John Anderson, president of JCA Electronics and Jan Faassen, sales director for GKN Off-Highway Powertrain, discuss the need for collaboration and standards throughout the supply chain when it comes to preventative diagnostics in farm equipment during the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Assn. Supply Summit in Omaha in April.

Kentucky grain producer Joe Sisk and Jeff Morgan, H&R Agri-Power (Case IH dealer) share views into each other’s world and why they have not yet consummated a high-ticket deal for Sisk’s 5,000-acre operation, which remains 100% green on combines and tractors. As soon as they sat down, Sisk (45) reminded Morgan (53) that he’d been his tractor engine instructor in 4H 33 years earlier. Morgan remembered the class and the curriculum (“intake, compression, power and exhaust”) but hadn’t realized Sisk had been in the class.

Despite differing opinions, Alan Wilcox, of Wilcox Agri-Products and Jeff Mitchell, no-till advocate at University of California–Davis, sat down during World Ag Expo in Tulare, Calif., to discuss the challenges and the opportunities for conservation tillage practices to take hold in California’s Central Valley.

Mark Core of Vermeer Corp. and Richard Fox-Marrs of JCB Inc., top executives from two long established, family owned manufacturers of specialty farm equipment, explore their strategies for helping their dealers be profitable by providing services that go beyond traditional product support. Also, providing highly innovative products gives them an edge that competing dealers don’t have.

In mid-April, Chris Frodel, Mid-State Equipment (John Deere) drove over from her store to meet in the conference room at Johnson Tractor (Case IH), Leo Johnson’s store. The length of Frodel’s drive on Highway 14 was a full 4 minutes. That’s how close these two dealerships are in the rich agricultural region of Janesville, Wis. Both are second-generation dealers with siblings as partners (Chris runs the business with her brother Bryan and father Curt Hanson, while Leo does the same with brother Eric) and steadily collected additional stores from small-operation origins. Frodel (44) and Johnson (62) also found a lot of similarities and values in their businesses as they dug in for a candid discussion and what the future may look like.

George Annen of Annen’s Machinery Ranch in Arlington, Wis., reflects on the digital transition that shaped his career, sharing the benefits, pitfalls and lessons learned trading used equipment in the modern age.

With 60-plus shortlines to their name, the Saskatchewan-based dealer network strives to meet every customer’s needs and build long-term relationships in the process.