Service is without a doubt the most expensive department to operate. It occupies the most space in the dealership so it has the highest occupancy costs (heat, light, power, rent/amortization, etc.); it also employs the most people, and has the highest operating costs.
Farm tractor auto-steer technology was conceived initially to relieve operator stress and improve precision equipment tracking. Over the past 20 years, it has been quietly developing and gestating to a point that it’s nearly ready to give birth to full-scale automated field operations where the number of humans required “in the cab” will soon be dwarfed by the number of machines “in the field.”
As Sun Tzu wrote over 2,000 years ago, “Now an army may be likened to water, for just as flowing water avoids the heights and hastens to the lowlands, so an army avoids strength and strikes weakness.” Dealers interested in capturing a market would be wise to heed those words and to attack a competitor’s weaknesses by capitalizing on their own strengths while simultaneously overcoming their own weaknesses.
I don't get to hang around farmers as much as I would like, but I know one thing for sure: they have opinions and usually don’t hesitate to share them.
This column will provide you with questions you need to ask the business software provider(s) about the future capabilities of the system you use to run your dealership. These questions are not unreasonable because all of the capabilities discussed are already available in some form in farm equipment dealerships today. So to use a trite but true statement, “The future is now!”
With market realities causing American grain farmers to plug in $3 corn to their spread sheets in place of $7, the machinery industry has seen a rapid slowing of demand for new, increasingly efficient farm equipment as producers defer replacing machinery and scramble to cut expenses.
A year ago I wrote a column entitled Gathering Storm Clouds. That was followed up by last month’s column articulating the nine steps that should be undertaken during the turbulent times that lie ahead for equipment dealers. While some may be too timid to call a war a war, make no mistake about it, what equipment dealers will experience over the next 5 years will be a “war of attrition.”
Despite the rumors that it might not happen, on Friday afternoon President Obama signed the Tax Extender Bill into law, retroactively expanding the Section 179 deduction limits through Dec. 31, 2014.
For the last 11 months, we’ve been holding our breath on whether or not Congress would renew Section 179 depreciation limits to 2013 levels — up to $500,000 in deductions.
In this episode of On the Record, brought to you by Associated Equipment Distributors, Jason Webster, commercial agronomist with PTI Farm, breaks the results of PTI Farm’s 2024 HIgh Speed Planting Corn Study.
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.
At Machinery Scope, we believe you deserve the best risk management solutions for your investments in heavy equipment. Since 2013, we have been proud to offer extended warranty, appraisals, and inspections. Machinery Scope is a family-owned business built on our experience in farming and equipment dealerships. We understand your business and provide a personalized and professional level of customer service. Machinery Scope has built a strong warranty product with our customers in mind, offering the same professional level of service from the time you get a quote, through the processing of a claim.
GROW.MORE.PRECISELY. We are dedicated to creating innovative agricultural practices that help growers boost crop production and improve sustainability. With cutting-edge hardware, powerful software and truly unbeatable support, we take pride in creating and delivering solutions that empower farmers around the world.