Galynn Ferris: Nebraska Farm Roots, a Lifetime of Machines
Galynn Ferris is the founder, filmmaker, and host of Tractorhead. Born in 1944 on a fourth-generation family farm in Merrick County, Nebraska, he travels the country documenting antique tractors, farm machinery, and the people and ideas that built modern American agriculture.
- 4th-generation farm family
- Merrick County, Nebraska
- 3rd-generation pilot
Galynn Ferris at a Glance
- Born
- June 5, 1944 — one day before D-Day
- Hometown
- Merrick County, Nebraska
- Roots
- Fourth-generation diversified family farm
- In the air
- Third generation of pilots in his family
- Today
- Founder, filmmaker & host of Tractorhead
A Lifelong Connection to Farming, Tractors & Agricultural Innovation
Galynn's connection to agriculture started before he was born — on a Nebraska farm, in the middle of World War II.
His parents planned to marry on New Year's Eve 1941 at his mother's family home in Nebraska, but a blizzard pushed the wedding back to January 8, 1942. Galynn, their firstborn, arrived on June 5, 1944 — one day before D-Day, with the war more than two and a half years old.
Wartime rationing made tires nearly impossible to replace, and two of the family car's tires blew out on the drive to the hospital. It was a fitting start for a farm kid who would spend his life fascinated by how machines work — and what happens when they don't.
Four Generations on a Merrick County, Nebraska Farm
Galynn grew up on a diversified family farm that his family had worked for four generations. His great-grandfather earned the money to buy the original homestead by working in the coal mines for the Union Pacific Railroad.
His grandfather and father were progressive farmers who were always looking for a better way to work. The farm raised purebred livestock and poultry alongside its field crops, and it was often one of the first in the area to try new equipment and methods — each one aimed at making the farm more efficient, more productive, and more profitable.
Livestock & Poultry
- Polled Hereford cattle
- Jersey and Guernsey dairy cows
- Hampshire hogs
- Plymouth Rock and Leghorn chickens
Crops
- Corn
- Wheat
- Oats
- Prairie grass hay
How the Ferris Farm Modernized
Galynn watched American farming change from his own back porch. His family was an early adopter of each of these advances:
- Surface irrigationBringing water to the crops
- Four-row equipmentCovering more ground per pass
- Telephone serviceConnecting the farm to town
- Rural electrificationPower reaches the farmstead
- Larger-horsepower tractorsMore pulling power in the field
- Eight-row equipmentDoubling the work per trip
- Automated irrigationWater on a schedule
- Specialized crop productionMore focused, higher-value farming
Three Generations of Pilots
Galynn's love of machinery reaches past the field. His grandfather, his father, and Galynn himself all learned to fly — and every generation kept an aircraft on the farmstead.
That family background is where Galynn's fascination with machines comes from. He is drawn to how farmers solve problems, improve efficiency, raise production, and make a living from the land — from early tractors and implements to today's large, specialized equipment and automated systems.
Preserving Agricultural History, One Machine at a Time
Today, Galynn travels across the United States to photograph, research, and document historic farm machinery and the farming practices behind it.
His trips take him to agricultural museums, tractor shows, machinery exhibits, historic farms, and private collections of antique and vintage farm equipment. He is especially interested in how tractor and machinery designs evolved — and why each change mattered to the farmers who used it.
- Early tractor design
- New farm implements
- Horse-drawn to mechanized farming
- Four-row to eight-row equipment
- The spread of irrigation
- Antique aircraft & automobiles
- Steam power
"A tractor is more than a machine." — Galynn Ferris
Why Galynn Created Tractorhead
Tractorhead is Galynn's way of sharing what he has learned. Its goal is to document the people, machines, inventions, and ideas behind modern agriculture — and to show antique tractors, aircraft, automobiles, and steam engines working the way they were built to work.
Galynn admires the generations who built America's farms and rural communities. By preserving their stories on video, he hopes more people — families, collectors, and anyone curious about where their food comes from — will appreciate how far agriculture has come.
"History is not boring. Understanding where we came from is essential to knowing who we are."
Explore Galynn's Videos by Category
Every Tractorhead video is filmed and hosted by Galynn. Pick a category to start watching.
About Galynn Ferris: Common Questions
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