Local Farmer Wins Tractor Pull, donates ALL to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

By Jennifer Wimmer

Farmer Ryan Boswell, Co-Owner of the Boswell Family Farm in Lewisport, won First Place in the St. Jude Class at the Tunica Southern Nationals Antique Tractor Pull last weekend. The pull was held at Paul Battle Arena in Mississippi, and Ryan donated all of his prize money to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

“That tractor pull donates to St. Jude every year,” Ryan said. “The boy that went there with us this year, Wes Roberts, he bought tickets, and won a John Deere Gator, diamond, and other prizes. All the money from where they’ve sold tickets all year long is donated to St. Jude. At Tunica, a lot of the tractor pullers will donate parts, and they will build a tractor and then sell raffle tickets to that tractor. In years past, it’s been upwards of $170,000 that the pullers donate to St. Jude at the pull. It’s a pretty neat deal.”

Ryan has been participating in tractor pulls since he was a child, with his dad, Gerald Boswell.

“Every year they have this pull in Tunica, Mississippi,” he said. “We’ve been going down there every year since 2013. They have a class, the St. Jude Class, and all of the extra money is donated to St. Jude. I won the class, and then all the prize money I just donated back to them also. I got second place down there in that about 2 years ago, but this is the best I’ve done in that actual class. R.J. Simpson (City of Lewisport Superintendent) got third place the year I got second place.”

A couple of years ago, Ryan won $5,000 in a bracket pull in White Pine, Tennessee.

“That was a brand new pull they had down there, and I got lucky and won it,” he said.

Many times, when he wins a cash prize for a tractor pull win, Ryan makes the decision to donate it to a worthy cause.

“It just depends on the cause,” he said. “For St. Jude, that’s a good cause. There’s also a pull coming up in February that is for the Shriners, in Oak Grove, Kentucky. If I do good and was to win down there, I’ll just donate all that back. I donated to the Shriners last year; They come up and give a big speech on their organization, and what they do with the money that’s been donated, and so I when I won, I just donated that back.”

Ryan and his dad, Gerald, run their farm in Lewisport, along with Ryan’s brother, Aaron Boswell, and their uncle, Joel Boswell. On the Boswell Family Farm in Lewisport, they grow corn and soybeans.

President of the Board of Directors for the Hancock County Farm Bureau Justin Obenchain presented Ryan and his family with a plaque at the Annual Hancock County Farm City Dinner in February. The Boswell Family Farm won the Hancock County Agriculture Advancement Council Soybean Competition for the third year in 2024.

Ryan and his wife, Tiffany, are blessed with three daughters, Katelyn, Brooklyn and Brylyn.