Down on The Model Farm
By Jon Sampson

Display builders are always looking for unique ideas. We at J&S Farm Toys are no different. In 2003, my friend and partner Jason Jeffers constructed a complete replica of a Washington state wheat farm for the national farm toy display contest. You can read about Jason’s display in the July 2004 issue of The Toy Tractor Times “Time for Wheat Harvest” article. Researching a real farm was so fun last year that we decided to research another real farm for this year. After considering many options, we decided to replicate a sugar beet farm near Fargo North Dakota that Jason has worked for in the past.

J&S farm display before buildings were added

J&S display showing the real Andy Levos Farm

We actually drove to Levos Farms to visit Andy Levos at his house and took measurements and pictures of everything we needed to build on the model farm. It was a fun trip for me as I have never been around this type of equipment. The equipment wasn’t in use that day and it would have been even neater if I could have seen it in action. Andy farms 2200 acres with 400 to 500 acres planted in sugar beets each year. The remaining acres are rotated with corn, soy beans and barley. He plants all his corn and sugar beets on 22 inch rows using a 12 row pull type and a custom built 24 row fully mounted John Deere corn planter. His soybeans and barley are drilled with a John Deere 8300 series press style grain drill. He also raises hogs for breeding purposes.

A beet farming model farm seemed to be the right choice since one had never been entered in the national display contest. We built the buildings all from scratch to replicate Andy’s buildings. The challenge was on as we knew from experience that it is more tedious to replicate than to build from the imagination. Each building, field of crops, and piece of farm equipment is portrayed exactly as was at Levos Farms.

After interviewing Andy about his crops, he gave us a tour of the farm and talked about his machinery shop and other buildings and their use in the operation. We photographed the farm and took exact measurements of each structure so that we could create them for the 1/64 scale farm.

We started with a blank slate of 2 inch thick foam board and used our measurements to lay out the locations of the barns and other buildings that we would soon construct. It was important to have these measurements because at the national farm toy show contestants are only allowed the space of two 4x8 sheets of plywood. We wanted to make sure that we had a detailed farm that would incorporate a field showing the sugar beet harvesting process. Once we had our farm laid out and were assured we had room for the beet field, we began creating the landscape of the North Dakota farm. The lay out contained a main highway in front of the farm. After the highway was laid out, we used train display materials to create the farm, driveways, lawns, and sugar beet field. The sugar beet field posed the most interesting challenge since we needed to replicate 1/64 scale beets, so we used train display clump foliage for the beet tops and we used mustard seed for the beets in the ground. To finish off the farmstead, we added trees including a woodland that started out behind the grain bins. We used plastic resin to build the farm house, shop, barn and all of the out buildings. Using our pictures, we were able to place the buildings in just the right spots around the farm display.

Once the physical display was complete, we needed to fill it with the equipment. Jason and I had a great time working together to accomplish mimicking the details of the Levos farm equipment. Andy’s equipment line up included a Versatile Designation 6 936 4WD, Versatile Early Series I 850 4WD, Ford Genesis 8870 tractor, Allis-Chalmers 7080 tractor, Allis-Chalmers 7060 tractor, Allis-Chalmers 200 tractor, CASE IH 2388 combine with 8 row corn head, belted pick up header and 30 foot grain head. The farm had additional implements including a Wil-Rich chisel plow, disk, Summers Super Coulter, John Deere corn planter, John Deere grain drill, two 6 row Alloway, two Alloway 6 row beet toppers, and a 6 row Red River Special beet lifter. The beet lifter you see in the field is a red river 6 row machine. Jason scratch built the beet lifter. To complete Andy’s equipment models, we had to customize or scratch build every piece. The customized pieces on the display are a clear window Versatile 936 4WD, detailed two wheel drive tractors and a clear window CASE IH combine. The Versatile 850 is a C&D 850 Late Series I Jason modified to look like the Early Series I. The 850 has a safety pull on it to help move trucks when the fields get muddy. Jason scratch built the 6 row Red River Special beet lifter and Alloway toppers. A fleet of trucks were also scratch built to haul the beets from the field. Jason built two Ford Louisville ten wheelers and a Mack and Kenworth semi trucks. As for my own part, I built a Wil-Rich chisel plow, a Summers super coulter and 12 row planter. Other J&S scratch built items like a 7720 and 860 combine are featured on the display

We had a great time showing the Levos model farm at the 2004 national farm toy show and the 2005 St. Louis farm toy show. Jason and I are already hard at work on our 2006 national project. We look forward to seeing you in November. If you would like to contact us you can email to this address: toyfarmer2@msn.com

J&S scratch built 860 combine	J&S scratch built 1/64 Summers Super Coulter
J&S scratch built 7720 Turbo combine with clear window cab	Grain bins
J&S scratch built Ford Louisville 10 wheelers	Allis-Chalmers
Allis-Chalmers 7060 customized by J&S	J&S custom Genesis 8870 and scratch built Red River Special beet lifter