barga and his sons, who compete in the aptly named modified tractor class, have more in common with aircraft than farming implements. Certainly not the roaring engines powering the OSTPA-dubbed heaviest motorsport on wheels, which range from big-block motors to aircraft turbines. His different choice of pulling class, he said, hinged on his preference for having 10 wheels on the ground rather than two in the dirt and two bucking into the air. There is nothing...

Kelleher, Reuters CHICAGO Caterpillar (CAT), one of the world's largest construction equipment makers, said Friday that quarterly earnings fell more than expected due to lower sales of diesel truck engines, weakness in North American construction markets, and higher production costs. Kelleher, Reuters CHICAGO Caterpillar (CAT), one of the world's largest construction equipment makers, said Friday that quarterly earnings fell more than expected due to lower sales of diesel truck engines,...

California air quality regulators adopted Thursday the nation s toughest emission standards for off-highway diesel vehicles like bulldozers, airport baggage trucks and ski resort snowcats. The rules would be phased in through 2020 for fleets of large vehicles and 2025 for smaller equipment. An estimated 180,000 vehicles would have to be replaced or retrofitted with smog traps, filters or cleaner-burning technology beginning in 2010. The clean-air proposal was sought by health advocates but...