Special Report

Iraq war vet awarded Kubota tractor

Kubota recipient Jason Kerr of Dewitt, Iowa, at the Farm Progress Show, Decatur, Ill., Sept. 1, 2015.An Iraq war veteran has a new tractor that will help him grow blueberries where he was told they wouldn’t grow.

When Jason Kerr left the Army because of an injury, he began growing blueberries, mostly because he was told it couldn’t be done on his small eastern Iowa farm.

“As soon as somebody told me I couldn’t do it, then that’s when I knew that that’s what I was going to do,” Kerr told Brownfield Ag News, referring to the fact that blueberries are a more difficult crop for Iowa.  Kerr’s attitude resonates with Kubota, and Tuesday, the company’s Geared to Give program, and the Farmer Veteran Coalition, awarded Kerr a tractor.

“There are things that I’m going to be able to do with this tractor that are going to help me kind of adapt to some of the things that make it difficult for me to farm,” said Kerr, “and it’s actually going to allow me to do that.”

Kerr grows the blueberries and hosts the public to pick them from his 1,200 plants, but he has difficulty finding the words to show his gratitude to Kubota.  However, putting it as simply as he can, “it’s hard to say ‘thanks’ enough.”

AUDIO: Jason Kerr (6 min. MP3)

AUDIO: Michael O’Gorman (4 min. MP3)

AUDIO: Todd Stucke – Kubota (2 min. MP3)

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