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Farm Equipment

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July/August 2017

Volume: 55

Edition: 6

2017 Dealership of the Year, Valley Truck & Tractor, Ellens Equipment

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

To The Point: Make Room for Creative Destruction

By Mike Lessiter posted on July 15, 2017 | Posted in Best Practices, Manufacturer & Dealer Issues, Manufacturer News

Reflecting on the Dealership of the Year Alumni Group, and the manufacturer rankings, it’s clear that best in industry achievements don’t happen by accident. Rather, they get into the conversation of “best” through a refusal to be mediocre, or “good enough to get by.” One can argue a company can’t get there unless it first engages in honest self-reflection, with a well-polished mirror.
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13th Annual Awards Program Recognizes Industry’s Top Dealers

Valley Truck & Tractor & Ellens Equipment earned the industry’s top honors as Farm Equipment’s 2017 Dealership of the Year.

By Farm Equipment Staff Report posted on July 15, 2017 | Posted in Best Practices

Now in its fourth year, the downturn in the ag economy has presented farm equipment dealers with numerous challenges. But, the best of the best have risen to the occasion and found ways to face those challenges head on.
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Dealership of the Year 2017: Valley Truck & Tractor

By Dave Kanicki posted on July 15, 2017

Losing the contract of their major supplier has spelled the end for a lot of farm equipment dealers over the years. For Valley Truck & Tractor just such an incident turned into “the” defining moment that has seen the business grow and prosper into a 9 store dealership group and to be named as Farm Equipment’s 2017 Dealership of the Year in the over $75 million in annual revenues category.
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Dealership of the Year 2017: Ellens Equipment, McBain, Mich.

By Kim Schmidt posted on July 15, 2017 | Posted in Best Practices, Operations & Finance, Department Management

What do you get when the son of the local New Holland dealer marries the daughter of the local Case IH dealer? While this sounds like the start to a bad joke, it’s actually the foundation of the Ellens Equipment ownership team, a couple who knows a thing or two about running a successful dealership and who treats the business like another one of their children (including knowing when it’s time to let them spread their wings).
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Wide Swath Haying Revisited

Fifteen years of application show wide swath haying improves stored forage quality and can boost feeding efficiency. Equipment builders have responded with mowers to do the job.

By Dan Crummett posted on July 15, 2017 | Posted in Best Practices, Product Innovations & Introductions, Niche Equipment Markets

In June 2003, Tom Kilcer and his New York Extension Service colleagues tested their wide swath hay-in-a-day concept by putting it to a test in a soggy alfalfa field after an overnight shower dropped 0.033 inches of rain and left the meadow soaked with free-standing water.
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2017 Equipment Dealers Assn. Dealer-Manufacturer Relations Survey

Few Surprises at the Top, But Changes Afoot Among the Challengers

For the 2nd time, Farm Equipment magazine analyzes EDA’s annual survey ranking ag equipment manufacturers on the criteria that equipment dealers say matters most.

By Mike Lessiter posted on July 15, 2017 | Posted in Manufacturer & Dealer Issues, Data & Forecasts, Manufacturer News

In early 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 11 key categories of dealership operations and support.
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People & Profits

Formulate a Short & Simple ‘Tailgate Talk’

By George Russell and Erik Thompson posted on July 15, 2017 | Posted in Best Practices

Great leaders simplify their messages. As a dealership leader, are your messages the most powerful? Think of Ronald Reagan, often called the Great Communicator, and some of his famous messages. “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall” at the Berlin Wall. Or after the Challenger disaster, “They touched the face of God.” The title of his biography by his speech writer Peggy Noonan says it best — Simply Speaking.

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Ahead of the Curve

EU Stage V Will Require DPF on All Off-Road Diesels

By Dan Crummett posted on July 15, 2017 | Posted in Manufacturer & Dealer Issues, Product Innovations & Introductions, Manufacturer News

U.S. engine builders will have to comply with Stage V for engines sold in Europe, but the days of rubber stamping European regulations may be over at EPA.
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Featured Articles

Featured Articles

13th Annual Awards Program Recognizes Industry’s Top Dealers

Valley Truck & Tractor & Ellens Equipment earned the industry’s top honors as Farm Equipment’s 2017 Dealership of the Year.

By Farm Equipment Staff Report posted on July 15, 2017 | Posted in Best Practices

Now in its fourth year, the downturn in the ag economy has presented farm equipment dealers with numerous challenges. But, the best of the best have risen to the occasion and found ways to face those challenges head on.
Read More

Wide Swath Haying Revisited

Fifteen years of application show wide swath haying improves stored forage quality and can boost feeding efficiency. Equipment builders have responded with mowers to do the job.

By Dan Crummett posted on July 15, 2017 | Posted in Best Practices, Product Innovations & Introductions, Niche Equipment Markets

In June 2003, Tom Kilcer and his New York Extension Service colleagues tested their wide swath hay-in-a-day concept by putting it to a test in a soggy alfalfa field after an overnight shower dropped 0.033 inches of rain and left the meadow soaked with free-standing water.
Read More

2017 Equipment Dealers Assn. Dealer-Manufacturer Relations Survey

Few Surprises at the Top, But Changes Afoot Among the Challengers

For the 2nd time, Farm Equipment magazine analyzes EDA’s annual survey ranking ag equipment manufacturers on the criteria that equipment dealers say matters most.

By Mike Lessiter posted on July 15, 2017 | Posted in Manufacturer & Dealer Issues, Data & Forecasts, Manufacturer News

In early 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 11 key categories of dealership operations and support.
Read More
Online Extras
Online Extras
Online Extras: July/August 2017 Issue

July 15, 2017

Web-exclusive content for this issue includes:

Improving Efficiency & Costs in the Parts & Service Departments

New Facility Helps Ellens Equipment Grow

Participating in 20 Group Keeps Ellens Equipment Accountable

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Valley Truck & Tractor: Planning Service Operations for the Long Term

By Dave Kanicki posted on July 15, 2017 | Posted in Best Practices, Used Equipment Remarketing, Operations & Finance, Department Management

In 2016, Valley Truck & Tractor achieved a parts and service absorption rate of 106%. According to the Western Equipment Dealers Assn.’s (WEDA) 2016 Cost of Doing Business study, the farm equipment industry average absorption rate was 64%, with an industry benchmark target of 80%-plus.
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Sponsored Content: Successful Equipment Remarketing Strategies

California Presents Unique Environment for Used Equipment

By Dave Kanicki posted on September 15, 2017 | Posted in Best Practices, Used Equipment Remarketing, Operations & Finance, Department Management

If there is one thing that most farm equipment dealers can agree on, it’s that an excessive inventory of used equipment will put them out of business faster than any other single mistake that he can make.
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Improving Efficiency & Costs in the Parts & Service Departments

By Kim Schmidt posted on July 15, 2017 | Posted in Best Practices, Operations & Finance, Department Management

As Ellens Equipment — Farm Equipment’s 2017 Dealership of the Year in the under $75 million in revenues category — has grown in recent years, it became clear changes in the service and parts departments were needed to help improve efficiency, reduce costs and ultimately improve the dealership’s absorption rate.

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New Facility Helps Ellens Equipment Grow

By Kim Schmidt posted on July 15, 2017 | Posted in Best Practices, Operations & Finance, Department Management

In the summer of 2015 Ellens Equipment broke ground on its new facility on 20 acres in McBain, Mich., but the process had begun 2 years before that and didn’t come without its challenges.
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Participating in 20 Group Keeps Ellens Equipment Accountable

By Kim Schmidt posted on July 15, 2017 | Posted in Best Practices, Operations & Finance, Department Management

The management team at Ellens Equipment has been participating in a 20 group for the last 3 years. Owner Don Ellens finds that the group helps keep them accountable and almost serves as a board of directors for the dealership.
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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.
Read More

2016 EDA Dealer-Manufacturer Relations Survey

August 4, 2016 | Posted in Manufacturer & Dealer Issues

In addition to the results and tables and analysis of the 2016 Equipment Dealer’s Association Dealer-Manufacturer Relations Survey (Click to read, Dealer 'Grade Their Equipment Suppliers), Farm Equipment solicited feedback from award winners on steps they’d taken to achieve top-of-industry recognition by their dealers.
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