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Articles by Mike Lessiter

What Vermeer Is Doing to Be a Manufacturer of Choice

By Mike Lessiter posted on August 4, 2016 | Posted in Manufacturer & Dealer Issues
Farm Equipment asked hay and forage equipment manufacturer Vermeer, Pella, Iowa, to expand on some of the things they’ve been working on in recent years to achieve best-in-class ratings from its global dealer network of 500. Among the ag segments in the Equipment Dealers Assn. 2016 Dealer-Manufacturer Relations Survey (full-line, tractor and shortline manufacturers), Vermeer was the highest rated manufacturer in 6 of the 12 categories.
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Lessiter
From the Desk of Mike Lessiter

Showing Off the ‘People’ Side of the Farm Equipment Business

By Mike Lessiter posted on August 1, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices
With Lessiter Media’s 35th anniversary celebration next week (we’re taking our staff and their spouses out for an overnight stay in the city), our team has been working on some special things here to commemorate the milestone. They’ve been chronicling memories, philosophies and visions from that tough start-up by my parents (Frank and Pam) in 1981, and how they got through that daunting first decade during a horrendous ag economy.
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2016 Equipment Dealers Assn. Dealer-Manufacturer Relations Survey

Dealers ‘Grade’ Their Equipment Suppliers

EDA’s 2016 Dealer-Manufacturer Relations Survey rates equipment manufacturers on 12 categories of dealership operations and support.
By Mike Lessiter posted on July 18, 2016 | Posted in Manufacturer & Dealer Issues, Dealer News, Manufacturer News
In June, the Equipment Dealers Assn. (EDA) released the results of its annual Dealer-Manufacturer Relations Survey. Through this study, equipment dealers rated the companies whose products they represent on 12 key categories of dealership operations and support.
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Lessiter
To the Point

Another Major Line No Longer Mere Talk

By Mike Lessiter posted on June 11, 2016 | Posted in Manufacturer & Dealer Issues
To complement this SHOWCASE’s report on what happens after the ink dries on a dealer acquisition (Dealer Acquisitions Report), I’d been exploring the major lines’ resources, checklists and protocols to help dealers integrate newly acquired stores. With the exception of John Deere (declined to participate), the majors supported the topic and cooperated with materials.
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Acquisition Journal
Special Report: After the Ink Dries

One Dealership’s ‘Acquisition Journal’

New manager Davin Peterson recalls the first few months following an acquisition — in which he was getting to know both parties.
By Mike Lessiter posted on June 11, 2016 | Posted in Best Practices, Operations & Finance
Davin Peterson joined California-based Kern Machinery Inc. (KMI) in April 2015 in advance of the acquisition of Hollingsworth Inc., a 3-store John Deere dealer group with stores in Ontario and Burns, Ore., and Weiser, Idaho, that would be renamed Camp Equipment.
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Baltimore Port Closure to Impact High Horsepower Tractor Imports & Exports

Baltimore Port Closure to Impact High Horsepower Tractor Imports & Exports

In this episode of On the Record, brought to you by Weasler Engineering, we look at how the Port of Baltimore's closure will alter the flow of high horsepower tractors in and out of the country. In the Technology Corner, Noah Newman talks about some changes coming to drone operation regulations. Also in this episode, Kazakhstan's potential for the North American ag equipment industry and what 2024 holds for the sprayer market.

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Yetter Farm Equipment

Built on 90 years of expertise, Yetter Farm Equipment leads the agriculture industry in designing effective and innovative equipment for residue management, seedbed preparation, precision fertilizer placement, harvest attachments, strip-tillage, and more.
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Montag Mfg

Montag is the industry’s innovative leader for precise, accurate metering of fertilizer, seed and other nutrients. The Montag system has become the standard for deep banding of fertilizer. Montag is also pioneering the technology for cover crop seed application. The new Cover Crop+ is able to meter the smallest seed, and can be mounted to tillage implements, combines, plus Hagie sprayers and detasselers.

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Finance Scope

Finance Scope is able to provide the best financing opportunities for equipment dealers and customers through a diverse mix of lending companies under one single platform. Our large group of lenders, allows for competitive rates regardless of credit scores. Additionally, dealers and customers have access to the industry’s best expertise surrounding finance and lease structures, for all purposes, within the agricultural and construction industries. We provide all of this into one online platform to provide our customers with the best available tailored finance solution for their equipment.
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