By LORI COPE | East Texas Edition

March 21, 2002 -- Country World is celebrating 20 years, and looking back to our first edition on Nov. 5, 1981, three businesses stand out because they advertised in that first edition and they continue to advertise in Country World today: AgriLand (formerly North Texas Production Credit), Dairyland/LaRue, and Sulphur Springs Livestock Commission.

AgriLand was featured in January. Click here for the story. Sulphur Springs Livestock and Dairy Auction was featured in May.

A big celebration and ribbon-cutting was held in 1989 as Dairyland New Holland dealership was opened at their current location. The facility (new in 1989) opened one year after the dealership's building on North Jackson Street burned in 1988. Many local and state dignitaries joined the LaRues and employees at the event.

This spotlight focuses on the growth and success of Dairyland/LaRue, a tractor dealership that has seen several changes in the ag industry during the past 20 years.

Dairyland/LaRue is owned and operated by Bill and Betty LaRue, and 38-year-old son Bill Jr. serves as the business' general manager. The dealership features Ford/New Holland tractors, and just recently, forage and hay equipment. Locations are on the northeast loop in Paris, and at Highway 19 and I-30 in Sulphur Springs.

Bill LaRue Sr. came to work for Ed Banks at the Sulphur Springs tractor dealership in 1952. In 1950, LaRue Sr. married Mr. Banks' daughter, Betty. In 1965, the couple moved to Paris and bought a Ford tractor dealership. In an expansion move, the couple later bought Mr. Banks' dealership in Sulphur Springs in 1972.

That Ford tractor dealership was located on North Jackson Street in Sulphur Springs. A fire in 1988 burned the building, but by 1989, the dealership's building that now stands on the south side of I-30 was up and running.

LaRue Sr. has always been involved in agriculture. Growing up on a farm in Lovelady, Texas, he remembers trading in six horses for a tractor (as the down payment) in 1941. LaRue Sr. has also served as Hopkins County's assistant Extension agent, and was a vocational agriculture teacher in Sulphur Springs before buying the Paris dealership in 1965.

The staff in 1976 poses in front of the North Jackson Street dealership. Employees included (from left) Royce Fouse Jr., Christy (last name not available), Jerry Horton, Royce Fouse Sr., Lewis Christian, Charles Goldsmith, Jackie Blount, Charles Rogers, Waymon Woffard.

The LaRues agree that farming and ranching go hand-in-hand with tractors and equipment, and the hard-working ag producers can attribute some of the developments in their fields of work to the machinery's improvement.

In the last 20 years, the tractors have become bigger and better, but it was in 1939, 1958 and 1975 that some "milestones" were developed for the tractors, according to LaRue Sr.

"Cabs and air conditioning, that was the big thing in 1975," he said. "In 1975 Ford came out with the cab and they advertised it as 'Ford Tops Them All.' We really sold a lot of them when they came out."

A field day was held in the Como area (southeast Hopkins County) to show off the tractors with the cabs and air conditioning.

LaRue Sr. remembered, "Ford had a caravan that went all over the United States. They brought the tractors here and you wouldn't believe the turnout; ag teachers brought their kids out; just lots of people curious to see the tractors with the cabs.

The public's turnout to a 1975 field day exposition in Como was great, the LaRues remember. The event spotlighted Ford's cab tractors.

"But a big milestone came before that, in 1958," LaRue Sr. recalled. "The first diesel engine tractor came out. Before then, they'd all be gas. ... They don't even make gas tractors anyone. The last one (manufactured) was about 10 years ago.

"And at about the same time, the next big change, was they came out with power steering."

"Now they have stereos, air conditioning, ... everything," added Mrs. LaRue, who has worked for the company as bookkeeper since her college graduation, which at the time, was for her father.

The first big thing for tractors, was when Ford developed the three-point lift in 1939. "People laughed when it came out, they thought it wouldn't work," LaRue Sr. said. "Now all tractors are equipped with one."

Although the dealership was named to represent Hopkins County's claim-to-fame (Dairyland), today LaRue Jr. said the beef cattle and hay producers are some of their biggest customers.

Most of the tractor-buyers who make their living in agriculture are more apt to purchase 80- to 100-horsepower tractors.

One of two dealerships owned by the LaRues is Dairyland New Holland, located at I-30 and Highway 19 in Sulphur Springs. Pictured are Bill LaRue Jr., Betty LaRue, and Bill LaRue Sr.

LaRue Sr. reflects that today's ag producers are fewer in number, but those in the business farm more acres. They also need the higher horsepower tractors to handle some of the machinery, such as the round hay baler, instead of the smaller square hay baler. "And this is where the cab is important; it's almost essential," LaRue Sr. said. "The dust is terrible."

The ag producer, with more acres to plow and plant, also relies on the more powerful engines.

Most of the larger ag producers have more than one tractor to handle the various tasks on the farms and ranches.

LaRue Jr. added that most "weekend" or "sundown farmers" usually buy a 40- to 60-horsepower tractor. "New Holland also even come out with a line called 'Boomer' to target the baby boomers. They are sleeker and have more eye-appeal. ... I expect to see more 'weekend' farmers, an influx from the metroplex, to grow."

LaRue Sr. noted that when the Dairyland dealership was first opened in 1941 by Mr. Banks, the majority of the ag producers were cotton, peanut, and corn farmers. "Then there was a shift to dairy, but that climaxed in about 1975. Now it's hay and beef cattle."

The tractors sold today also have more implements and gadgets available to help producers get their work done quickly and efficiently. "Ten years ago, we would sell maybe one (front-end) loader a year," said LaRue Sr. "Now, 90 percent of the tractors have loaders when they are sold."

"We have standard versions of tractors for the 'cost-conscious buyer,'" LaRue Jr. said. "Then we have the more deluxe versions with more computerized and user-friendly components."

LaRue Jr. worked at the dealership in Paris while in high school and college, but thought his future was to be in the computer field. "I majored in math and computer science, and I thought I would work for a big computer company," he said. "Actually, I did, for about six months."

LaRue Jr., upon college graduation, took a job with EDS in Ohio. After one winter there, and careful thought, he returned to Texas to use his knowledge and skills at Dairyland. "I guess it's just in the blood," he reflected.

LaRue Sr., 74, looks back over his years of owning the tractor dealership and notes that he has "enjoyed it all. It's been good to us, really. It's been fruitful enough to raise four kids and educate them. ... I still enjoy it."