The Hillsboro Free Press reports that Darrell Pankratz is the new CEO of PrairieLand Partners Inc., effective Jan. 18. He succeeds Doug Neufeld, who announced in early January his intention to retire in early spring.

Pankratz has been the director of sales at PrairieLand for the past 8 years. Prior to that, he was CEO of Pankratz Implement before it merged in 2008 with Deer Trail Implement and Con­rady Western to form Prairie­Land Partners, headquartered in Hutch­inson, Kan.

Neufeld will continue with PrairieLand to assist in the CEO transition, and will coordinate the move of the McPherson, Kan., store to its new location on I-135.

“I have a great deal of appreciation for all Doug has done to make Prairie­Land a leader in the equipment industry and the merging of three organizational cultures with the formation of PrairieLand,” Pankratz said. “I look forward to working with a great bunch of people.”

Editor's Note: PrairieLand Partners, a 10-store John Deere dealership with locations throughout Kansas, was named Farm Equipment's Dealership of the Year in 2014. Read the original story here.