WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Farm Equipment Auction Draws Thousands

Farm Equipment Auction Draws Thousands

It's the Fournier Farm Equipment spring auction. Since the first one nearly forty years ago, it's grown from just a few pieces of farm machinery to include acres of gear. It draws farmers from all over the Northeast and Canada.

"Every year it just gets bigger and bigger," auction founder Rene Fournier told Channel 3. "This sale is the largest we've ever had."

Rene Fournier founded Fournier Farm Equipment Co. just after World War Two, in a dairy barn. By the late 1950s he expanded into a lot on Route 78. The auction followed in 1966, a service to area farmers looking to buy or sell. There's also a fall auction, actually held the last week in August.

His large family helps, including auctioneer son, Rene. On Saturday an estimated 3000 people show up. Registered buyers compete for items ranging from a few bucks to tens of thousands of dollars

"One man's junk is another man's fortune..." Fournier said. "But there's a buyer for every item. It's unbelievable."

Some of this equipment dates from the 19th century. An ancient grain barrel is held together by wooden hoops. Jimmy Walker of Deerfield, New Hampshire, said, "I've come to this auction for almost twenty years now, and enjoy it every time."

He scored a horse-drawn disc harrow for two-hundred dollars. "I'm going to use it to harrow up a garden," he added. "Actually I have draft horses and I use them instead of a tractor."

The Fournier auction, with its range of farm equipment from modern to antique has grown into one of the larger events in the area. Yankee Magazine even listed it as one of the top five things to do in Vermont.

The farmers who travel far and wide to get here sustain an agricultural tradition that survives in spite of the decline of the farm population. Part of that tradition is the work ethic, exemplified by Rene Fournier.

"It's quite an honor and satisfaction and I guess the good old USA is the only place in the world we can go to get to that place in life." he said. "And let's hope we can preserve this."

Andy Potter  - Channel 3 News