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Mike Lessiter

Mike Lessiter

A second-generation ag journalist, Mike Lessiter has been Editor/Publisher of Farm Equipment since 2004. He has covered business-to-business operations, manufacturing and marketing topics since 1992. He has also served in several capacities with the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Assn., Assn. of Equipment Manufacturers and is a frequent industry speaker. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, he was named president of Lessiter Publications Inc. in 2007.

Contact: mlessiter@lessitermedia.com

Articles

ARTICLES

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Conversations in Ag

Trading Places: Farmer vs. Dealer Expectations

Colorado farmer Todd Olander and Iowa dealer Kendall Havran had to travel 4,700 miles away to meet one another (at Germany’s 2019 Agritechnica), but they learned of each other’s unique role, and the importance of shared expectations. They pair spoke candidly about what farmers and dealers can do together to optimize their relationship and success.
By Mike Lessiter posted on December 24, 2019 | Posted in Best Practices

Kendall Havran: How would I define your role as a farmer? I think it’s about finding ways to save money; how to keep that grain in the tank at high quality and fuel efficiencies — huge items that go to the bottom line.


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Conversations in Ag

Research: Can It Be a Dealership’s Business?

An on-farm researcher and iron dealership agronomist share what areas of opportunity exist for machinery dealers to prove out methods of independent seed and chemical sales.
By Mike Lessiter posted on December 23, 2019 | Posted in Best Practices, Niche Equipment Markets

Mark Truster: Starting out as an independent agronomist in 1986, especially prior to yield monitors, our work was much too subjective because our clients didn’t follow through with the evaluation step that you mentioned.


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Conversations in Ag

Early Experience & Advantage in European Brands

Recorded during a 3-hour bus ride between LeMans and Paris, France, two dealer representatives explain the how’s & whys of their decisions to get early starts in selling and servicing European farm machinery and technology such as Claas, Horsch and JCB.
By Mike Lessiter posted on December 21, 2019 | Posted in Best Practices, Niche Equipment Markets
Recorded during a 3-hour bus ride between LeMans and Paris, France, two dealer representatives explain the how’s & whys of their decisions to get early starts in selling and servicing European farm machinery and technology such as Claas, Horsch and JCB.
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Conversations in Ag

Dealer Structures: Europe, North America a World Apart

European dealers differ vastly from their counterparts in many ways, particularly in the concentration of dealers and sizes of the farms they serve. This meeting with a European dealer-principal and a manufacturing exec from a large multinational company showed how data challenge debates exist everywhere, and that dealer-manufacturer relations remain critical, and remain more art that science.
By Mike Lessiter posted on December 17, 2019
On Day 2 of Farm Equipment’s trip to Agritechnica, Erik Hogervorst, owner of Wout Hogervorst V.O.F.. dealership in the Netherlands, and president of CLIMMAR (European dealer association) and Eric Raby, president/GM-Sales of Claas North America gathered in Hall 9.
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A New-Era Contract

A New-Era ‘Contract’

By Mike Lessiter posted on November 26, 2019 | Posted in Dealer Succession
This year (2019) marks 15 years since our company (Lessiter Media) acquired Farm Equipment magazine (along with two other titles we rebranded as Ag Equipment Intelligence and Farm Innovations For Today’s Top Farm Operator). The last 15 years have brought highs and lows, but never boredom! We’re forever grateful for an acquisition that introduced us to so many outstanding people — both personally and professionally — that comprise you, the North America’s farm equipment industry.
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H&R Agri-Power’s Sales Comp Plan

By Mike Lessiter posted on October 25, 2019 | Posted in Best Practices, Dept. Management
Ryan Polete, sales manager at H&R Agri-Power made a profound opening statement about sales compensation and motivations. “What I’m showing is really not a compensation plan that motivates people, but it will push their direction in the right way. That’s about all we can hope for on that. Money,” he says, “should motivate our sales force.”
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Farm Equipment

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Farm Equipment editors sat down with individuals touching various aspects of agriculture — among them dealers, farmers, manufacturers, economists and consultants — to moderate conversations about the biggest issues impacting the farm equipment industry.

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