A text Saturday brought some difficult news, that Landoll Corp. founder and legend Don Landoll had passed at age 83. His story of meager beginnings is not only one of the greatest in industry history, but one of the most inspirational stories in all of American business and industry.

While I had been aware of the Landoll name, I didn’t meet Don until my first Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association Convention in October 2004, just months after our family business acquired Farm Equipment and what would become known as Farm Innovations and Ag Equipment Intelligence. That booming voice of his that I heard in Orlando, and which has been so familiar over the past 22 years, is one that won’t soon be forgotten but will be missed.

Those of us who did business with Don would agree it was a privilege, whether as a supplier, dealer or support company like ours. And if you weren’t involved in Landoll’s farm equipment offerings directly, you likely knew the trailers donning his name that carried combines and tractors of all colors out to the masses.

The Landolls did things right, and it started with the “Boy-Wonder Welder” who started it all after initial plans fell through. 

A Remarkable Hall of Fame Career

Reflecting on Don and the relationship so many of us had with this true industry legend, I searched for and found the notes I’d written for his Shortline Legends Hall of Fame induction at the 2023 Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association Convention. This memorable inaugural class also included Don’s friends and fellow founders such as Roy Applequist of Great Plains Manufacturing and Applequist Manufacturing; Jon Kinzenbaw, Kinze Manufacturing; the late Joe MacDonald of MacDon and the late Gary Vermeer of Vermeer Corp.

I’d urge you to get to know Don better from the Hall of Fame coverage (click here). But here’s a Cliff Note’s (or podium-concise) version of a career that the crowd for the inaugural Hall of Fame induction was so eager to celebrate:

Don Landoll, one of 8 children raised on a farm in Hanover, Kan., was destined to be a manufacturer. He was building at age 7 on an Erector set long before the farmstead even had its own electricity.

A failed Air Force physical days after his high school graduation landed Landoll back in his hometown of Hanover, Kan. He landed at the International Harvester dealership, Hanover Implement & Manufacturing, where his prodigious welding (he was so good that he was teaching vo-ag welding in high school) caught the eye of a welder 30 years his senior. He would hand-pick the 21-year-old to go into business with him in opening a small blacksmith shop in 1963. 

Within a few years, his partner returned to a railroad career and financed the sale of the entire business to his partner, and a manufacturing powerhouse across several industries would soon bear his name.

Landoll’s inventiveness and ambition would soon make tiny Marysville, Kan., a world-class manufacturing center. He made a personal pledge to build the most advanced tillage factory in America. When he couldn’t find a robotic welder to meet his requirements, he built his own — on three different occasions. More than 30 welding robots would dot the plant as his approach to vertical integration brought plate and tubing in one door a finished product bearing his name was loaded up for delivery.

In addition to tillage, Landoll offered a wide array of seeding and seedbed prep offerings, including its acquisition of the entire Brillion Farm Equipment in 2010.

His lineup would include 9 plate laser cutters, 4 tube lasers, 6 CNC press brakes, 25 CNC machining centers, a water-jet cutting table and one of the nation’s first fiber-optic laser cutters. At full production, more than 1,000 staff operated nearly 1 million square feet of manufacturing capacity to ship its products to 39 nations. In addition to its ag equipment core are 4 other divisions — construction, forklifts, trailers and OEM/government.

Further, I know the people of rural Kansas are every bit as thankful for Don's community stewardship as they are for jobs and area support business that kept their folks working. Landoll led the revamp of the Catholic school and playground, airport, Library Park and a reading garden at the elementary school. 

Something I hadn’t known about the humble Landoll, was that Don had donated $1 million to assist with building an FFA (Future Farmers of America) vocational agriculture building at Marysville High School, as reported by Kansas Living Magazine.

Landoll Company was also the largest donor while leading fundraising efforts for the area’s new hospital and St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church.

The Half-Century Mark: A Day to Remember

When Don’s “little company” turned 50 years old in 2014, he chose to say thanks to everyone that he could who'd helped him transform a 3-man shop into a global leader. 

Prior to a special community- and family-oriented celebration in Marysville, Kan. in May 2014, Don welcomed his suppliers, lenders, dealers and colleagues of the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association to a private lunch.

Landoll’s remarks reinforced the authenticity of the relationships he’d built. Employees, dealers, suppliers and lenders were all the foundations of the business, he said.

Don did something there that I’ve never seen done before. He directed each of the hundreds of guests (including this editor/publisher) to take the roving microphone and introduce themselves and their company. Following each guest introduction, Don, while standing in the center of the room with his own mic, shared an off-the-cuff memory and anecdote on each person and company. It was amazing.

Following that meal at Landoll Lanes, he personally led the group on a 3.5-hour tour of the production facilities, which included Landoll’s own self-designed and built plant machinery. Don was not at all secretive about his operation; he’d opened his plant to everyone who wanted to see and learn. 

We were all amazed at his perfect memory of each machine and the day it went into service, and also the name of every floor worker we passed, whom he greeted with a hello.

The day culminated in the larger community celebration, featuring supper, music and fireworks. Don and his kids didn’t require any RSVPs to track attendance, but it was known that 6,000 meals were served at the event — in a town with a population of 3,100.

Personal Observations of Don, and Yours Too

Here are a few observations in these early hours of reflecting on the loss of Don.

• Landoll Corp. has been part of Farm Equipment magazine nearly from its own beginning in 1970. His friend, and my mentor, (the late “Jimmy Rank” as Don called him) pushed Don to promote himself starting with a series of 1/6-page ads, because, as Jim recalled, “he owed it to himself, his company and his hardworking employees to advance his innovations and his business.” Don listened, and the partnership started in the early 1970s and continues to this day, including working directly with Don, Paula-Landoll Smith, Jamie Meier and Phil Landoll.
• I’ll always remember the kindness and insights shown to me at my 30-plus FEMA meetings and 4 summer board events, which as past president, he rarely missed. The FEMA organization, and everyone who took the time to attend and contribute toward, were “his people.” Others will surely aim to pick up on Don’s example, but the FEMA family lost its #1 supporter, cheerleader and encourager this week. If there’s a FEMA flag out there somewhere, it will be set at half-mast this week. In fact, the USDA and Department of Commerce should also be adjust their flags today, too.
• Don served as president a very long time ago (1990-91), but still attended nearly 100% of the FEMA Summer Board Meetings. They were his “vacations” due to his deep friendships and personal care about his chosen profession. It was also a show of support, guidance and wisdom for those who followed and would need to make decisions on the industry’s behalf. He cared as deeply about the organization today as he did 35 years ago when he led the association. And when Don talked, people listened. 
• His son, Phil, was just elected 1st Vice President of FEMA in New Orleans last week and will assume the presidency in October 2027.
• This CEO was far from an ivory-tower type. In fact, he was a fixture at the grueling summer farm shows that tested other executives’ patience. He wanted to be with farmers, seeing his suppliers, chatting up industry peers, and even talking products, trends and asking questions of the trade media. As a result, he was grounded in real farmers’ needs and surely studied new ways to weld industry-leading farm equipment.
• Our small talk often involved a common interest in Green Bay Packer wide receiver Jordy Nelson, a farm kid who grew up 50 miles south of Marysville and was an All-American at Kansas State before joining the Green & Gold, and ultimately its Hall of Fame. We (and the late Mike Irish) talked Packers even more after he acquired Wisconsin-based Brillion Farm Equipment.
• I'm grateful that my wife and sons had the chance to meet Don. Don showed particular interest in my oldest son, Drew, an Army Reservist on his second deployment in the Middle East right now.
• Please watch the How We Did It Series Videos on Don, and share them widely. His is a story that needs to be told and retold. He’d tell everyone who’d listen that greatness remains possible, and can be achieved, if one puts their mind to it.

Leave a memory in the comment field below, and we’ll be sure that Phil, Paula and the rest of the Landoll family see your kind words.

Final Arrangements

Don will lie in state on Thursday, November 5, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. at Kinsley Mortuary in Marysville, Kan. A rosary service will be held at 7 p.m. that evening at St. Gregory’s Catholic Church in Marysville. On Friday, November 6, Don will lie in state from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. at St. Gregory’s Catholic Church, with a rosary service at 3 p.m. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, November 7 at St. Gregory’s Catholic Church in Marysville. Burial will follow in St. Gregory’s Catholic Cemetery. A memorial fund has been established, with the designation to be announced at a later date. Contributions may be sent in care of Kinsley Mortuary, P.O. Box 147, Marysville, KS 66508. 

Don Landoll Photo Gallery