With fall harvest mostly complete and the holiday season in full swing, it's prime time to reflect and appreciate. But amidst the flurry of year-end projects — at work and at home — it’s not always easy to find the time or the spirit.

What a year, huh? What started off to be a promising year for the farm equipment industry turned out to be one full of uncertainty.

Let’s face it, inventory turnover has been a problem for us all over the last few years. As the market changed, it’s been difficult to make adjustments to how we stock new machines and how we buy used machines as fast as the market moved. This has created a turnover problem that’s plagued North American farm equipment dealers everywhere. You are not alone.

I'm personally proud today to tell you that Frank Lessiter's new book, From Maverick to Mainstream: A History of No-Till Farming, has arrived. It's Dad's 4th book in a long and influential career as an ag journalist.

An old Danish proverb says it best: “It is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.” Last Friday, Deere & Co. issued its 2018 fiscal year earnings report and, to say the least, the Big Green Machine had a pretty good year.

As many of you know, a favorite “To the Point” theme of late is grit, perseverance and the other intangibles that we want so much from our workforce — and must commit ourselves to bringing out. In my blog on Sept. 11, 2018, I asked for your help. You answered with your emails and web commentary. So, here’s my end of the deal, a FREE just-completed downloadable eGuide — “Talent Development in the Farm Equipment Industry: 3 Ways to Defeat Complacency.”

Shell Lubricants has unveiled a new full-synthetic engine oil designed specifically for gasoline-powered pickup trucks and SUVs to complement its full-synthetic Rotella T-6 heavy duty diesel engine oils.

In my conversations with dealers and manufacturers alike, I always ask what their biggest challenges are right now and in the years ahead. Without fail, the answer is always related to staffing and more specifically with finding service technicians.

Our expert Casey Seymour of 21st Century Equipment and Moving Iron LLC addresses the following question: With the ability to shop inventory to death on the internet, what do you guys do to make your inventory stand out and separate it from everybody else?

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City released it third quarter Ag Finance Databook last Friday and its headline read “Large Scale Financing Drives Ag Lending Activity Higher.”