In this episode of On the Record, brought to you by Associated Equipment Distributors, we report on the recently announced plans to bring United Equipment Distributors and the North American Equipment Dealers Association together under one unified organization — Equipment Equipment Dealers. In the Technology Corner, Noah Newman talks with Carbon Robotics about its autonomy retrofit kits for tractors and implements. Also in this episode, Kubota Canada comes out on top of NAEDA Dealer-Manufacturer relations survey for the full line OEMs and we take a look at the potential for additional interest rate increases this year.

     

This episode of On the Record is brought to you by Associated Equipment Distributors — the leading association in North America for the equipment distribution industry.  

Power up your Q3 with AED’s must-attend lineup of leadership events, industry conferences, and hands-on training built to connect and elevate equipment professionals. From the high-impact Leadership Conference to the Women in Equipment Conference, plus expert-led seminars and certification programs, AED delivers real-world insights, skill-building, and unmatched networking opportunities that drive performance and growth. Whether you’re developing your team, staying ahead of industry trends, or building stronger relationships, AED’s Q3 programming gives you the edge to compete in today’s economic challenges. Learn more at www.aednet.org.

TRANSCRIPT

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• Dealer Associations Announce ‘Unification’ Plan
• Commodity Ticker
• Aligning ‘Smart Implements’ with Autonomous Tractors
• Kubota Canada Once Again Tops Dealer Rankings
• Interest Rates Continue to Add Volatility
• DataPoint: Perceived Benefit of AI & Data-Driven Tools in Ag

Dealer Associations Announce ‘Unification’ Plan

On September 24, the North American Equipment Dealers Association and Associated Equipment Distributors announced plans to merge, effective January 2027.

The merged organization will operate as Associated Equipment Dealers, and will be headquartered in Schaumburg, Ill., the current home of AED. The Canadian headquarters will remain in Calgary, Alberta. 

Brian McGuire, current president and CEO of AED, will continue on in the same role for the merged Associated Equipment Dealers. Brett Davis, current CEO of NAEDA, will stay on with the new organization overseeing manufacturer relations. 

Dealer members of the two associations will vote to approve the merger and the amended bylaws on or about October 15-November 15. According to NAEDA, affiliate, associate, manufacturer and other non-dealer members do not have voting rights. 

In 2027, the new organization will operate under  a transition board that combines both the former AED and NAEDA boards. After that, the board moves to its permanent 27-member structure, designed for parity among industries. 

We’ll share more on what the change means for dealers and how the organization will operate as more information becomes available. 

Commodity Ticker 

As of  September 29 corn prices were $5.22 down 11 cents from our last episode. Soybeans closed at $12.97, down 19 cents. Wheat closed at $6.91, down 56 cents and Class III milk prices closed at $14.90 down $1.29

Aligning ‘Smart Implements’ with Autonomous Tractors 

Carbon Robotics is well known for its LaserWeeder, but did you know the company also makes autonomy retrofit kits for tractors and implements? The company recently launched the Carbon Autonomy Ready program, which enables implement manufacturers to make their equipment optimized for Carbon Autonomy kits. Brett Goodwin, VP of marketing for Carbon Robotics, gives us the scoop.  

“As we move to more autonomous tractors, we need to have smart implements that communicate with that autonomy so that the combined solution is working optimally. Here we have an implement kit and that implement kit is taking different readings and data fields and passing them to Carbon Autonomy. It can make decisions on its own or you can see it on your mobile phone app, like the depth, the pressure, the leveling, and you can change those settings from anywhere. Now, as you think about how this world is going to evolve, we’re going to have more and more autonomous tractors doing critical, extended hours work during the seasons and they’re going to be attached to smart implements. Great Plains is our first partner that we’re launching with, and the Carbon Autonomy program is open for other implement manufacturers.”

Click here for more from Brett Goodwin as he dives deeper into the Carbon Autonomy kits.

Kubota Canada Once Again Tops Dealer Rankings 

The North American Equipment Dealers Assn.’s annual Dealer Manufacturer Relations survey results are out, and Kubota Canada once again came out on top with the highest average mean score for the full line manufacturers. 

Dealers can rate up to 7 manufacturers they carry and rank them based on their experience in 11 categories, including: product quality, availability and technical support, parts availability, quality and return policy, communication, warranty and marketing/advertising support with a separate rating for overall satisfaction. 

Respondents rate manufacturers on a scale from 1-7, with 1 being “extremely dissatisfied” and 7 being “extremely satisfied.”

Ag Equipment Intelligence provided additional analyses to simplify the results (see table above). 

As such, it consolidated the 12 individual categories into 3 broader areas: product/parts availability; product/parts quality; and administrative programs/protocols.

In addition to having the highest average mean of all the full-line manufacturers (5.72), Kubota Canada also had the highest score in 10 categories. While it had top scores compared to the other full lines, its scores were down across the board compared to 2025, with the largest drop (-19.78%) in Product Availability. 

Kubota U.S.’s average mean score of 4.88 was 4th among the 7 full-line manufacturers in the survey. Its highest score was Parts Quality (5.72), the third highest behind Kubota-Canada and John Deere. Compared to 2025, Kubota U.S. saw scores improve in 8 categories, with the largest improvement in Warranty Procedures (+3.56%). 

When Kubota Canada and Kubota U.S. scores are averaged, the combined group has an average mean score of 5.3, good for second place behind Claas (5.35). It has the highest score for Parts Availability (5.68), Parts Quality (5.9), Warranty Procedure (5.35), Warranty Payment (5.5) and Marketing & Advertising (5.36). 

Interest Rates Continue to Add Volatility 

On September 16, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point to a new target range of 3.75-4%. That was the first rate hike since July 2023.

I caught up with Cory Nordhausen, vice president of sales with AgDirect, during the Moving Iron Summit in Louisville. He says there continues to be volatility surrounding interest rates. 

"Just like everything else in the marketplace today, it seems to be a lot of volatility and with AgDirect, that's volatility in interest rates. We saw the Fed last week raise their federal fund rates by 25 basis points. Looking out in the forecast, the Fed next meets October 28th. Just looked this morning, it looks like there's probably about a 65% chance that the Fed could increase. And then if you look towards the end of the year, December and January, right now they're forecasting about a fifty fifty chance that there could be another rate increase. So definitely volatility in the rate market, but AgDirect is here to help you anyway. We got fixed products, variable products. We're available at dealers, auctions, private party sales. So please reach out to us so we can help you find that next piece of equipment to purchase."

Looking at the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool, the probability has dropped from the 65% chance of a cut to a 58.5% chance we’ll see a cut during the October meeting. The probability of a cut in December is still hovering around 55%. 

DataPoint: Perceived Benefit of AI & Data-Driven Tools in Ag 

This week’s DataPoint is brought to you by the Precision Farming Dealer Summit, Jan 11-12 in Indianapolis. To learn more and register, visit PrecisionSummit.com.

Farmdoc Daily compared survey data of U.S. farmers and Argentine farmers on their perceived benefits of AI and data-driven tools. 

In the U.S. survey, about 23% of producers identified increased production as the main benefit, 14% cited reduced labor, and 11% cited reduced risk or uncertainty. More than half of U.S. respondents (52%) reported seeing no meaningful benefit for their operation.

 In Argentina, increased production accounted for 37% of total mentions, followed by reduced risk or uncertainty at 28%, reduced labor at 14%, and no meaningful benefit at 21%. Overall, the Argentine distribution suggests a more favorable view of AI and other data-driven tools than the U.S. distribution does, particularly in terms of production and risk-management benefits.

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