Almost 8 years ago, as we were test-driving a singular themed concept for the 2nd Dealership Minds Summit — The Next Generation — the editors of Farm Equipment interviewed 8 up- and-coming dealership leaders who were being groomed to run the business.

A little over a week ago, I received an email from a lawyer who had reached out to me in the past looking for some information about the farm equipment industry. He was passing along the antitrust suit that was filed against Deere in the U.S. District Court in Chicago.

Dialog on “on-average” marketing spending led Farm Equipment to dust off its own survey data of farm equipment dealers from 2018. 

Significant increases in productivity sometimes come in unexpected and obscure innovations. Case in point: Danfoss Power Solutions’ new MultiAxis-Steer in use on farms across Europe.

On November 22, 2021, I interviewed Tony LaPorta on the Moving Iron Podcast. Tony is a trader and brought up some excellent points during the interview. What made me think the most was his point about the cost of uncertainty and how the various markets are reacting. 

Rapid changes create both risk and opportunity. Your dealership is impacted by big changes in technology, the workforce and higher expectations of your customers, employees and suppliers.

Earlier this week, I commented on the “unprecedented times” our farm equipment industry finds itself in. I’ve been hearing about it most of the week from manufacturers —tires, castings, virtually everything needed to finish off wholegoods — with live bodies a close #2 concern. 

As most of you know, our company also publishes No-Till Farmer (NTF), now in its 50th year (my dad, Frank, has personally edited each edition since 1972). With NTF’s half-century milestone and the 60th anniversary of the first commercial no-till plots in Kentucky in 2022, we’ve been preparing a museum display to bring to Louisville for the 30th National No-Tillage Conference (NNTC) in January.