Company History

Founded in 1919 by brothers Charles M. and William O., Sheppard’s is one of the oldest family owned businesses in the Hood River area, currently in its third generation of ownership.

The Sheppard brothers, farmers themselves in the Odell area, began by offering packing house equipment and apple graders to local farmers but quickly expanded into the farm machinery business to serve a growing local industry in the early 1920’s.

Soon after its founding C.M. and W.O. moved the business from Odell into downtown Hood River where it is still headquartered today.

John Deere products were added in 1932 and quickly became the centerpiece of Sheppard’s farm machinery business. In addition, Kubota tractors were added in the mid-1970's making Sheppards one of the first Kubota dealers in the Northwest.

While focusing mainly on the agriculture industry, the company has dealt in non-farm machinery over the years. The additions of Studebaker and Toyota in 1939 and 1959 respectively were two forays into the automotive industry that were both later dropped to focus on the core farm machinery business.

Numerous other brands have also been carried over the years, both farm machinery and not. Most have been dropped as technology and demand changed but many remain the same. The recent additions of Stihl products, Goldoni orchard tractors and AccuTech sprayers is a continuation of Sheppard’s efforts to always provide products suited to the needs of local farmers.