Context: On May 29, 2026, Minsk held large-scale celebrations for the 80th anniversary of the Minsk Tractor Plant (MTZ). The celebration at the company’s main entrance lasted all day and ended with a free concert by the Russian band Ivanushki International and a fireworks display.
On May 31, 2026, the ONT TV channel’s Kontury program dedicated a segment to MTZ’s anniversary. The story alleged that one of the company’s tractors had been included in a certain American “Book of Honor.”
“Generation MTZ-80. In the early 1970s, the United States decided to conduct its own tests of this equipment. They lasted almost a full day without interruption. The tractor withstood everything. It was entered into the U.S. Book of Honor, and export deliveries to the United States and Canada increased.”
A more sensational version of this story was published by Selskaya Gazeta in 2023. The article was reprinted by the publication SB. Belarus Segodnya.
“A much tougher test awaited the Soviet MTZ-80 tractor at international competitions in the state of Nebraska (USA), organized by a local university since 1920. Since then, more than 15,000 tractor models have been produced worldwide, and only 1,138 of them have passed the Nebraska test. The MTZ-80 became the 1,139th model. At all stages of the tests, it showed excellent results. The test report was included in the Red Book and immediately sent to farmers worldwide. Thus, the MTZ-80 was recognized as the best among many tractors in the world.”
In fact, Nebraska has never hosted any international tractor competitions. The University of Nebraska–Lincoln operates a tractor testing laboratory that conducts independent tests to verify that equipment meets its specified performance standards.
The laboratory was founded over a century ago to combat unscrupulous manufacturers. A tractor could not be sold in Nebraska without passing this test, and later, the test also became a barrier to sales in other states. Over time, other countries began to recognize the laboratory’s certificates as well.
For the MTZ-80 to enter capitalist markets, it needed a recognized certificate. For this reason, some Soviet tractor models were tested at foreign facilities, including a laboratory at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The laboratory did not test every tractor model worldwide; it tested only those whose manufacturers wanted to enter the U.S. market. The MTZ-80 met its technical specifications and outperformed other tractors in its class in some respects. However, the lab did not compare it to every model in the world, nor did it declare it the best. The report did not contain any evaluations. The experts only recorded the test results.
At the end of each year, the laboratory published a promotional and informational brochure detailing the models approved for sale in the U.S. market. It was called the Red Book for a while because of its red cover. The brochure’s opening page states that it presents reports on tractor testing. It does not claim to be a collection of the best or most outstanding models based on test results. All the tested tractors were included, provided their manufacturers agreed to publish the results.
In other words, the Red Book was not a “U.S. Book of Honor” or a list of the world’s best tractors. The MTZ-80 was not recognized as the best model available.
The USSR stood out from the rest in another way. After the tests, it ordered 10,000 copies of the report from a Nebraska laboratory. The staff was so surprised by the incident that the lab museum still mentions it on its Facebook page. The museum claims that no one has ever broken the record.
After the tests were completed, the MTZ-80 went into mass production. Reports in the American media indicate that a thousand of these machines were sold in the U.S. during the first three years. This accounted for less than 0.5% of the U.S. tractor market at the time. Later, the Western press reported that 50,000 Belarusian Soviet tractors had been sold in the United States and Canada since 1968. Importantly, all Soviet tractors were sold in these markets under the Belarus brand, including those not manufactured at MTZ.
Thus, in an effort to demonstrate the exceptional quality of MTZ tractors, ONT and Selskaya Gazeta turned standard certification tests into an international competition and the Red Book informational brochure into an American “Book of Honor.”
