Hurdle After Hurdle: The Story of Yetter's Climb to Success

Apr 05, 2023

The late owner of Yetter Manufacturing, Pat Whalen, says it was a “natural progression,” the way that his grandfather first got the company off the ground and his grandparents were able to start the company in 1930 during the Great Depression.

“At the time, the tractors had steel wheels on them and they were prone to plug up with mud. Harry Yetter, my grandfather, came up with a device that would scrape the mud off,” Whalen says. “His neighbor saw it and it was one of those things that mushroomed from his farm to other farms.”

But that was just the very beginning for the family manufacturing business. Whalen recalls many other products that would be added into production over the coming years to help grow the company even more.

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Video: Brand New Fendt Vario & Momentum 31... German Engineering Is Here!!

Planting Season Wrap-Up with a Fendt Demo!

we kick things off with a brand-new Fendt tractor and planter sitting in our shop! While we’ve had some experience running a Fendt tractor a few years ago, this is our first time ever running a Fendt planter. We were given the opportunity to demo both the tractor and planter, and we put them to work during the final stretch of our 2026 soybean planting season.

To see how the Fendt setup compares, we also ran it side-by-side with our own planting rig: a Case IH 470 Quadtrac pulling our Case IH 1240 planter. It’s a great chance to compare two different planting setups and see how they perform in the field.

By the end of the video, we officially finish soybean planting for 2026! While planting season may be wrapped up, there’s still plenty of farming content coming your way, so stay tuned for future videos.

My name is Michael Wendling, and I am proud to be a 6th-generation farmer carrying forward a family legacy that began in 1879 here in East Central Illinois.

Today, our operation focuses on raising food-grade corn for Frito-Lay and also soybeans. While the tools and technology have evolved, our core values remain the same: hard work, integrity, and a deep respect for the land we steward. Thank you for following along and supporting the journey.