The member vote was the final step in the merger process to create the new association of
equipment dealers.

“We appreciate the overwhelming level of support that we have been given by our members. Now that our members have ratified the merger resolutions, we will start with our transition plan and consolidating our resources – taking the best of all four organizations to enhance our value proposition to dealers.”

stated Tom Rosztoczy, Chair of the Long-Range Planning Group.

“A major reason for proceeding with this merger is our members will benefit from a larger, financially strong association that will provide more services to address the needs of today’s equipment dealers. I am very pleased with the confidence that our members have shown in this unification plan.”

added Rosztoczy.

The effective date of the merger is projected for July 1, 2022.

The newly formed North American Equipment Dealers Association will continue to represent
dealers on a national basis with manufacturer relations and in federal government affairs in
Ottawa and Washington, D.C. NAEDA will also continue to represent dealers in their 24
U.S. state capitals and state regulatory issues of the states involved in the merger, as well as in 9 Canadian provinces.

The North American Equipment Dealers Association will continue to work with all regional equipment dealer associations in North America effectively representing agricultural, construction, industrial, forestry, outdoor power, lawn, and garden, and/or turf equipment dealers.

The post Association Members Vote to Merge appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

Antonio Carraro’s Business history

After the split of Giovanni Carraro, in 1960, Antonio Carraro began its production of compact tractors for specialized agriculture, under the rotating four-horse brand, a Persian symbol of fertility and strength dating back to the 1600s. From the beginning one success led to another: from 1970 they broke away from all competitors and the Antonio Carraro brand became a market leader in the compact tractor sector.

In 1973 Antonio Carraro founded “Centre for Study and Research”, one of the first in the Italian metal mechanical sector, where a team of technicians was dedicated exclusively to the research into innovative vehicles for agriculture, in collaboration with universities in Padova, Bologna, Berlin, Humboldt, and Sidney.

From 2000 the company’s first expansion plan began with the construction of new warehouses in Campodarsego along with the reorganization of all production departments, in line with Porsche Consulting from Stuttgart. The training, over 3 years, brought about a fundamental change in the company, which today finds itself at the head of the mechanized agricultural companies due to the maximum technology applied to its production process and the organization in accordance with the Japanese philosophy “Kaizen” which calls for continual small steps towards improvement.

On narrow rowed crops and in orchards, on mountainsides, in greenhouses, in pastures and forests, in public and private green area maintenance, on winter roadways, on building sites, in the maintenance of sports grounds, an Antonio Carraro tractor can make all the difference in terms of yield and operative wellbeing.

For many years now in Italy the Antonio Carraro brand has had the newest registrations in the compact tractor segment. It is amongst the 7 top brands in the world.

Antonio Carraro, through his story, brought about the company’s growth and subsequent production activity leading to employment in the mechanical sector. Essentially, the vehicles created by him have given a strong boost to the agricultural economy in the Mediterranean Basin and the mountains in the Alpeadria area (Northern Italy, Switzerland, Austria, and Eastern Europe), southern Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal as well as Germany, France and all of Europe. Since the 60s hundreds of dealers for our tractors have sprung up along with many AC outlets.

Active in the company, up until he passed away, Antonio Carraro constantly followed the work of the Research and Development Department, where he spent his days. Easy-going and generous by nature, he always contributed vigorously to company life, featuring in the institutional documents and in the publicity adverts (the latest with Albano Carrisi, friend and loyal customer).

In November the latest film came out commemorating the company’s 110 years “Constance and Leaps” by the Padova director Federico Massa, where he starred as himself in the role of pioneer in the tractor company where he spent his life loving and developing the company that today has 500 employees, 5 subsidiaries (Spain, USA, Turkey, Chile, France), 650 dealers and sales outlets throughout the world.

The post Antonio Carraro’s Chairman Passes Away appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

“The financial year 2021 showed: We are on the right track. With strategic and proactive crisis management we protected our employees from infection in the best possible way, supplied our customers reliably and continuously, and presciently managed challenges such as the disruption of global supply chains in the pandemic. The positive underlying business performance provides both planning security and a sound financial foundation for our transformation into a provider of sustainable solutions. Our customers are demanding such solutions – and we are ensuring that the shift to new types of climate-friendly system solutions can be realized.”

emphasized Andreas Schell, CEO of Rolls-Royce Power Systems.

Significant economic recovery

Power Systems has ended the 2021 financial year with an underlying operating profit of £242 million (€282 million) (2020: £188 million, €212 million). The underlying revenue increased by 3%

to £2,749 billion (€3,199 billion) (2020: £2,735 billion, € 3,077 billion). In the currency used for reporting (British Pound Sterling), revenue appears almost unchanged due to currency rate effects. The underlying operating margin increased to 8.8% (2020: 6.5%). With this, the Rolls-Royce division significantly increased its profit in the second year of the pandemic despite challenging conditions. Order intake of £ 3.3 billion increased by 24% compared to the previous year. The order backlog reached a record £2.8 billion (€3.4 billion) at the end of the year.

“Current factory utilization is proof of returning confidence and intend to invest across all segments”,

said Andreas Schell.

Sustainable solutions operationalized

Power Systems has reorganized the company into four business units with the introduction of a matrix structure in April 2021. In addition to the existing business in “Mobile Power Solutions” and “Stationary Power Solutions“, there is a new business unit for the Chinese growth market: “Power Solutions for Greater China”. The new unit “Sustainable Power Solutions” focuses exclusively on developing sustainable and climate-friendly systemic solutions across all application areas.

In 2021, as part of Rolls-Royce’s Net Zero strategy, Power Systems published its detailed roadmap to carbon neutrality “Net Zero at Power Systems“: from 2030 on, newly supplied products will reduce the product portfolio’s greenhouse gas emissions by 35% compared to 2019.

Hydrogen solutions as an essential component of the energy turnaround

In Berlin and Friedrichshafen, Power Systems is vigorously developing solutions based on hydrogen, the fuel of the future.

“We see ourselves not only as a manufacturer of products that run on hydrogen, but consider the entire hydrogen ecosystem in our development, in line with the concept of integrated end-to-end solutions,”

explained Andreas Schell.

The mtu fuel cell element for climate-neutral energy supply had its world premiere at the UN Climate Conference COP 26 in Glasgow at the end of 2021. A fuel cell demonstrator is in an ongoing operation in Friedrichshafen. From 2025, the company plans to have series-manufactured fuel cell systems in the megawatt range.

Power Systems is providing the first hydrogen-powered mtu energy supply system as part of a lighthouse project for the reconstruction of a terminal in the port of Duisburg, Europe’s largest inland port. Three mtu fuel cell systems and two hydrogen-fueled mtu thermal power stations will supply the new container terminals with CO2-free energy from 2023.

“In Duisburg, our products and solutions are essential components in a climate-neutral solution that paves the way to a carbon-free future,”

said Andreas Schell.

Investments and partnerships to further expand the sustainable offer

The British technology group, Rolls-Royce, supports this strategy and is prioritizing investment in more sustainable solutions and is allocating €400 million to support the growth of the “Sustainable Power Solutions” business unit of Power Systems. This investment will expand the development capacities for new technologies and solutions, as well as support further partnerships and potential acquisitions.

“This illustrates the confidence Rolls-Royce Group has in our capacity to realize significant value from our transformation towards climate-friendly technologies. This confirms our course,”

underlined CEO Andreas Schell.

Power Systems has made investments of around € 120 million in its 20 most important projects in 2021. This includes a new test stand for the company’s engines in China enhancing further its local presence. Several partnerships illustrate the multifaceted transformation into a solution provider: Together with investment company SDCL, Rolls-Royce will offer all-in-one energy solutions to customers who neither own nor operate the plants themselves.

In September 2021, Rolls-Royce Power Systems and yacht manufacturer Ferretti announced their deepened partnership for the development of sustainable solutions for modern yachts. NautiQ, a new bridge-to-propeller marine automation system, was unveiled as a result of the acquisition of the former Servowatch company.

“In the future, Power Systems will be increasingly partnering and developing system solutions together with our customers and in ecosystems that go far beyond what we offer today,”

said CEO Andreas Schell.

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Take one glance at Woody Weld’s eclectic office at ACME Lift Co. (ACME) in Mesa, Arizona, and it is impossible not to ask any questions. It resembles a museum, packed with memorabilia and artifacts – from photos and books to robots, car figurines, and a large dragon sculpture.

“My office is a reflection of the people I’ve known and all the things that have happened over 45 years in the business. They’re things people have given me or that have some story and connection to the business or my life,”

said Weld, president, CEO, and chairman of ACME.

Weld’s rental industry experience helped spur the idea for co-founding ACME in 1997.

“I worked for a big rental company and we would get a job to build a stadium. We would win the whole job – all the lifts, earthmoving equipment, cranes, everything they wanted. Then we’d run short of equipment. We couldn’t find any place for short-term, late-model equipment that we could give to our customers to retain our relationship with them and not give up that relationship to another rental company,”

he said.

After understanding the industry’s need for short-term rentals firsthand, Weld decided to offer a solution.

“We started with the idea that rental companies might share their infrastructure with us if we solve problems for them. We had maybe 40 machines and a couple hundred thousand dollars, and we built ACME up to where we are today,”

Weld said.

Partnering with Hitachi

Today, ACME is the world’s largest wholesale re-rental company, with a $450 million fleet including aerial lifts, telehandlers, portable air compressors, and earthmoving equipment, which most recently includes Hitachi excavators.

In March 2018, Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. (HCM) acquired a 33.3 percent share of ACME. The joint venture allows retail construction equipment rental companies access to Hitachi excavators through ACME’s re-rental business. ACME serves large rental companies as well as small independents.

“I’ve had a lot of business partners and a lot of manufacturers in my life. Hitachi is the best I’ve ever done business with, in terms of how we work together and how well we accomplish the tasks they set forward,”

Weld said.

ACME’s Hitachi excavators range from the ZX130-6 up to the ZX470LC-6. The company also buys used Hitachi equipment through the Hitachi dealer network.

“Our customers have reacted very positively to us carrying the Hitachi brand. And the machines are excellent. Hitachi makes spectacularly good products. This year we are adding at least $40 million worth of Hitachi product into our fleet,”

Weld said.

The War Room

Although ACME’s fleet includes about 300 Hitachi excavators, you won’t see any of the machines if you visit the company’s headquarters. And that’s a good thing – all across the U.S., each excavator is where it needs to be when it needs to be there.

“The machinery doesn’t do much good sitting here. It’s in rental company yards or our local laydown yards in markets where we know there’s business and demand, so it can be delivered quickly,”

Weld said.

That timely distribution is thanks to ACME’s War Room. Instead of separate departments handling logistics, service, freight, parts, and sales, ACME has them housed at headquarters in one space called the War Room. The War Room functions as a streamlined operations center designed to provide real-time information about equipment and single-point customer support.

“The War Room is a little bit like an aquarium in that all of the different disciplines required to do our job exist in that one space. Everybody works together to solve customer problems in real-time. A customer can call ACME and rent a machine, repair a machine, get parts for a machine or move a machine with one phone call into one room,”

Weld said.

ACME’s entire fleet, including its Hitachi excavators, is equipped with telematics to monitor equipment availability and usage.

“We don’t get phone calls from people idly wondering what we have in inventory. Our customers call, and they need something right away. The War Room map is basically a heat map of where there’s work. If the Gulf is busy, the machines get drawn there. After the big fires in California, they needed earthmoving equipment for the clean-up. The machines migrate to wherever the work is,”

Weld continued.

Weld said the secret to ACME’s customer service is resourceful employees.

“One of the most important things I teach people when they start working at ACME isn’t that we know the answer to every question. What we know how to do is learn. ACME is about learning. It’s about finding the answer very quickly. The whole point of this place is to make customer problems disappear.”

An evolving industry

Weld’s success comes not only from his industry experience but also from his strength to continuously adapt. When he first entered the industry, the rental was a monthly business. A company would create a machinery list and bring all the equipment to the job on the first day. The equipment yard would be debited as work was carried out. This process has changed dramatically over the years, and by focusing on logistics, Weld ensures that ACME remains an industry leader.

“Now, there are algorithms, product management systems, and highly educated people coming out of construction management programs. Those people are managing down to the hour and the day and the week. Customers are saying, ‘I want it on Thursday at 9:00 a.m. and I want it gone by Friday. And then I want it back again the following Thursday.’ That becomes more of a logistical business than it is a rental business,”

Weld said.

The charismatic Weld forges ahead, making sure he has the best people on his team.

“This company is about people. It’s about the relationships we have with our customers and the interrelationships with all the people on our team. And trying to make sure we do the right thing every day and we’re headed in the right direction.”

Weld also said it’s those relationships, along with the multi-faceted work, that keeps him coming back for more.

“I do this work because I passionately love to be involved. I guess the thing you think about as you age is that you want to remain relevant. I want to have a purpose and a meaning. I can teach young people about the business. Customers have problems we can solve. Manufacturers have issues; we can give them a solution. Maybe that’s why I’m passionate about it because it’s quite fulfilling.”

The article first appeared in Hitachi’s BREAKOUT magazine, Spring 2021 issue, and it was written by Kristin Stires

The post [Job Story] How Hitachi Excavators are Used by ACME Lift appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

The addition of FarmLogs’ technology and team to Bushel creates a stronger digital connection between growers, commodity buyers, ag retailers, and consumer packaged goods companies (CPGs).

The connected grain digital infrastructure and on-farm management across tens of thousands of growers and 40% of grain origination in the U.S. will enable seamless commerce across the ag supply chain. The acquisition complements Bushel’s strategic focus to enable, not disrupt, the agriculture industry and lead it into the digital age with strategies that solve real pain points and provide value for all stakeholders in the ag and food value chain.

The acquisition will eliminate significant amounts of manual data entry into the FarmLogs’ platform. Bushel can help grain facilities instantly share digital scale tickets and cash bid information with their producers, while also giving their producers greater control over who they want to share their personal data with.

Over time, FarmLogs data can be automatically attached to the grain data within Bushel’s platform as grain moves off the farm. For the first time, this “grain passport” will ease enrollment and automate verification of programs such as identity preservation, crop insurance, and sustainability.

“FarmLogs is a pioneer in bringing approachable user experiences to the farm. By bringing the capabilities of FarmLogs to Bushel’s platform, we elevate the digital relationship across the grain supply chain. We’re two independent companies committed to being agnostic of specific agribusiness products and services that may impact how we can best support the food supply chain with secure, permissioned data transparency and future stewardship and fintech offerings,”

said Jake Joraanstad, CEO and Co-founder of Bushel.

“As we look to the future of innovation in agriculture, one thing is very clear: automatically gathering data and enabling properly-permissioned connections can make farmers more productive. We believe that by seamlessly building FarmLogs user experience on top of the Bushel platform, and into the Bushel ecosystem, can bring value to growers and their value chain partners that they can’t find anywhere else,”

said Jesse Vollmar, VP of Farm Strategy at Bushel and co-founder of FarmLogs.

The acquisition facilitates several of Bushel’s key strategic imperatives, including:

• Connecting Field to Truck With Enhanced Data Owner’s Security: By aligning two independent software companies with the meaningful following, Bushel sets a standard of data connectivity throughout the grain supply chain while preserving data owners’ control through proper-permissioning and security controls.
• Strengthen Ag’s Digital Infrastructure: Standardize and connect data in the ‘siloed middle’ of the food and agriculture supply chain to save businesses significant manual effort, time and expense. This will strengthen the relationships between growers and agribusinesses through secure, proven, and easy-to-use software products and services.
• Facilitate a Sustainable Future: Expand sustainability opportunities for both growers and grain facilities through verified on-farm practices from field to CPGs, and eventually the end consumer.

Source: FarmLogs

The post Bushel Acquires FarmLogs appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

To better manage their businesses, construction operations teams need a go-to solution to visualize the status of their job sites. With Komatsu’s Smart Construction Dashboard, they can.

Built to support the digital transformation of customers’ worksites, Komatsu’s suite of Smart Construction solutions leverages the power of IoT to help customers orchestrate construction planning, with the aim to better handle management and scheduling, streamline costs, and optimize processes remotely—in the near real-time.

Smart Construction Dashboard is designed to be used daily and combines data from multiple sources into one comprehensive picture. Smart Construction Dashboard provides contractors with 3D graphic visualization of all design, drone, and machine data to measure cut/fills, quantities, and productivity. Site progress can be viewed with timeline functions (including playback) in terms of whole-site visuals, cross-sections, and individual measurements.

Smart Construction Dashboard at-a-glance:
• Confirm pre-bid topographical map is correct
• Track project job site progress in near real-time
• Document site conditions as evidence for change orders
• Quickly and easily measure stockpile quantities

“What is really cool is that the flight surface data from our drone is loaded to the Smart Construction Dashboard and we can very quickly see changes—the actual progress. Technologies that let operators do the job one time and do it correctly increase efficiency, so it’s been a great tool for us,”

said Andie Rodenkirch, project manager for Hunzinger Construction Company.

Smart Construction Dashboard is part of Komatsu’s new Smart Construction Solutions, an umbrella of smart applications created to help construction customers optimize their business remotely, and in near real-time. Smart Construction Dashboard is powered by the 3D visualization power and geospatial accuracy of Cesium, a leading platform to visualize, analyze and share 3D data. Cesium’s 3D visualization engine combines video game computer graphics technology with accuracy that ties data to its precise location on the globe.

The post Komatsu Launches the Smart Construction Dashboard to Better Manage Construction Business appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

“We’re operating in a very interesting market right now,”

says Curt Blades, Senior VP of Ag Services for the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM).

So far, in the first quarter of 2021, total farm tractor unit sales are up more than 50 percent in the U.S., and nearly 60 percent in Canada, according to the AEM Ag Tractor Combine Report released monthly.

“For the last twelve months, we’ve seen a dramatic rise in under-40-horsepower, or small tractor sales in North America, both U.S. and Canada. This is due largely to a lot of the industries that have done very well during the pandemic, like luxury items or things that have to do with the home,”

says Blades.

Small tractors fall into that category as well.

Blades says the small tractors that have been spiking are largely going to the suburbs with larger lots to help homeowners haul rocks and dirt, work around trees, and overall improve the property. However, starting later in 2020, larger row-crop and articulated 4WD tractors have also enjoyed increasing sales success.

One reason has been the gradual increase, over the past five years, of the average age of the ag fleet in both the U.S. and Canada. However, with commodity prices increasing, and trade difficulties starting to ease, not only is the replacement market doing well, but farmers are upgrading their operations with newer technology.

“We’re seeing an increase in commodity prices. We’re seeing some of the uncertainty of trade wane. As a result, people are willing to invest a little more in their farming operations and we’re seeing that reflected in capital equipment,”

says Blades.

There has been some difference in the past 12 months between sales in the U.S. and Canada, however, Blades says it’s typical for one market to “lead” the other.

“In this current recovery, we’ve seen the U.S. has been leading Canada. But both markets are particularly strong right now on both sides of the border,”

he says.

Blades does advise that equipment inventories having been reduced significantly through these sales trends. However, he says dealers are being proactive, especially when it comes to keeping parts for their service centers in stock, but farmers looking to buy new machines may have to order several months ahead of expected delivery.

“I think you’re seeing a lot of optimism out there. And that optimism is leading to a lot of new equipment purchases, but also farmers thinking about what their businesses are going to look like into the future. It is an interesting time that we’re operating in. Tractor sales are strong, commodity sales are particularly good, and optimism is at an all-time high in the farming community,”

says Blades.

Source: AEM

The post AEM Delves into the “Why” Behind Record-High Ag Equipment Sales appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

Lund, with operations headquartered in Holly Springs, Mississippi, provides extended life solutions for agricultural and industrial parts and components, pertaining to wear applications. Lund is also firmly established as a prominent supplier of cutting components to the U.S. agricultural market. They extend their breadth of product applications to industries that include – Agricultural harvesting equipment, crop movement equipment and tillage tools, lawn, and garden equipment, golf and turf management, construction, mining, and railroad equipment.

As a part of their extended life solutions, Lund applies treatments of Tungsten carbide thermal spray-and-fuse coatings, welded inlays, laser clad hard facing, plasma transfer arc (PTA) deposited coatings, high-velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) deposited coatings, and proprietary techniques that include Wear-Tuff sintered-and-fused abrasion resistant coatings.

Agrisolutions is the leading global manufacturer of wear parts, components, accessories, and solutions for tillage, seeding, planting, harvesting, and fertilizing for farm equipment OEMs and after-market suppliers. Agrisolutions brands include Bellota, Ingersoll, Trinity Logistics as well as German harvesting guard manufacturer, Carl Sülberg. Agrisolutions Wear Technologies possesses extended life solutions including CADEN Edge in addition to Lund.

The company’s North American headquarters is located in Bettendorf, IA. Agrisolutions is a part of the Venanpri Group; the global leader in the manufacturing of agricultural wear parts and a leading provider of hand tools for the agriculture, construction, and gardening markets.

The post Agrisolutions Acquires Lund Industrial Group appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

Through the desert air and rolling rocky terrain lies the town of St. George, Utah. The area, nicknamed Utah’s Dixie, offers a stunning view of Zion National Park and the Pine Valley Mountains in the distance.

Located between Las Vegas and Salt Lake City, locals joke that St. George is a few hours from everything. But for the Rogers family, owners of Rogers Construction Inc., St. George is the center of their family and business.

Operating a construction and excavating business and working the land in a place like St. George is certainly a challenge.

“In southern Utah, we have a whole variety of different kinds of rock. We have basalt or lava rocks, sandstone, and mudstone that are almost hard as steel. We need durability in our machines to handle it.”

said Landon Rogers, Rogers Construction supervisor, and third-generation family member.

They call it “digging,” but when you see the machines tear into the red Utah rock, you’ll see it’s actually more of a “carving” process. For much of their work, they use ripper attachments to assist in breaking through the tough ground.

“In the sandstone areas, we’ve found that a 30-ton class Hitachi can routinely rip and tear at the sandstone and develop a fillable material out of it. That’s huge for us. Hitachi really holds up in the solid rock that we work in.”

Landon said.

The machines have held up so much so, that Rogers’ entire fleet of excavators is exclusively Hitachi orange. Curtis Rogers, Rogers Construction president, and second-generation owner noted that Hitachi has always been their choice. The firm has been growing its fleet since it began in 1965.

“Hitachi had stuck out to us from the beginning. The control and the feel that you have in the machine doesn’t compare to the competition. My operators always enjoy running Hitachi equipment. When you find something good, you stick with it.”

Curtis said.

And stuck with it they have. Their Hitachi loyalty is especially noticeable when they describe their lineup.

“Oh gosh, we’ve got a lot of Hitachis. We’ve still got ‘Old Bertha,’ a big EX400 with 15,000 hours on it. Then we’ve got minis all the way up to our new 350. So, it’s pretty exciting when a new machine joins our fleet because we know it’s going to be around for a long time. If Hitachi made pickup trucks, we’d have to buy those, too,”

Landon smiled.

Total Ownership

Not only has the Rogers family grown their fleet over the years, but they’ve also grown their footprint. While the company works on many construction projects in the area, they’re also known for purchasing and developing large plots of land themselves.

Recently, the Rogers family sold land they purchased decades ago to build a housing development as well as a new medical facility.

“The way we buy and develop our own land is a bit unique. It’s definitely a long-term investment. My family bought some of the lands we’re developing today over 30 years ago. You have to have the patience for it to pay off.”

Landon said.

A lot of the land they purchased years ago was on the outskirts of town. Now, as St. George grows, their land’s value does, too. The subdivision they’re currently developing will feature some of the most high-end realty in the area.

“We’re developing 52 lots in the red sandstone cliffs. With the rocky terrain, we’re essentially carving out spots for these houses. With the topography and materials, each lot is its own unique challenge. But in the end, these houses will be worth roughly three to five million dollars.”

Landon said.

Developing the tough land day in and day out requires durability from their excavators.

“We’ve found that the Hitachis can dig through about any rock here that we have. And that’s saying something. Overall, we’ve found that as far as pins, bushings, and boom structures go, Hitachi just holds up over the long run digging in this tough material.”

Landon said.

Game-Changing Efficiency

When it comes to increasing efficiency, every little bit makes a difference for the bottom-line. Landon thinks fuel consumption is a large part of what makes Hitachi stand out.

“Our fuel consumption savings with Hitachi is huge. I feel like I get so much more work done with Hitachi and the Isuzu engine than other competitive machines. That’s another huge factor for us as owners and operators.”

Landon said.

A large part of staying up to date with their machinery is the support they receive from their dealer, Honnen Equipment.

“Our dealer has been excellent in finding us the right Hitachi equipment. We have a really strong business relationship, and I feel like they’re always watching out for us.”

Landon said.

Honnen’s support and parts availability has been a large part of increasing Rogers’ uptime.

“The biggest thing they do is truly care, and always touch base and get us what we need. If we need a filter or anything, they’re there. That saves us time and money, which we really appreciate.”

Landon said.

The one caveat about working with the Rogers family from the dealership side is that they’re pretty stubborn about what they test drive.

“Yeah, we don’t even really consider machines that aren’t Hitachi. Every time that I get into another competitor’s machine, I always want to get right back into my Hitachi.”

Landon smiled.

Dirt Runs in their veins

On-site at any Rogers Construction job, one thing is clear: family is important. As a family-owned company, they’ve created a culture where even the employees that aren’t family are treated like they are.

“Dirt runs through our blood. My grandpa got involved in the construction industry and started the business, and he’s worked to grow it ever since with my dad.”

Landon said.

Landon’s grandpa and Curtis’ dad, Richard Rogers, is a somewhat gregarious and strong-willed man and is known by everyone in town as “Rocket.”

“My dad used to drive freight for a company that was called Ringsby Rocket. Some people don’t even know his real name.”

Curtis said.

Landon being able to see his dad and grandfather work together for all these years is something he cherishes.

“I have had so much pride working with them. But I think overall, working with my dad has created a stronger father-son relationship.”

Landon said.

Landon’s dad, Curtis, echoed how important family is to him.

“Family is everything to me. It means more than all of this machinery or all of the money in the world.”

Curtis said.

Curtis hopes Landon’s three-year-old son, Lincoln, will be the next generation of the company.

“I’d love to see the company go on for another 50 years. Landon’s got a son and he loves tractors, so I’m hoping there’d be a time he’d be in the business. We’ll keep on digging dirt for a lifetime.”

Curtis said.

The post [Job story] Roger Construction Shares Family Business appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

The newest ag megatrend unfolding is e-commerce; particularly in the crop input sector. This year, concern about contracting (or spreading) COVID19 has only accelerated promotion, interest, and use of e-commerce for purchasing among farmers. In a September 2020 report, Purdue’s Dr. Scott Downey, Director, and Professor; Dr. Michael Boehlje, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, and Dr. Luciano Thome e Castro, International Adjunct Professor, found three distinct categories among ag e-commerce platforms:

• Retailer-to-farmer online only (no physical presence),
• Manufacturer-to-farmer direct online sales, and
• The retailer-farmer omnichannel experience (both online and physical presences).

The 1998 trailblazer was XSAg.com; now FarmTrade.com. There were no brick-and-mortar facilities or inventory involved. Founder Fulton Breen of XSInc. described their XSAg.com division as

“a secure trading platform to facilitate transactions between buyers and sellers of herbicides, pesticides, and other inputs at discounts averaging about 20%.”

Then, in 2013, he decided to focus on XSInc’s data analytics services and divest itself of the XSAg platform. To his great satisfaction, the buyer was one of his long-time employees, Jeff Stow, who renamed the business FarmTrade.com to avoid confusion with Breen’s XSInc ag analytics business.

“We are still a family business,”

says Stow,

“and we’ve only enhanced the name-your-price approach for buyers with our unique ‘Dutch auction’ approach. Instead of sellers offering prices they’ll take; on our site, buyers offer prices they’ll pay. They wait until a seller meets their offer and we make a small commission; simple as that.” Stow adds, “We even hold the buyer’s money in escrow until they take delivery; eliminating that element of risk for all of us involved.”

Farmers Business Network (FBN) launched in 2014, with a former Google exec at the helm, and attracted $571 million in the capital. They are seen by some as a threat to disrupt ag retailing the way Amazon.com has turned malls into ghost towns. Brick-and-mortar ag retailers feel pressured to adopt the “if you can’t lick ’em, join ’em” response to the impending migration to e-commerce on their own websites. Alas, many are finding there’s little or no margin left for them when farmers are finding input costs at or below what manufacturers are charging the ag retailers as “middlemen”!

Between XSAg.com (now FarmTrade.com) and FBN, other e-merchants have emerged. In fact, Farm Journal magazine began surveying farmers with at least 500 acres of corn on their use of e-commerce sites in 2018. The most recent data is from the 2019 survey compiled last November. Farm Journal’s Margy Eckelkamp cited three key take-aways:

• Farmers’ purchase intentions tend to exceed what they actually do online.
• Their experience drives their online purchase decisions, with the price the number one factor, followed by the availability of products, ease of the purchasing process, the delivery process, and consulting available for specific questions.
• Online purchases vary by input category. The highest interest is for crop chemicals (63% in 2019 with indications this would jump to 75% for 2020); followed by seed (42%); then fertilizer (19%).

When Farm Journal asked farmers to list online retailers they use, 14 different e-commerce sites were mentioned among nearly 400 respondents from 36 states and are shown below:

Most noteworthy to me is that despite its enormous capital infusions, relentless promotion, and offering the entire array of ag input products, FBN is still only slightly higher in the percentage of farmers using it than FarmTrade.com, which specializes in crop protection inputs only.

FarmTrade’s Stow says

“When we purchased the XSAg business in 2013, we were excited about our new direction and value proposition but didn’t expect the success we’ve had since our very first year.”

When asked to explain why Stow says

“it’s a combination of earning intense customer loyalty, the word-of-mouth referrals we get from them, and attracting channel members (vendors) with the hottest input products.” 

That 2019 Farm Journal farmer survey also reported the most important factors farmers consider in choosing e-commerce over their regular ag retailer here:

Stow says those top influences in Fig. 2 are right in line with their own experience at FarmTrade and have guided their own site development. I’ve also learned consultants to traditional brick-and-mortar retailers feeling threatened by e-commerce are telling them not to count on the “personal, face-to-face relationship with their salespeople” to immunize them from the lure of e-commerce competitors. Why? Among Gen X, Gen Z and Millennial generations of farmers, brand and dealer loyalty are a distant second to saving time and money.

Some consulting firms are even advising ag retailers to do a careful cost analysis for the extra services they “bundle” with their input sales to “justify” prices for inputs to the farmer. One put the reasoning starkly and bluntly:

“I tell them that if they couldn’t charge for those perks and services a la carte on an invoice, they ought to stop offering them, save the cost, and trim their input prices instead to compete with these aggressive, penny-pinching e-commerce platforms.” 

The consensus among those focused on the future of ag retailing says it will always demand price competitiveness for crop inputs. They add it will create the opportunity to charge for actionable analytics using the farmer’s precision ag data as a separate profit center. Others I monitor predict the next megatrend driving such analytics will be the incorporation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the farmer’s precision ag data. It will churn out the most profitable prescription on a field-by-field basis in a matter of minutes. But that’s grist for another article on another day!

Source: Perfect Fit Presentation

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