Machinery - General

Trump Signals More DEF Rollbacks, Pushes Manufacturers to Lower Equipment Costs

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 20:12:45 GMT

In front of a gathering of farmers, ranchers and growers at the White House, President Trump and EPA announced new guidance that will remove the DEF sensor requirements, which the Small Business Administration (SBA) estimates will save farmers $4.4 billion a year and translate into $13.79 billion for Americans. Administrator Lee Zeldin says the move impacts farmers, truckers, motor coach operators and other diesel equipment operators.

“I have heard from truck drivers, farmers and many others complaining about DEF and pleading for a fix in all 50 states I visited during my first year as EPA administrator,” Zeldin says. “Americans are justified in being fed up with failing DEF system issues. EPA understands this is a massive issue and has been doing everything in our statutory power to address this. Today, we take another step in furthering our work by removing DEF sensors. Farmers and truckers should not be losing billions of dollars because of repair costs or days lost on the job.”

Every farmer now has the Right to Repair their own equipment thanks to President Trump. It’s crazy that our talented farmers were being prevented from doing this previously. This announcement is about common sense. Farmers will be able to spend more time in the field and less… pic.twitter.com/4hROUN45EU
— Lee Zeldin (@epaleezeldin) March 27, 2026

New Guidelines Focus on DEF Sensors

EPA says that sudden speed losses and shutdowns caused by DEF system failures compromise safety and productivity. It calls the issue unacceptable and problematic. In a release, EPA says it plans to continue to pursue all legal avenues to address Americans’ complaints. On Feb. 3, 2026, EPA demanded critical data on DEF system failures from the manufacturers that account for over 80% of all products used in DEF systems. This information will arm EPA with what it needs to permanently address DEF system failures. Thus far, the agency has received data from 11 of the 14 manufacturers, and in less than a month, EPA has turned around preliminary findings to issue today’s guidance, demonstrating Administrator Zeldin’s commitment to fixing this issue.

“Today, by eliminating DEF mandates, the Trump Administration is taking yet another step to free up hardworking Americans to focus on the vital work of feeding, clothing, building, and fueling our nation,” says SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler. “I applaud Administrator Zeldin for his leadership on this issue, and I look forward to our continued collaboration to cut red tape for small businesses across the U.S. food supply chain.”

Several ag equipment manufacturers were highlighted during the event at the White House, including John Deere. The company weighed in EPA’s latest announcement about DEF.

“John Deere applauds the EPA’s leadership to provide as much flexibility through agency guidance as possible to limit the frequency of false DEF-quality inducements,” says Kyle Gilley, vice president for global government affairs at John Deere. “Today’s announcement builds upon EPA guidance from February 2026, requested by John Deere, to provide farmers additional tools to complete emissions-related repairs. These announcements are a win for farmers and their ability to keep modern equipment operating in the field.”

EPA says the preliminary review of the warranty data suggests that DEF sensor failures are a significant source of warranty claims and DEF-related inducements. The agency’s new guidance makes clear that under existing regulations, manufacturers can stop inaccurate DEF system failures by removing traditional emission sensors, known as Urea Quality Sensors, and switching to nitrous oxide (NOx) sensors.

EPA also affirms that approved NOx sensor-based software updates can be installed on existing engines without being treated as illegal tampering under the Clean Air Act. This is in line with EPA’s February 2026 Right to Repair clarification guidance , which removed a major barrier keeping farmers from fixing their faulty DEF systems in the field. EPA anticipates the switch will greatly curb errors that traditional sensor technologies have been prone to and reduce the issues Americans face with inaccurate DEF failures.

For more information, see EPA’s Diesel Exhaust Fluid .

Trump Calls on Manufacturers to Lower Equipment Prices If DEF Rolled Back

During Friday’s event, Trump also spoke about the rising complexity and cost of modern farm equipment.

“When you buy a tractor today, you spend 50 percent of your time fixing the environmental — I say environmental impact statement garbage that’s on the tractor,” he says.

He adds that equipment often includes computerized systems that can shut down tractors unnecessarily, increasing repair costs.

“I said to the head of John Deere, ‘Is this a good thing or a bad thing?’ He said, sir, you have no idea how bad it is. It’s made our tractors so complicated. … We want to go back to the old ways, sir. And I said, I agree with you 100 percent.”

During remarks at the event at the White House today, President Trump said EPA is working to further roll back DEF-related requirements and pushed manufacturers to cut equipment costs:

“You’re going to lower the cost of a tractor… they’re going to be able to very shortly…
— Tyne Morgan (@Tyne_Ag) March 27, 2026

The president says the administration is looking into further rolling back DEF requirements, but as he does, he is also urging manufacturers to reduce equipment prices for farmers if the added environmental regulation costs are no longer there.

“Lee (Zeldin), I think we can say, I know you’re in the process of cutting out massive amounts of nonsense that are mandated to be put on your tractors, that all of your trucks that cost your fortune…and I know that they’re going to do this. And I asked one thing, you got to promise me one thing. You’re not going to take any profits. You’re going lower the cost of a tractor. I want you to lower the costs. And if they don’t lower the course, you’ll let me know. And I’ll have to do a big number of those companies. Okay? They’re going to be able to, very shortly, produce a bigger, better tractor and substantially less money. It’s going to be better. It’s gonna be a better tractor at substantially less,” Trump says.

He adds that future tractors will be simpler, more reliable and less expensive.

“I want John Deere and Case and all of the great companies … to give it to you in the form of lower tractor and equipment costs. And I think it’s going to have a huge impact,” he says.

President Trump then directed EPA Administrator Zeldin to explore ways to require, or mandate, manufacturers to lower the cost of farm equipment.

EPA’s guidance issued on Friday is part of a broader effort to address complaints from farmers, truckers and other diesel equipment operators about DEF system failures that cause equipment shutdowns, but Trump says more action on DEF is currently underway.

EPA Updates A/C Rules: What Farmers Need to Know

Tue, 30 Sep 2025 13:53:51 GMT

EPA has again revised standards for refrigerant used in vehicles.

R-12 refrigerant (aka “Freon”) was the go-to coolant for more than 50 years. Then it was discovered that chlorine atoms in escaped R-12 molecules accumulated in the atmosphere and damaged the ozone layer.

A new refrigerant, R-134a, came out in 1991 and replaced R-12’s miscreant chlorine atom with a fluorine atom — which breaks down in 10 to 12 years.

To further minimize damage to the environment, another new refrigerant, R-1234yf, was developed and replaced R-134a’s fluorine atom with a propylene atom — which breaks down in one day.

A transition to R-1234yf is underway. Professional mechanics who use refrigerant recovery and recycling (R&R) machines must have special training and EPA Section 609 certification to buy more than 2 lb. of R-1234yf.

Necessary Adjustments
Cans of R-1234yf are at auto parts stores and have Schrader-type valves, which need a matching fitting on R&R machines or sets of pressure gauges.

Older R-134a refrigerant and new R-1234yf refrigerant are not interchangeable. The propylene atoms in R-1234yf make it mildly flammable. For that reason, newer systems are designed with spark-free compressors and other components.

If farmers have on-farm R&R machines, they can be carefully flushed between exposures to R-134a and R-1234yf, but the newer refrigerant is slightly caustic. Long-term exposure to R-1234yf can damage internal components in machines designed for R-134a.

Farmers who own a set of air conditioning gauges have a similar situation.

“You can buy adapters to hook up an R-134a set of gauges to a R-1234yf system,” says Jeff Weidecke, trainer for MasterCool refrigerant handling systems. “If a guy has an R-134a set of gauges and uses adapter fittings, he’s going to start the vehicle up, disconnect from whatever keg or 1 lb. can they’re using and turn on the machine’s air conditioning system so the clutch and compressor engage. Any R-134a refrigerant left in the hoses will be boiled off and pulled into the vehicle’s R-134a system. Then you can run R-1234yf through those gauges to check or fill a system.”

Weidecke notes that because R-1234yf is a more efficient than R-134a, compressors and other air conditioning system components are smaller, and less refrigerant is used.

“The factory-fill for a lot of new cars is only 12 to 14 ounces,” he says.

Machinery Pete's Advice For 'Young' Farmers

Fri, 13 Jun 2025 18:41:08 GMT

What a life young producers have ahead. You’ve got your own canvas to paint. But if you permit it, there are a few gray-haired words of wisdom the old auction price guy would like to affectionately direct your way.

Keep Your Head on a Swivel
My father, who is now 87, gave me this advice in November 1989 when I set sail trying to help farmers, dealers, bankers and auctioneers better understand what used equipment is worth. Train yourself to seek out information from varied sources, be inquisitive and watch what folks are paying attention to. There are valuable insights waiting.

Stubbornness is an Asset – Sometimes
Believing in yourself, even if others don’t, is your No. 1 job. When I applied for our first home loan 33 years ago, the lender spouted off stats on how many new small businesses fail and said, “Sorry, no can do on that loan.” Rejection was like rocket fuel to me. I pushed harder and took on two part-time jobs. But the trick I’ve learned over the decades is knowing when to harness that stubbornness. Using it all the time isn’t pretty or easy for your loved ones to live with.

Eye Contact
A while back in the “Ag Twitterverse,” someone asked, “What’s one piece of advice you would give to a young person?” My reply: Eye contact. We live in an increasingly impersonal world. Technology is marvelous, but people skills are suffering greatly. The seemingly simple act of establishing and holding good eye contact with the people you are talking to is becoming extinct. There’s a golden opportunity for young folks, whether in ag or not, to stand out and get noticed. Hold good eye contact and listen well. Trust me, it will bring untold opportunities both in business and in your personal life.

It’s About Story
You might have noticed folks want to buy furniture, clothes and food with a story to it. There’s a huge opportunity there. By all means, look for ways to make your operation more efficient. But also think about new and different ways to tell the story of what you are producing. Take it from the data guy, when you tell a little story from your heart and personalize what you are selling, whatever it is becomes worth more money.

This 2001 John Deere 8210 Gold Key Tour certified tractor sold for a record $132,500.

Take this 2001 John Deere 8210 Gold Key Tour certified tractor with 3,059 hours and one owner for example. On March 22 in West Unity, Ohio, we filmed a Machinery Pete auction preview video. The late owner, David Buehrer, took great care of his equipment. His wife, Lynne, told me, “I can’t show you the Gold Key. We put it with David in his casket.”

His son, Nate, said, “Dad taught me to never have the radio on in the tractor, combine or truck because we had to listen to our equipment.”

The machine sold for $132,500 – breaking the record auction price that had been in place for 13 years by $17,500. The story matters.

Your Next Read: 5 Options to Consider During Farmland Transitions

Grit, Grease, and Gears: Meet the Colorado Teen Breathing New Life into Old Tractors

Tue, 25 Mar 2025 20:01:34 GMT

Colorado teenager Tyson Hansen is a shining example of that old saying “If you start them young…”

That’s because Hansen, 17, has cultivated a rare passion for buying and restoring classic tractors. It is a passion passed down from his great grandfather, who started the Hansen family farm and pieced together a massive tractor fleet over the years.

“He had over 200-some tractors, mostly two-cylinder, and when he passed, they had the big auction and my dad bought one to remember him by, and well now it’s our family tractor,” Hansen remembers. “My dad still talks about the first day he let me drive it, and he always says since that first ride, I was just hooked.”

The tractor that launched his lifelong love for tractors - the 1934 John Deere GP in all its glory.

(Photo courtesy of Mecum Auctions)

That first taste of classic tractor heaven was on the hardened steel green seat of a 1934 John Deere GP, a popular two-plow row crop setup John Deere built and sold from 1928 to 1935.

The high school junior says he’s wrenched on about 16 to 17 classic tractors at this point, all while participating in his high school FFA program and wrestling for the varsity team. And it’s not a hobby he tackles alone in a dusty, dark barn – his dad, stepmom, and brother all pitch in and help out. Because everyone knows nothing brings a family closer than bonding over busted knuckles and stripped chassis bolts.

Tyson says his family is “pretty much a John Deere family” but that he has started to feel the pull from other legacy brands.

“I started out as a John Deere guy, but I don’t even actually own any John Deeres,” he says, adding that right now his personal collection consists of two classic Case IH tractors and two Farmalls.

That doesn’t mean a young man can’t dream big, though, and Tyson’s big dream restoration project is to someday fix up a John Deere Model R.

He purchased his latest tractor, a Case 400 Super Diesel Western Special Edition with a hand clutch – one of only eight ever built, he says – with the goal of fixing it up and flipping it to raise enough cash to make that dream a reality.

“Once I got that tractor I went online and looked up some Facebook groups where the guys are all about Case, and I didn’t know anything about them at the time, so I just started asking guys for help and next thing I know within an hour I had about seven or eight texts from guys asking to buy that thing off me,” he says. “That’s when I realized that 400 is a little rarer than I figured it would have been.”

His Case 400 is also going to end up helping his fellow students in the FFA program. Tyson’s FFA teacher has asked him to bring the 400 in and is going to let the young man lead his classmates through a lesson on how diesel engines work.

Work is a key word in any farming family, and the Hansen family is no different.

“I don’t know why, my dad always tells me I won’t like it when I am out of high school, but I like to work,” Hansen says. “I guess I’ve just got a working mindset – I’m not the biggest fan of sitting in the house.”

Check out Tyson Hansen’s latest Tractor Tales spotlight below, where the teen shows off his rebuilt Case 400 tractor. And subscribe to the Farm Journal YouTube channel to get all of the latest Tractor Tale videos.

Also keep an eye on U.S. Farm Report every Saturday morning for the debut of the newest Tractor Tales feature.

Your Next Read: 2001 John Deere Smashes Record With $132,500 Price Tag

From the Factory to Your Fields: Where Farm Equipment Is Made

Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:55:14 GMT

The global agriculture equipment market is currently valued at $181 billion (USD) and is expected to grow by 4% over the next eight years. That’s according to a recent analysis from global consulting firm IMARC Group.

While IMARC Group pegs Asia-Pacific as the leading region for farm equipment manufacturing market share, it would stand to reason most of those machines are being sold to farmers in that region. The farm equipment U.S. farmers use is most commonly built in Europe, North America and South America.

Brand Breakdown
For example, John Deere’s manufacturing footprint is mainly based in North America. Of the 60 John Deere machines relevant to row-crop producers, 50 of them (83%) are manufactured in North America. Drilling down further, the three states with the largest John Deere manufacturing presence are:

Iowa at 61%
North Dakota at 17%
Illinois at 15%

Case IH builds 66% of its row-crop machines throughout North America, while 24% of them are manufactured in Europe.

Fellow CNH brand New Holland maintains a fairly balanced manufacturing presence between Europe (30%) and North America (43%).

AGCO’s Germany-based brand, Fendt, builds 57% of its row-crop machines in the European Union (EU) with North America hosting roughly 43% of its manufacturing. Claas has a large manufacturing presence in Europe, but it also manufactures its LEXION combine in Omaha, Neb., and has facilities in Columbus, Ind., and Regina, Saskatchewan.

McCormick and Landini machines are built entirely in EU factories. In contrast, Buhler Industries’ manufacturing footprint is fully based in North America.

Check out the data to see where your favorite tractor, planter, sprayer, combine and other farm machines are built in 2025.

Click here to download a printable version of the table above.

Your Next Read: Casey Seymour and Machinery Pete Join Forces on the Moving Iron Podcast

Casey Seymour and Machinery Pete Join Forces on the Moving Iron Podcast

Fri, 07 Feb 2025 14:11:20 GMT

With farmers tightening their budgetary belts during a challenging economic time, the equipment market is going through significant changes. Those changes trigger plenty of questions. Is now a good time to buy? Is it better to wait and see how the market evolves in the coming year? Are prices even on used equipment going to continue to climb?

Who better to answer these questions than Casey Seymour and Greg “Machinery Pete” Peterson, two of the industry’s most trusted experts? And you can now hear them together. Seymour’s popular weekly Moving Iron podcast has moved to the Farm Journal podcast network and Peterson has joined as co-host.

“I’m excited about joining the Farm Journal podcast network and even more excited that I get to share this time with the one and only Greg ‘Machinery Pete’ Peterson,” Seymour says on the debut episode. Peterson shares that feeling, congratulating his new partner on building a large and loyal audience for both the podcast and the annual Moving Iron Summit event. “You’ve done great work and I’m excited to be part of it,” Peterson says.

Growers, dealers and anyone interested in the ag equipment marketplace will be just as excited. Each week the dynamic duo will explore and analyze news and trends in the business of ag equipment and the auction market. Episodes also will feature a dealer spotlight and a segment on technology. On their debut episode, Seymour and Peterson are joined by Shawn Hackett, climate and commodities expert, and Aaron Fintel, a used equipment specialist.

The discussion in the first episode ranges far and wide, as they dive into the boom-and-bust cycles in agriculture as well as in sales of ag equipment. Last year saw dealers taking an unprecedented volume of late-model equipment to the auction market, and the hosts don’t see that trend continuing into the new year. While they foresee the market’s recovery taking time, farmers and dealers could notice changes by the fourth quarter of 2025, even late in the third quarter.

As far as when to buy, Peterson says, “Don’t sit back too long because things are starting to firm up.” He adds that dealers he’s spoken to have been pleasantly surprised by an uptick in sales in December and January. Seymour attributes his optimism to a number of factors, such as decreasing interest rates, a slowing auction market, rising commodity prices and pent-up buying demand. He says, “There’s going to be a little more money out there by the end of the year.”

Watch the full episode of Moving Iron.

Your Next Read: Machinery Pete Explains Why 2025 Could Be a Great Year to Buy Equipment

A Farmer Can Dream, Right? Tesla Robots As the Farm Labor Force of the Future?

Thu, 24 Oct 2024 18:24:44 GMT

With a visual form ripped straight from a skin-crawl inducing robot thriller, Tesla’s new AI-bot, Optimus, is eliciting strong reactions from tech advocates and flip-phone touting technophobes.

Let’s indulge our imaginations for just a second and imagine how a farmer could put one of Musk’s $20,000 helper robots to work around the family farm in, say, the year 2040. I use 2040 because, even though the prototypes in the video below look awesome, it turns out the AI behind it needs more work before any farmer would feel safe setting a squad of them loose on the farm.

Our own Clinton Griffiths was also inspired by Optimus’ unveiling. In his upcoming column in the November issue of Farm Journal, Clinton gets right to the heart of the issue, and that’s whether the bots will pan out on the farm?

The real test, he writes, “will be whether it can keep its glossy finish motoring along regardless of whether or not the field is mud-free.”

I couldn’t agree more, Clinton. Serving up fancy drinks during an unveiling party on a glitzy Hollywood film studio lot is one thing. Standing up to all the dust and heat and tough conditions of your average farm or ranch is a different beast altogether.

In that vein, we offer up the following farm chore list Optimus can take over from here on out.

No, seriously Opti, you don’t need our permission. Just go ahead and take care of these few little things every single day for the rest of time, and we’ll be off, I don’t know, fishing at the lake with the kids, rocking on the front porch, or something.

Farm equipment maintenance tech
Director of crop protection jug disposal
Backpack spraying around-the-clock weed warrior
Chief grain bin inspector
Head ladder climber
Irrigation pivot inspector general
Head high in July crop scout
Pig loader and unloader extraordinaire
Master bottle mixer and calf feeder

Now that you’ve read my list, I’m curious how you would use a robot that walks, talks and moves like a real human (and never gets tired, bored or spends 20 minutes staring at its phone) on your farm? or click

Share your robot wish list by clicking the green “Respond Here” button or click here .

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Trump Threatens 200% Tariff If Deere Moves Manufacturing to Mexico

Tue, 24 Sep 2024 01:39:32 GMT

Former President Donald Trump on Monday made significant statements regarding John Deere and its plans to move some production to Mexico. Trump threatened to impose a 200% tariff on John Deere products if the company proceeds with its plan to relocate some of its manufacturing operations to Mexico. He made this announcement during a policy roundtable in Smithton, Penn., organized by the Protecting America Initiative.

Trump’s threat comes in response to John Deere’s recent announcement about moving some of its production to Mexico, which has already resulted in job cuts at certain facilities in Iowa. Trump expressed concern about the impact on American workers, stating, “It’s hurting our country. It’s hurting our workers.”

When contacted for a response, John Deere referred to a section on its website titled “Deere Commitment to U.S. Manufacturing,” which highlights its investments in American facilities and workforce. The company stated that to keep its U.S. factories focused on high-value activities, it sometimes needs to move less complex operations, such as cab assembly, to other locations.

Following Trump’s remarks, shares of Deere fell approximately 1.6% in after-hours trading shortly after the market closed on Monday.

This threat to John Deere appears to be an extension of Trump’s economic policy, which has consistently emphasized the use of tariffs. He has previously made similar threats to automakers producing vehicles in Mexico. Trump’s focus on protecting American manufacturing jobs is a key element of his campaign strategy, particularly in battleground states like Pennsylvania where he held this event.

Trump’s comments about John Deere seem to have been spontaneous, inspired by John Deere tractors displayed at the event venue. This marks the first time Trump has specifically targeted John Deere with such a threat, expanding his tariff warnings beyond the automotive industry to include agricultural equipment manufacturers.

A Look at the USMCA

Several aspects of the USMCA, negotiated by the Trump administration, help facilitate U.S. manufacturers like John Deere moving some production to Mexico:

Duty-free access: The USMCA maintains duty-free trade between the U.S. and Mexico for most goods, allowing companies to manufacture in Mexico and export back to the U.S. without tariffs.
Rules of origin: The USMCA has rules of origin requirements that goods must meet to qualify for duty-free treatment. Manufacturing in Mexico can help companies meet these requirements for North American content.
Increased regional content requirements: The USMCA raises the regional value content (RVC) requirement for automobiles from 62.5% under NAFTA to 75%. This incentivizes more production and sourcing within North America, including Mexico.
Labor Value Content (LVC) provision: The agreement requires 40-45% of auto content to be made by workers earning at least $16 per hour. This can make Mexico an attractive option for U.S. companies looking to meet this requirement while still benefiting from lower overall labor costs. While the USMCA includes stricter labor standards for Mexico, wages are still significantly lower than in the U.S. for most workers. Mexican workers often make 3-4 times less than U.S. counterparts. • Streamlined supply chains: The USMCA facilitates the movement of goods between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada by reducing trade barriers and tariffs. This makes it easier for U.S. companies to integrate Mexican operations into their supply chains.

Potential for Relocation

The USMCA rules may encourage some manufacturers to relocate certain production processes within North America to meet content requirements, which could involve significant upfront costs but potentially lead to long-term savings.

Your Next Read: EXCLUSIVE: John Deere Speaks Publicly For the First Time About Layoffs, New Challenges in the Ag Economy

EXCLUSIVE: John Deere Speaks Publicly For the First Time About Layoffs, New Challenges in the Ag Economy

Fri, 26 Jul 2024 14:14:35 GMT

John Deere recently laid off a significant number of salaried employees as part of the company’s ongoing workforce reductions. The official number of layoffs is still unknown but are part of a broader trend of workforce reductions at John Deere, which have been ongoing for several months.

Cory Reed, president of the company’s Worldwide Agriculture & Turf Division for Production and Precision Ag , spoke publicly about the layoffs for the first time in an exclusive interview with U.S. Farm Report this week.

What You Need to Know

Reed addressed everything from the recent layoffs to the company’s decision to move a small portion of its production to Mexico. Here are highlights from Farm Journal’s exclusive interview:

John Deere says recent layoffs of both its salaried and production workforce are due to lower net farm income, higher interest rates and market volatility.
Reed says John Deere expects equipment sales to be down 20% in 2024, due to economic pressures on the farm.
John Deere is addressing cost concerns by reducing the prices of some new technologies, such as the See & Spray retrofit kit.
John Deere is investing in automation to improve manufacturing efficiency and reliability.
Reed emphasized the job cuts are unrelated to the 2021 strike by production workers.
He also stressed that John Deere’s decision to move its cab production to Mexico is separate, saying that production site in Mexico has been in operation for nearly 70 years, calling it “an important part of our global footprint.”

The Reality of the Farm Economy

USDA is forecasting net farm income in 2024 to be $116.1 billion, which is a 25.5% drop from 2023 following a 16% drop in 2023 versus 2022. Those two consecutive years of significant decline mark the largest drop in net farm income in U.S. history.

“Net farm income is expected to be down in the mid to high 20s, and when that happens, and commodity prices pull back, interest rates are a little bit higher and we see volatility in the weather, it creates uncertainty that interrupts demand. We’re experiencing that today. Looking out across our industry, we’re expecting to be off roughly 20% year-over-year from 2023,” Reed told U.S. Farm Report.

USDA’s 2023 and 2024 Net Farm Income projections point to the largest drop in history.

(Lori Hayes )

The mounting economic pressures are showing up across the equipment industry. The latest Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) flash report released in June showed just how drastic of a drop the ag equipment sector is currently experiencing. AEM’s report showed combine sales in June dropped 31% compared to last year. Total farm tractor sales were down 16%.

While the company forecasts equipment demand to fall 20% overall in 2024, Reed says the second half of the year looks to be even more challenging than the first.

“We kind of have the tale of two ends of the year, “ he says. “If you looked at the front half of the year, in fact, if you took the large row-crop tractor business, what you would have seen is a market that was still peaking in the April and May time frame. A lot of buyers were in the market, based off of performance last year. As we hit May and going into June, used inventory levels started to grow and you saw buyers starting to pull back. Those trade differentials look different for them, and they started pulling back at a faster rate.”

As farmers pull back on purchasing new equipment, the short-term market outlook is hard to project, according to John Deere.

“I think what you see is markets that are cycling faster today. When you see what was going on in the commodity market, it’s been more volatile here recently. So obviously, we’d like to have better predictability of those things. What I would tell you is the long-term outlook for global commodities grown here in the U.S. still look really strong. We’re still bullish on that,” Reed says. “It’s the reason that even when we see these cycles potentially coming, we invest directly through them. We’ve never invested more in research dollars than we did this year, and in the next five years we will invest more than we have over the past five years. That’s a testament to what we believe about the future of the agricultural industry. We’re doing that around the world.”

John Deere Says Layoffs Are Unrelated to 2021 Strike

With the drop in equipment demand, came cuts to the salaried workforce this week. But the company had already cut more than 1,800 workers in its Iowa and Illinois production facilities.

In October 2021, those same production sites were in the news after 10,000 production workers went on strike . But a month later, John Deere and the United Auto Workers (UAW) Union reached a new six-year deal. With a 20% increase in pay granted by John Deere, UAW ended its month-long strike. But Reed says the job cuts today are not tied to that.

“Certainly, cost, availability and reliability of labor in the workforce is a factor all the time. Cuts right now are not related to that, they’re related to demand,” he adds.

As a result, Reed says John Deere is turning internally to manage its own cost structure, which means layoffs. Those started last September and have accelerated in 2024.

“We don’t like making workforce adjustments. We don’t. But that’s all about the cost structure we have, so we can hold the line on costs. We’re deploying more of our engineering resources to cost-reduce each part without sacrificing any reliability, durability or quality. We’re doing that in a big way,” Reeds adds.

John Deere has committed to providing severance packages to the affected employees. The packages include up to 12 months of severance pay based on years of service, pro-rated pay based on short- and long-term incentives, payment for unused vacation or paid time off, ongoing access to health and wellness benefits and a year of professional job placement services.

The Question on Every Farmer’s Mind

The question on every farmer’s mind: Does John Deere have any plans to cut the price of equipment? Reed says John Deere is addressing cost concerns by reducing the prices of some new technologies, such as the See & Spray retrofit kit.

“We’re taking some of our latest technologies, and we’re cutting the upfront price of it,” Reed says. “If you take See & Spray, which is a great example, that product would normally cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to add to a machine. We lowered the upfront price for a retrofit kit to be able to put it on for tens of thousands of dollars. A customer who wants to manage their herbicide cost differently has the opportunity to buy into that, on an acre-by-acre basis, and only pay based on what they save.”

John Deere’s Decision to Move Cab Production to Mexico

John Deere is also catching some backlash for its decision to move its cab operations from Waterloo, Iowa, to Mexico, which impacts a couple hundred U.S. jobs. According to Reed, John Deere’s production site in Mexico has been in operation for nearly 70 years. What started in 1956 became one of the company’s first operations outside the U.S., and Reed calls it “an important part of our global footprint.”

“First and foremost, it’s important to understand that the movement of certain components or products to Mexico is entirely separate from what we’ve seen in terms of layoffs today,” Reed says. “When we move a product, we make the announcement and say, ‘This portion of this product is going to move here.’ And by the way, we’re doing that all the time. It’s a part of what we do in our global network.”

Reed says what’s not reported when John Deere makes such an announcement is how they are replacing their production in the U.S. with the manufacturing of a new product or piece of equipment. While the cab production might be moving to Mexico, he says they are now building the new 9RX 830-hp four-wheel drive tractor there.

“If you drove to Waterloo today and went into the operations, what you’d see is that brand new tractor going down the very place in the factory where those cabs were manufactured before,” Reed says.

What John Deere Wants Farmers to Know

As John Deere aims to align production inventory levels with current market demands, the down cycle of agriculture is hitting all of the industry hard, but Reed says he’s still bullish on agriculture long-term. When asked what he wanted farmers to know, Reed’s message was this:

“We have 80,000 employees in the company. We wake up every day with the same purpose. That purpose is quality, innovation, integrity and commitment to our customers. We want to grow value on each and every one of those farms. We want to do it in a way that every day they wake up, with every pass they make through the field, they have confidence they’ve partnered with someone in the industry, John Deere and our John Deere dealers, working to drive value, working to drive profitability, on each and every one of their farms,” Reed says.

You can watch the full interview with Reed here.

As Farmers Look to Cut Costs for 2025, Machinery and Technology Could Take the Biggest Hit

Fri, 31 May 2024 16:24:27 GMT

Commodity prices have seen a bit of a rebound over the past month, but even with optimism beginning to surface with prices, agricultural economists think net farm income could fall more than expected, and the fallout could be felt with just how much farmers scale back what they purchase over the next year.

The May Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor , a joint survey of nearly 70 ag economists conducted by the University of Missouri and Farm Journal, is one metric to help gauge the health of the ag economy. As global weather and geopolitical events continue to impact the markets, ag economists grew slightly more optimistic on the health of the overall ag economy in the past month.

“I think you can look at things like crops in South America, you know, we’ve had some disease issues in places like Argentina, we’ve had some wet weather in Brazil, some of those things, I think, have been helpful to boost prices at the same time. The wheat situation in Russia, I think, has also been important in terms of prices,” says Scott Brown, interim director, Rural and Farm Finance Policy Analysis Center (RaFF), University of Missouri.

(Farm Journal)

Brown helps author the Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor, and he says the May Monitor shows even with more optimism for some commodities, ag economists’ views on the net farm income picture slightly eroded over the past month, falling from the $117.82 billion projected in the April survey, to $110.4 billion in May.

“I think it’s important to remind ourselves, the changes happen really quickly,” Brown says. “The volatility up and down, is going to continue in front of us. So, although we generally say the trend is down, there will be opportunities for better prices in front of us at times.”

(Farm Journal)

Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist for StoneX, is one of the nearly 70 ag economists surveyed each month. He says even with the global grain and oilseed supply weather issues around the globe, his outlook on the ag economy hasn’t changed course.

“I don’t think it really has, if anything, I think it’s become a little bit more challenging,” Suderman says. “But I say that within the context. I think that the new world we’re in is going to have more challenges. But those challenges will also create more opportunities. It just means we’re going to have to be more strategic. We went through several years where you could be a lazy marketer and do pretty well - build equity in your farm, expand your operation and buy equipment. We’re going to have to be more strategic in it now. And I think the opportunities are going to be there for the person willing to do so.”

Farmers Forced to Cut Costs

Last month’s survey found nearly 80% of ag economists think current commodity prices, plus higher input and operating costs will spur consolidation within the row crop sector. This month, the survey asked what purchasing decisions may take a hit in the months ahead.

At the top of the list of purchase changes for 2025 was decisions regarding equipment. When asked if farmers would reduce machinery purchases for 2025, 50% of ag economists responded “most likely,” and the other 50% said “somewhat likely.”

“It seemed scaling back on machinery purchases was really the number one purchase change, and I don’t think that’s a big surprise. Almost everyone thought that was one place where we would see cutbacks in terms of trying to reduce costs,” Brown says.

“I think in the short-term, that is the easy answer is they’ll scale back on equipment purchases, and we’ve seen that,” Suderman says. “We would also anticipate them to scale back on some of those fertilizers that have less short-term impact, maybe phosphorus, potassium, some of those. I think farmers will stick with the seed technology, they’ll stick with the technology they think gives them the efficiencies that they need in their production.”

Economists point out machinery purchases are likely to slow, which will reduce capital costs, but could also potentially increase repair and maintenance expenditures.

(Farm Journal)

Another change ag economists think farmers will make is to slow technology upgrades. 35% responded a move to scale back technology upgrades is “most likely,” and 41% said “somewhat likely.”

The May Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor also found ag economists think more farmers will make the switch to more generic products, with 73% surveyed responding with “somewhat likely.”

Economists also think another change for the upcoming year could be looking for lower interest rates. 65% said “somewhat likely,” 27% said “most likely.”

“I think for producers, in terms of what they want to add in 2025, are already beginning to focus on the changes they can make to be more efficient,” Brown says. “This idea of how to reduce costs when the prices for those inputs maybe aren’t going to change as much as they would like, and how to manage those margins, there is really going to be some opportunities to do that to try to make 2025 a better year.”

Economists Paint Mixed Picture on Price Outlook

As farmer possibly look at ways to cut back on spending, volatile commodity prices have become the new norm for farmers. As economists point out, the direction of commodity prices also now hinges on more than just supply and demand.

“Well, I think the biggest impact is probably geopolitical risks, and the advent of the funds, trying to interpret all of that,” Suderman says. “And as you look at the management of billions of dollars now invested in commodities, either being long and buying them or being short selling them, based on what they see happening in geopolitics, based on what they see in the economy, are we in a re-inflation period? Are we in commodity deflation period? And that’s really driving the economy, more than the actual supply and demand fundamentals.”

(Farm Journal)

Still, Suderman and other economists say in the short-term, the outlook for grain prices will center around supply and what happens with weather. One of the major wildcards for the summer is the transition from El Nino to La Nina, and not only how quickly it occurs, but what areas of the U.S. crop and cattle production could be hit by dry and hot weather.

Suderman still thinks the health of the U.S. and global economies will be a critical piece to watch over the next 12 months, particularly if we reestablish inflation.

Other economists also pointed to inflation in the May Monthly Monitor. “I expect a return of inflation and tighter credit due to expanding Congressional spending and the expanding national debt,” said one economist in the anonymous survey.

Beef Prices and Demand

The inflation piece is something Suderman says could impact both grain and livestock prices, especially considering demand and the health of global economy will have a major impact on prices as we test just how much consumers are willing to pay.

“We’re in a world economy where imports of beef in the first quarter of this year were up 25% year on year. So, when we get too expensive, we simply import more. And then the consumer is the driver of what that the demand factor is moving forward,” Suderman says. “If we keep the consumer confidence and we prop it up, they’re willing to pay more, which means import more but holding up our domestic prices. If they’re not, then those imports start to overwhelm us and pressures beef prices even more.”

(Farm Journal)

Pork Price Outlook

Impressive export demand has also been a bright spot for U.S. pork producers. The strong export picture has propelled prices for hog producers across the U.S., which helps paint a more positive picture for an industry that was hit hard over the past 12 to 14 months.

“Hog prices, I think, have been the surprise, and a surprise in a good way,” Brown says. “We started 2024 with lower prices. Generally, those in the survey answering about pork prices would have been slightly more optimistic relative to the last. So, I think when you look at where wholesale pork prices are today, they could be supportive of yet higher hog prices.”

Brown points out consumer demand is also a major factor for the trajectory of hog prices the remainder of the year.

“If consumer demand were to slow, and that’s just as much international demand that has the attention of the economist in terms of international demand has been good for pork this year, if it were to waver in the second half, that could be more troubling for where we’re at the pork market,” Brown says.

What else are economists saying about the ag economy? You can view previous Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor updates here .

John Deere Introduces 326 P-Tier Compact Wheel Loader

Wed, 31 Jan 2024 15:39:03 GMT

John Deere announces the release of its new 326 P-Tier telescopic compact wheel loader. The 326 P-Tier telescopic compact wheel loader offers 16-plus feet of reach from its telescopic lift arm while still being compact enough to work in barns or other tight spaces.

“Operators will enjoy it for the cab visibility, the boom controls and the exclusive Articulation Plus steering system,” said Luke Gribble, John Deere go-to-market manager. “Put it all together, and the 326 P-Tier is a real multitool for the farm or ranch.”

To help guard against overloading, The Load Torque Indicator System gives visual and audible alarms if stability limits are exceeded during lifting, lowering or extension of the lift arm. In addition, a separate indicator warns of potential overload of the tilt cylinder.

“Features like these help make the 326 P-Tier an operator-friendly wheel loader for farmers and ranchers,” Gribble said. “And it is perfect for less-experienced operators.”

Inside the cab, operators will find a comfortable, easy-to-navigate environment. A 9-inch touchscreen display puts key information within easy view, and it shows key data such as warnings, status and machine-positioning information.

Conveniently placed electro-hydraulic controls offer Auto Return-to-Dig, and Auto Lift and Lower functions, and help to reduce cycle times. Optional boom-mounted lights and standard overhead window allow for a clear view to the end of the telescoping arm.

The new compact wheel loader also features a 23-mph top speed to help move quickly between jobs. And for tight turning in barns and other cramped spaces, its Articulation Plus steering system offers a full 30 degrees of articulation plus 10 additional degrees of rear-wheel steering.

To learn more about the new 326 P-Tier telescopic compact wheel loader, visit JohnDeere.com or contact your local John Deere dealer.

2024 Ag Economy: What's Causing Rural Bankers To Be Pessimistic

Thu, 25 Jan 2024 17:01:36 GMT

Creighton University has released its January Rural Mainstreet Index – a survey of bank CEOs living in rural communities across a 10-state region.

This month’s survey marks the fifth-straight month where the index has been below the growth neutral mark.

Ernie Goss, PhD, Jack A. MacAllister Chair in regional economics at Creighton University’s Heider College of Business, shares the continued pessimism from the rural bankers surveyed can be attributed to a few different things.

“We’re talking about somewhat weaker agricultural commodity prices and likewise, the higher interest rates are beginning to cut into what’s going on at the farm,” Goss shared on the AgriTalk podcast. “Also, the global economic slowdown – whether that’s in China, Asia or Europe – is having some impacts on the farm economy. That’s what bankers are telling us.”

Attitudes toward the economy, however, may be on the rise. While the January survey was still below growth-neutral with a reading of 48.1, it was actually up from December’s reading of 41.7. The index ranges between 0 and 100, with a reading of 50.0 representing growth neutral.

Goss says the long-term outlook for agriculture is still very positive, with little issues in the short-to-intermediate-term outlook – especially for ag retailers.

“Delinquencies are up a bit, but less than one percentage point – so that’s the good news. I think it’s more to do with what’s going on in rural main street businesses,” he says. “That will be the retailers and the farm equipment sellers. They’re seeing some slowdowns and that’s what bankers are seeing reporting on.”

Echoing Goss’ point is the survey’s farm equipment-sales index. In January, it dropped to a reading of 47.9 from December’s reading of 49.5 –marking the seventh time in the past eight months the number has been below growth neutral.

A Bright Spot
More optimistic areas of the survey revolved around farmland. This includes the farmland price index, which read 64.0 and has been growth neutral every month since November 2019, as well as the outlook for farmland transition.

When asked about the share of farm clients facing generational transition, the bankers expected 53.8% to transfer ownership to heirs and 42.3% to sell to other farmers in the area.

“In my judgment, there’s too much hype about the sales going to the Chinese and sales going to others outside [of the country],” Goss says. “It’s mostly within the community, and that’s good in my judgment. That bodes well in the long term for the agricultural sector.”

To hear more from Goss, listen to this episode of AgriTalk .

John Deere, SpaceX Announce Starlink Deal

Wed, 17 Jan 2024 19:08:32 GMT

Deere & Company announced an agreement with SpaceX to provide Starlink network satellite communications (SATCOM) service to farmers. Utilizing the Starlink network, this solution will allow farmers facing rural connectivity challenges to fully leverage precision agriculture technologies.

“The value of connectivity to farmers is broader than any single task or action. Connectivity unlocks vast opportunities that were previously limited or unavailable,” said Aaron Wetzel, VP of production and precision ag production systems.

The SATCOM solution will connect both new and existing machines through satellite internet service and ruggedized satellite terminals. This will enable autonomy, real-time data sharing, remote diagnostics, enhanced self-repair solutions, and machine-to-machine communication, all of which help farmers work more efficiently while minimizing downtime, according to John Deere.

“We are bringing satellite communications service to the farm at scale so farmers with cellular coverage challenges can maximize the value of connectivity to their operations,” said Jahmy Hindman, senior VP & CTO.

He adds that the SpaceX partnership “unlocks the John Deere tech stack so every farmer can fully utilize their current precision agriculture technology in addition to the new innovative solutions they will deploy in the future.”

But, by adding a third-party telematics solution into the data ecosystem, many online are wondering who controls the data (and access to it) as it passes through the Starlink system on its way to or from the Operations Center?

John Deere users with those concerns can rest assured that “we don’t anticipate any changes there, the customer still controls it,” said Mike Kool, senior product manager - connected fleets.

Kool also shared that John Deere has been working on its fleet connectivity project for the last 18-24 months. Starlink’s Leo constellation of low-orbit satelittes delivered the “high bandwidth and low latency” performance Deere was seeking.

“This solution fits our customer needs today and it also allows them to grow in the future,” said Kool. “The way I like to think about it is we’re giving our customers their time back, giving them more time to do the things they love to do. They have a very important job in feeding and clothing the world, and doing so on less arable land today. I believe wholeheartedly this will further unlock the power of our tech stack.”

Deere has yet to outline how the new Starlink features will be priced. Kool said those details are still in the works, so stay tuned.

To activate the Starlink solution, John Deere dealers will install a ruggedized Starlink terminal on compatible machines, along with a 4G LTE JDLink modem to connect the machine to the John Deere Operations Center.

The service will initially be available through a limited release in the United States and Brazil starting in the second half of 2024, according to the company.

The World's Largest Hat Collection You Have to See to Believe

Tue, 09 Jan 2024 14:22:10 GMT

In the 1960s Scott Legried’s dad was farming as well as selling livestock equipment and snowmobiles. He was on the road and would occasionally be given a hat by those with whom he did business.

“He went into the closet to get something one day and there were a bunch of hats on a shelf of different colors. He said, ‘that’s kind of pretty — it would be fun to collect some of them,’” says Scott Legried of Frost, Minn.

Scott’s father began collecting, sorting and boxing hats. Many of the hats had ties to their livelihood — working together as father and son on their family farm, which dates back to 1875.

Scott’s dad had a couple of rules when collecting hats. They had to have a patch on them or an advertisement, they couldn’t be plain, and they couldn’t have any dirty sayings, Legried says.

Over time the collection grew and his father set personal goals for the number and types of hats he wanted to collect. One of those achievements was tied to John Deere dealerships.

“He wanted to get a John Deere hat that said the state and the name of the dealership, implement dealer from every state, so all 50 states,” Legried says.

Once he had all 50 states he set out to get one from each Canadian province as well. Scott’s father passed in 2011, which means Scott oversees the thousands of hats today.

“This is still the world’s largest hat collection. We’re now at over 109,000. I would guess 115,000, if I had to take a guess,” Legried says.

Another unique feature about the hat collection is they did not collect duplicate hats, so each hat is unique. Scott has some hats displayed in his home, along the walls and on shelves in the garage.

There’s three semi loads of hats that have been boxed, documented and categorized – they did that when Guinness World Records certified the collection several years ago. Scott’s father loved collecting hats, yet he says there is something a bit ironic about the collection.

“He wasn’t a big hat wearer,” Legried says. “He wore a hat for a couple of weeks in the spring for planting and then a couple of weeks in the fall when we harvested to keep the sun out of his eyes, and that was it. Mostly in the winter he wore a stocking cap, and other than that, he didn’t wear one. That’s kind of funny.”

Scott, on the other hand, does wear hats, but he doesn’t pick from the collection. He says the hat collection is sacred.

“I’ll stare at them for a couple of minutes to remind myself of some of the companies that used to be around,” he says.

Scott enjoys the hats, but he does hope they can find a permanent home someday where more people can see them.

“My dad was my best friend, and I’m proud of the goals he reached for. It is kind of fun to reminisce about it – it reminds me of my dad,” Legried says.

To put the hat collection in perspective, if Scott wore a different hat every day, it would take 319 years to wear them all.

View more American Countryside stories from Andrew’s travels .

Nearly Two Years After Worker Strike, John Deere Lays Off 225 Workers From Harvester Works Location Indefinitely

Thu, 21 Sep 2023 13:31:30 GMT

Nearly two years after close to 10,000 John Deere workers went on strike over a labor dispute, the company is laying off more than 200 jobs from its Harvester Works location . John Deere says the round of ‘indefinite layoffs’ will happen in October.

John Deere notified workers on Wednesday about a decision to lay off 225 people from the John Deere Harvester Works facility in East Moline.

In a press release, John Deere said “Although John Deere has hired hundreds of employees in the Quad Cities in recent years, the company has consistently stated that each Deere factory balances the size of its production workforce with the needs of the individual factory to optimize the workforce at each facility.”

In the latest Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) flash report, combine sales are still on an impressive run so for this year across the industry. The report shows sales are down 2.4% in August, but when you look at the year to date totals, combine sales are up 31.8% compared to 2022.

(Farm Journal)

2021 Worker Strike

On October 14, 2021, nearly 10,000 John Deere workers went on strike. While it was feared the strike could last for months, in November of 2021, members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) Union approved a new six-year deal, which included:

$8,400 signing bonus.
20% increase in wages over the lifetime of the contract, with 10% in 2021.
Return of cost of living adjustments.
Enhanced retirement options.
Enhanced CIPP performance benefits.

Layoffs at Nation’s Automakers

Meanwhile, a labor dispute playing out with the nation’s largest truck and car manufacturers is already causing layoffs. UAW-represented workers have walked out of assembly plants in Wentzville, Missouri and Toledo, Ohio. Workers also went on strike at a Ford plant in Wayne, Michigan. Those strikes started Sept. 15, and happened after the automakers failed to reach a deal on a new contract with the union.

Those factories, which supply parts to other locations, are now causing layoffs. On Wednesday, GM said it is laying off nearly 2,000 workers at its assembly plant in Kansas due to a shortage of parks caused by the strike.

Detroit automakers are becoming more vocal about rejecting the UAW’s new contract demands, which include:

A 40% pay hike.
A 32-hour work week.
An end to a tiered wage structure that pays newer workers less.

“The fundamental reality is that the UAW’s demands can be described in one word — untenable,” General Motors President Mark Reuss said in an opinion piece published in the Detroit Free Press on Wednesday. “As the past has clearly shown, nobody wins in a strike. We have delivered a record offer. That is a fact.”

Farm Journal spoke to two Ford plant employees, who asked to remain anonymous. They say it’s been more than a decade since they’ve had a raise. As automakers went through financial trouble, workers gave up cost of living increases and other raises. As the automakers continue to raise vehicle prices and post impressive profits, those employees say a raise is long overdue.

How Does Your Utility Machinery Roster Stack Up?

Tue, 19 Sep 2023 21:15:10 GMT

Industrial equipment — dozers, wheel loaders, excavators and backhoes — has become agriculture’s mechanical equivalent of a baseball utility player. While planters, combines and sprayers are agriculture’s designated hitters or relief pitchers, specialists who do their specific jobs well but sit on the bench much of the year, industrial equipment is in the game year-round.

Here’s a list of industrial machines found on hog operations with strengths and weaknesses to identify which players might fit well on your machinery roster.

Skid-Steer Loaders

Skid steers come in a range of sizes, from compact units that can clean confinement pens to large machines designed to move bulk commodities.

Scouting report: Rubber-tired, skid-steer loaders work best on pavement or hard-packed dirt. They often fumble in soft dirt or mud. Their greatest strengths are their optional front-end accessories including grapples, post hole augers, snow blowers, pallet forks, oversize buckets for carcass management and trenchers.

“We offer more than 100 different optional front-end attachments,” says John Deere’s Luke Gribble, solutions marketing manager for wheel loaders and skid steers. “Quick-tach front plates make switching easy, so a skid steer ends up being a multipurpose machine.”

Compact Track Loaders

(CTL) are skid-steer loaders with tracks instead of wheels. A CTL can do everything a skid-steer loader can with the same front-end accessories, but it performs better on specific playing surfaces.

Scouting report: Tracks excel off-road, in mud, slop, loose dirt and conditions where their flotation and increased traction outperform rubber tires. Metal tracks stumble on pavement where they slip and slide, making them second-team for work inside confinement barns. Rubber tracks are an all-surface option.

“Eighty percent of the skid steers I sell are on tracks,” says Ziegler Cat’s Matt Johnson. “They’re so much smoother riding than wheels. Anybody who rides in a track skid-steer loader never goes back to wheels.”

Utility Work Machines

Bobcat’s Tool Cat is a unique blend of a side-by-side-style utility vehicle and a light-duty skid-steer loader.

Scouting report: Tool Cats aren’t for day-long digging and loading, but they offer a platform for a wide range of boom-mounted accessories, including a standard bucket, a grapple bucket, a tined rock bucket, snow blower, snow blade and front-mount-rotary cutter. A two-range transmission gives road speeds up to 16 mph.

Wheel Loaders

Wheel loaders are designed for heavy-duty lifting and loading. Small wheel loaders are popular in higher-clearance buildings that accommodate their 10' to 15' cab heights.

Scouting report: Wheel loaders offer easier cab access, better visibility and higher lift-height compared to skid-steer and CTL loaders. A new generation of mini-wheel loaders brings articulated frame, higher ground clearance and rubber-tired traction in a smaller package that’s well-suited for work inside deep-bedded hoop buildings and other large structures.

Excavators

Excavators used to be specialists, like designated hitters or relief pitchers, but they have become utility players in farm and livestock operations. The track-mounted machines reduce problems associated with tractor-mounted backhoes in soft ground. They range in size from mini-excavators like Kubota’s 10.3 hp K008-5 excavator that can carve a 1'-wide trench up to 6' deep to industrial diggers like Case’s 460 hp CX750D with capacity to open an 8'-wide trench 30' deep.

Scouting report: Interest in excavators on agricultural operations has surged. Not only do they excel at trenching and general excavation, but optional concrete breakers, post hole augers and other boom-mounted accessories expand their functions.

“We do a lot of digging and trenching with our Case excavator, but we really like it for working with manure pumps,” says Greg VanDonkelaar, with Hoogland Dairy at Maurice, Iowa. “We’ve got a lot of pumps that need to be lifted up and down, and the excavator works great for that because it has long reach and you can be very precise and gentle to put things exactly where we want them.”

Backhoes

Rubber-tired industrial tractors with a bucket loader on the front and a boom for digging on the rear, often find second careers on livestock operations after retiring from big league construction companies.

Scouting report: The ability of a backhoe to move and load dirt with its bucket and also dig holes or trenches with the backhoe makes it a multipurpose machine. They offer reasonable road speeds, reducing the need for a trailer when moving moderate distances by road. Backhoes can only rotate 90 degrees to their axis to dump dirt, and their hydraulic stabilizers must be raised and lowered every time the machine is repositioned, which can slow progress when digging long ditches.

Telehandlers

Telehandlers look like a wheel loader but their single-boom design and unique steering give them useful skills. A flick of a switch offers a choice of front-wheel steer, rear-wheel steer or crab steer. Low-positioned, side-entry cabs provide easy access, and their single-arm boom gives exceptional lift-height. Some come with a boom that extends hydraulically to increase its reach.

Scouting report: Telehandlers are designed for lifting more than pushing. They can be used to lift and load materials but favor straw or corn stalk bedding rather than gravel and rocks.

“We sell a lot of JCB Agri Telehandlers,” says Reuter’s Equipment’s Broderson. “A lot of mid- to large buckets for general bucket-work at livestock operations. Guys also put a man-basket on the boom and use them to trim trees, do roof repairs and other elevated work rather than climb a ladder.”

Smooth Criminal: 3 Targets Thieves Look for on Your Farm

Thu, 10 Aug 2023 19:54:58 GMT

We like to think of rural areas and farm country as safe places to live. That may be the case, but rural America is still a location where crime can take place, with the types of crime more unique to the area, according to Austin Kings, rural crimes investigator for Missouri Highway Patrol.

Kings takes a look at how a criminal might view your farm and home—what criminals see that producers don’t, and how producers can prevent becoming a target for farm crime.

The main farm crime targets

1. Heavy equipment

While small tools, like generators and cutting torches, are intriguing all year-round to people on the wrong side of the law, King says heavy equipment has peak crime times.

“During the holiday seasons, thieves look for skid steers, side-by-sides, four wheelers and lawnmowers. It becomes worse during the weekends before and after a holiday,” he says.

2. Copper

Thieves like to take copper from farm buildings and abandoned houses. However, King says pivot irrigation systems are their go-to when copper prices go up.

“Irrigation systems, particularly the motors, are often hit in the middle of the night. If there’s a tall field of corn with a pivot system, they can be out there wrenching on the motor all night and nobody will ever see them,” he says.

3. Catalytic converters

There are three precious metals contained within a catalytic converter. These metals, coupled with their market prices, make them a hot commodity for theft in farm country, according to Kings.

“Typically, a farm truck, or something that sits higher off the ground, is an easy target for catalytic converter theft,” says King. “F350 vans and trucks are vehicles they seek out because they’re easier to access and they have a high amount of metal in the catalytic converters.”

How to prevent farm theft

1. “Light it up, lock it up, put a camera on it.”

Most equipment starts with a single key and can be easily hotwired. With this in mind, Verisk , formerly known as the National Equipment Registry (NER), suggests anchoring and immobilizing equipment through various avenues, including:

• A chain or cable painted a bright color
• Tire, wire or battery removal
• Lowering all blades or buckets
• Disabling or removing a hitch

“There are so many battery-powered camera systems and solar-powered lights available that you can put a motion camera or sensor light just about anywhere,” says Kings. “Light really does deter people because they start thinking there’s a camera. Light is a good place to start.”

2. Record serial numbers

Founded in 2001 to address equipment theft, Verisk connects insurers, equipment owners and law enforcement to recover stolen equipment. With serial numbers in tow, victims can take advantage of Verisk’s reporting hotline, database and theft alerts .

Verisk also distributes flyers during the holiday seasons to remind owners how to best protect themselves from theft, and to link victims to their stolen equipment.

4 Tips for Concrete That Lasts

Tue, 27 Jun 2023 18:03:21 GMT

Many farmers do their own concrete work. Here are tips from pros to improve the quality of the finished slab:

Fiber-strand reinforcing, which means fiberglass or other fibers are mixed with the concrete at the plant, provides excellent control of thermal and stress cracking. Unlike re-rod or wire mesh added during a pour, fiber-strand reinforcing is uniform throughout the slab.

“For thermal movement and expansion control, fiber reinforcing is as good as metal reinforcing, and you don’t have to mess with making sure it’s positioned in the middle of the slab during the pour,” says Alan Sparkman, executive director with the Tennessee Concrete Association.

Don’t overwork concrete. “Pour it, screed it once or twice with a bull float to level it, then leave it alone,” Sparkman says. “Depending on temperature and other factors, bleed water will come to the surface. After a while, that bleed water will disappear, and then you’re ready for a final finish. If you work it before that bleed water goes away on its own, you’ll create a cap that traps that bleed water in the slab, and you can have problems with the finished surface scaling off sometime down the road.”

Don’t overwork exterior slabs. “If you overwork an exterior slab, you get too much cement and not enough aggregate in the top layer,” Sparkman says.

He recommends simply broom-finishing the bull-floated surface after the bleed water disappears but says a single pass with a wood or magnesium float between bull-floating and brooming produces a slightly smoother surface.

Use a concrete saw to cut fresh concrete one-half the depth of the slab. Space cuts according to the formula: the thickness of the slab in inches multiplied by three. For instance, a 4-inch slab would traditionally be jointed every 12 feet, though many concrete contractors now multiply by 2.5 to get a joint spacing of 10 feet.

Sparkman encourages farmers to work with local concrete plants when preparing to work with concrete.

“We deal with concrete every day and know tricks and tips to get the best slab possible that won’t have problems with cracking or spalling down the road.”

John Phipps: The Truth About Artificial Intelligence

Tue, 20 Jun 2023 20:46:29 GMT

Frequent correspondent Jay Brown from Ravenna, OH is skeptical of Artificial Intelligence (AI):

“I could take issue with every point you made but instead I will give you the only truth. There is no artificial intelligence now or in the foreseeable future. Mashing up Siri search and databases is not AI. Just sophisticated programs doing what they are programmed to do, nothing more.”

Many people share your dismissal, but often it is centered on the name of the technology itself. The term artificial intelligence was first used in the early 1950’s and rapidly became a standard expression for science fiction writers. Even in the beginning few agreed on exactly what it meant.

One big issue is the confusion with sentience – self-awareness. That is a whole ‘nother scientific and philosophical issue. Today, the AI industry avoids that implication, but the image of the Star Trek character, Data, pops into minds . Worse still, the suggested alternative terms like “machine learning” and “LLM’s – Large Language Models” don’t clarify matters much, so the concept of AI is pretty much up to users.

As far as intelligence, there is a widely used standard – the Turing Test, first proposed by the mathematical genius of WWII, Alan Turing. The test is simple: if during a conversation you cannot identify a human from machine responses, you are dealing with intelligence. This criterion would appear to be approached and often met by current generation chatbots, such as ChatGPT4.

When AI programs began beating the world’s best Go players, the common comment from the masters was the victories were due to moves never imagined in the centuries the game has been played. Those moves were not programmed, only the goal (winning) and rules were.

To the extent that AI is simply a mashup of a search and logic software with extensive memory, how greatly different that is from a basic description of human brains? We use logic to reach conclusions and formulate actions about things we know or experience.

AI is already close enough to human capability that creative occupations, from copywriters to commercial artists to programmers are being laid off in thousands, and computer engineering graduates are stunned by a lack of entry level jobs. My judgments are also based on the same logic as EV’s – that’s where the money is going.

Perhaps some individuals do know the only truth as Jay puts it, but owners of hundreds of billions of dollars clearly embrace other conclusions.

What Ag Equipment Parts Are In the Shortest Supply Right Now?

Tue, 28 Feb 2023 17:44:02 GMT

The National Farm Machinery Show (NFMS) earlier this month revealed one major theme: the supply chain is still posing major problems for ag equipment manufacturers. Leaders within the ag equipment sector say the supply chain issues have been a major hurdle in bringing some new equipment to market, and the issue could persist throughout 2023.

“The supply chain challenges that we experienced in 2021 and 2022 are with us for a little bit longer,” says Curt Blades, senior vice president of agriculture services for the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) .

From Case IH to Deere and Company, the equipment manufacturers admit issues sourcing parts has been a constant headache.

“Absolutely, it’s been an issue. Supply chains have been highly disruptive in the last 12, 18 to 24 months,” says Jahmy Hindman, Deere and Company chief technology officer (CTO).

Hindman says in the constant conversations Deere is having with their supply chain base, suppliers are telling them the situation looks to improve the second half of the year.

“It’s progressively getting better,” Hindman adds. “Our third quarter and fourth quarter of last year showed us the improvement in our ability to deliver the products that are being ordered to the marketplace. I expect that to continue in the first quarter of this fiscal year for us.”

AEM also sees improvement coming later this year, which means farmers could still face months of supply chain constraints.

“Maybe by the end of the year, we’ll begin to see some return to normalcy, whatever normalcy looks like,” says Blades.

Parts in Shortest Supply

Today, equipment manufacturers across the world are grappling with the same problem. The supply chain issues are not only ongoing, but hard to predict.

“We had this level of challenge, maybe now it’s a little bit less, but we’re not out of the woods,” says Kurt Coffey, head of Case IH for North America . “It could be tracks one day, it could be tires the next day. We have a lot of very unique, high-value, custom castings, a heat-treated custom casting, that you can’t just go get, and it’s a very unique supplier.”

Castings are the latest supply chain headwind to hit. No matter the type of equipment, manufacturers are saying castings are a major hurdle right now.

“It’s a little bit of a whack-a-mole strategy when it comes to the supply chain,” says James Shurts, president of the ag division for Great Plains . “It’s always something new, and it just happens to be that castings are our current issue and the current challenges. But it’s always something different.”

AEM recently conducted a survey of its members, showing:

The most sought-after component are tracks (and their included components):
Only 27% of optimal inventory is available.
In both agriculture and construction sectors, semiconductors and chips are in short supply.
44% optimal inventory is available across both sectors.

“The other things that are interesting are like wiring harnesses, which oftentimes are made in the Ukraine, or seat cushions, which are made in Texas in areas that were destroyed by floods. It’s not one thing, it’s a collection of things,” says Blades.

Case IH says as the parts in short supply continue to vary, the company is finding unconventional ways to address the issues.

“The last year or two has been custom castings, chips, tracks, tires,” says Coffey. “We actually pulled strategic sourcing in and went on third-party markets to go buy chips from third parties, millions of dollars of chips from a third party, bring them in, ship them to our partner suppliers so we can keep our lines going.”

The Biggest Issue? Labor

No matter what item is in scarce supply, the problem is bigger than one part or company.

“The underlying issue with all supply chain challenges are labor,” says Blades.

AEM also surveyed 179 equipment manufacturer executives about the supply chain late last year and found:

98% still face supply chain issues.
58% are experiencing continuously worsening supply-chain conditions.

The AEM survey showed equipment manufacturers of all size are getting creative to address the challenges, which includes increasing their inventory and supplier base, creating a more vertical integration of supply chains, certifying alternative suppliers, as well as focusing more on supply chain reliability than price.

Growing Optimism

Despite the constant supply chain obstacles, leaders at both John Deere and Case IH are optimistic.

“We’re not just hearing that it’s progressively getting better, we’re sensing it; we’re feeling it,” says Hindman. “We’re also seeing it come through in our delivery. So, as long as things continue on that trajectory, I feel pretty good about next year.”

“We’re not out of the woods, but we’re certainly in a better place than where we were, let’s say, a year, year and a half ago,” adds Coffey. “But we’re just going to keep fighting to make sure that we’re ready for whatever the customers need from us.”

Optimism is growing in the supply chain, even with some bumps still ahead, as agricultural equipment manufacturers continue to navigate uncharted waters with the supply chain.

Related Story:

John Phipps: Is it Even Feasible to Bring the Production of Chips and NH3 Back to the U.S.?

Machinery Pete Reveals the Strongest Drivers of These Record Used Equipment Values Right Now

Thu, 23 Feb 2023 19:30:51 GMT

Strong used equipment values have been a theme for the past 18 to 20 months, and Machinery Pete doesn’t see that story changing anytime soon. There were expectations prices would soften to start 2023, but that hasn’t been in the case. However, if you’re searching for a bargain, during National Farm Machinery Show last week Machinery Pete revealed two areas farmers may want to watch.

Greg Peterson, also known as Machinery Pete , says prices of used four-wheel-drive tractors have been on fire as farmers are paying premiums prices for slightly older pre-DEF, pre-Tier IV four-wheel-drive models that are still in nice condition.

So, just how dynamic is the used equipment today? Machinery Pete says he’s running out of adjectives to describe it.

“As hot as it was a year ago, which was the hottest I’ve ever seen by a huge factor, amazingly, through the end of ‘22, the used values kept going up across the board,” says Machinery Pete. “When the calendar flipped, there were a lot of people thinking it can’t go any higher because now we’re taking out the urine taxpayers November December, but used values have got nothing but up since January.”

Another Key Indicator of Used Market Strength

He says the biggest driver of values continues to be availability, along with the right piece of used equipment on the market, even if it has high hours. Now, there’s another indicator of the market strength.

“We’re seeing auction pricing, strong pricing out of the deep South,” says Machinery Pete. “And over my 33 years, that’s always been a sure sign that you know that’s a hot market when used values there are exploding and higher in value.”

What to Watch for the Best Bargains

So, where are the bargains? Well, they may not be huge bargains, but there are a couple areas showing the best value for those in the market to buy.

“The only two spots that I see are low horsepower tractors, frankly, because there’s just more manufacturers so supply is built back up,” he says. “And just since the second week of December, we’re starting to see one- to three-year-old late model combine softened a little bit. It’s not like prices are dropping like a rock, but just softening.”

Related Stories:

Machinery Pete: Price is Now a A Secondary Market Force

Machinery Pete’s 7 Equipment Market Predictions For 2023

What's The Biggest Supply Chain Headache Crippling Equipment Manufacturers Right Now?

Wed, 22 Feb 2023 16:53:02 GMT

Supply chain challenges consistently hit agriculture in 2022. While 2023 has brought improvement with fertilizer availability, a sector still fragile to supply chain issues is the farm equipment sector.

From tires and tracks, to a new problem with castings, leading equipment manufacturers like Case IH, John Deere and Great Plains all say the supply chain is still an issue.

“We’re conditioned to expect the black swans to the point where they’re no longer black swans, they’re just kind of inevitable disruptions,” says Sam Taylor, farm inputs analyst for Rabo AgriFinance, RaboResearch .

“The supply chain challenges that we experienced in 2021 and 2022 are with us for a little bit longer,” says Curt Blades, senior vice president of agriculture services for the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) .

Supply Chain Issues Projected Through 2023

During National Farm Machinery Show (NFMS) last week, booth after booth displayed the latest in technology and equipment, but leaders within the ag equipment sector say the supply chain issues are a hurdle in bringing new products to market.

“Absolutely, it’s been an issue. Supply chains have been highly disruptive in the last 12, 18 to 24 months,” says Jahmy Hindman, Deere and Company chief technology officer (CTO).

Hindman says in the constant conversations Deere is having with their supply chain base, suppliers are telling them the situation looks to improve the second half of the year.

“It’s progressively getting better,” Hindman adds. “Our third quarter and fourth quarter of last year showed us the improvement in our ability to deliver the products that are being ordered to the marketplace. I expect that to continue in the first quarter of this fiscal year for us.”

AEM also sees improvement coming later this year, which means farmers could still face months of supply chain constraints.

“Maybe by the end of the year, we’ll begin to see some return to normalcy, whatever normalcy looks like,” says Blades.

Parts In Shortest Supply

The most sought-after component are tracks (and their included components):
Only 27% of optimal inventory is available.
In both agriculture and construction sectors, semiconductors and chips are in short supply.
44% optimal inventory is available across both sectors.

The Biggest Issue? Labor

98% still face supply chain issues.
58% are experiencing continuously worsening supply-chain conditions.

Growing Optimism

Virginia Farmer Was Stranded After His Tractor Ran Over Him; What Happened Next Will Restore Your Faith in Humanity

Tue, 01 Nov 2022 22:17:14 GMT

Winding across a hilly, gravel road in Crockett, Virginia, is where you’ll find Allen Dix every day of the week except Sunday.

“This is part of my 75-mile mail route that I travel six days a week,” he says.

As a USPS rural mail carrier, it’s a route he knows by memory, and one he traveled just like any other mail day in early March.

Part of his daily routine as a mail carrier, it’s that same road where John Moody is also a regular.

“Well, I’ve lived here on this farm almost my whole life. This was my grandparents’ farm,” says Moody, who raises cattle in the remote area of Virginia.

For 31 years, John worked for the county USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA), even serving as the county executive director, but now retired, owning cattle for more than 40 years means John never slowed down. And on March 4th, the day just after John had turned 70 years old, his day started as it normally would as he loaded up to feed his cattle.

“I had a hay bale here on the front, and I had a hay bale on the back,” John remembers.

With bales in tow, John stopped to open the gate to feed his cows, the same way he’s done for decades.

“I just pulled off the side road and pulled off in the ditch and let it idle over there, and then I go across the road, open the gate and come back and get on tractor,” says John. “Well, I did that, and I wasn’t paying any attention, but when I turned around and started back toward the tractor, I looked up, and here came the tractor.”

The Accident

His first instinct was to try to jump on to the tractor to stop it, but as he did, John slipped off.

“My right leg got caught under the back tire, and it just pulled me under,” he remembers.

(Farm Journal)

The tractor, with the two hay bales still in tow, ran straight over John, crushing his lower body.

“Luckily, when it ran over me, when it got to my hips, it just turned to the side and went on off into the fence,” John says.

After the tractor charged across him and landed in the fence, John couldn’t move. And John says just seconds after it happened, he was in shock.

“I thought I was paralyzed,” says John. “I couldn’t move either one of my legs.”

But hearing a steady stream of hooves heading straight for the gate still wide open, still unable to walk, in true farmer fashion, it was more than survival on John’s mind.

“So, I crawled over and got the gate shut,” says John. “And I thought, ‘Well, maybe I can pull myself up and get on the tractor.’ So, I pulled myself up on the gate. But I couldn’t take a step or nothing. So, I just laid back down.”

The Rural Route Rescue

By that time it was mid-morning, when the rural road isn’t traveled much. So John knew the best chance of someone rescuing him was to lie in the ditch.

“I kept thinking well, sooner or later the mailman would come, and I laid there about an hour,” he remembers.

And sure enough, Dix, who travels the road daily, pulled up right on time.

“But as I got closer, I noticed the tractor was across the road and it was into the fence, and the tractor was still running,” remembers Dix.

The route and frequent stops are ones Dix knows by heart. And as he pulled off to the side of the road, he quickly realized something wasn’t right.

“I actually found John in the ditch right here along the edge of the road,” he says. “I was kind of approaching him rather cautiously. And, I said, ‘John, are you okay?’ And he said, ‘No, actually, the tractor ran over me.’”

And that’s when Dix immediately called 911.

“911, do you have an emergency,” asked the 911 operator.

“Yes, I’m on Zion Church Road,” you can hear Dix say on the call.

“Is he out of the roadway,” the operator then asked.

“Yes. I’m a mail carrier and I want to stay here with him until someone gets here,” answered Dix.

But after he hung up, John had a call he needed to make.

“John doesn’t have cell phone. He’s old school. So, I gave him my cell phone,” says Dix.

“He called the rescue squad, and I called my wife,” John remembers with tears in his eyes.

“The first thing he said was, ‘What are you doing?’ And I said, ‘Well, I’m working.’ And he said, ‘Could you meet me at the hospital?’ And then I had to sit down,” remembers Debbie Moody, John’s wife. “And I said, ‘What’s happened?’ He said, ‘Well, my tractor ran over me.’ And then I really started to panic.”

She says Dix then took the phone back and explained what had happened as Debbie says she was still in shock.

“When John told me his tractor ran over him, of course. I imagined the worst,” she says.

With Dix still there, the ambulance arrived and rushed John to a local hospital, but it was there the staff realized John’s injuries were too severe.

“They sent me to Wake Forest Baptist in North Carolina, and they flew me down there by a helicopter and they took me to the trauma center, and then they operated the next day on my leg,” he says.

Repairing a hole where gravel had burrowed into his skin, John also had three pins placed where the tractor fractured his pelvis. And it was during surgery the severeness of John’s accident also sunk in.

“The surgeon said, ‘You know, he shouldn’t be alive,’” Debbie remembers. “And I cried. I knew it was bad. But when she put it in those words, I cried and said a little prayer.”

John spent a total of 15 days at the hospital with rehab continuing when he got home. Debbie was a natural at being a nurse, but she was also John’s biggest cheerleader as he worked to walk again.

“It was hard on him because he would be tired and sometimes frustrated,” she says. “But he did very well and pushed hard and did what he had to do.”

Steady Stream of Support

As the recovery process was just starting, it was when the Moody’s returned home they saw support and help from family and friends.

“When we came home one of my neighbors they’d built a ramp for me,” says John. “Another one had brought a hospital bed for me, and I was in that hospital bed for about three months that we set up in the living room.”

And the generosity didn’t stop, as the kindness seemed to keep pouring in.

“I had one neighbor that came and fed my cattle for the rest of the winter, and then I had another one come in vaccinate all my calves,” John remembers.

But it wasn’t just those neighbors who continued to check on John. You see, Dix didn’t just rescue John on March 4th. Right after Dix found John in the ditch, he jumped right in to mend what needed fixed on the farm, as he waited with John for help to arrive.

“I was able to move the tractor off of the fence, get it back to the barn was able to mend the fence,” says Dix.”

Even then, Dix says his job still wasn’t finished.

“And he needed some personal things from the house. I went to his house and got those. After all that was finished, I finished my mail route.”

And for Dix, that’s just what you do.

“We take care of each other out here. We look after each other,” he says.

Rural Route Hero

But from finding John and calling 911, to then repairing the fence and gathering items John needed for his hospital stay, what Dix did on March 4, 2021 extended far beyond his day job, something for which he was recognized recently.

“They actually surprised me with the presentation at the post office. I had absolutely no idea that it was going on,” says Dix.

That surprise and presentation wasn’t just for any award, but the USPS’ Hero Award.

“I’m a little uncomfortable with the ‘hero’ title, because, John and Debbie are the heroes for surviving the accident, her giving him care through this whole thing. And it’s been an emotional six months for them, and for me, too.”

(Farm Journal)

A Humble Hero

With his name now engraved at the USPS headquarters in Washington, D.C., Dix still doesn’t like being called a hero. But to John and Debbie, a hero is exactly what he is.

“Allen is truly a hero. He will always be a hero to the Moody family, because of his quick thinking,” says Debbie. “In this area, people do take care of each other and look after each other, and that was just second nature to him.”

“He saved me from a lot of suffering getting there when he did, or I don’t know when somebody would have got there that day,” says John.

While Dix typically delivers mail, that day, Allen Dix proved to be a rural route hero by delivering an unforgettable rescue. As John and Allen share a new bond, it’s one of which John will be forever thankful.

(Farm Journal)

A New Chapter

As for John, his recovery has been a year in the making.

“I had been thinking about cutting back on my cattle; a third this year, a third next year, and then a third next year and going out of the cow-calf operation and then buying calves in the spring and selling them in the fall,” explains John. “Well, while laid there I thought well, this might be a good time just sell all them. So that’s what I did once I got better.”

However, the accident wasn’t the end of John’s story, as John recently started a new chapter. Nearly a year after John survived the tractor accident and sold off all his cattle knowing he couldn’t care for them at the time, he just purchased 19 head of cattle to graze again. As the cattle returned to the farm in March 2022, it’s affirmation that when you have enough heart and passion, it’s a way of life that not even tragedy can take away.

Couple Takes Off On Trip From Nebraska To Alaska In A 1977 IH Tractor To Raise Money For Kids

Tue, 01 Nov 2022 22:16:55 GMT

Driving from Nebraska to Alaska isn’t a quick trip, but for Dick and Carolee Ourada, the trip will take nearly 60 days. That’s because the Ouradas are making the 3,910 mile trip in a tractor as a way to raise money for kids.

Dick is a retired farmer, and Carolee is a recently retired nurse. The couple is venturing back to Alaska after falling in love with the state decades ago. What’s normally a more than 50-hour drive from Holyoke, Colo., to Fairbanks, Alaska, will take them two months this time. The couple started in western Nebraska this week.

Why would anyone want to make the trip in a tractor? The drive across the western U.S., Canada and the Alaska Highway isn’t easy, and some would even call it grueling in a motor vehicle. The answer to that has a story that dates back to the 1970s when Dick started farming.

“To tell you the truth, I traded some shock absorbers from my small mechanic shop for a bred gilt and took her home, because I thought the kids would learn something from the experience of the piglets,” explains Dick. “And we built it into about a 3,000-head hog producing farm.”

Their family farm also grew sugarbeets, corn and wheat. As Dick battled through the farm financial crisis of the 1980s and the hog herd contraction many producers faced in the 1990s, the farm changed. He and his late wife then ventured into vegetable production.

“In order to stay afloat, we put in a small vegetable farm, which nobody did out here in farm country, but we did it anyway,” he says. “And it was very successful. We had 25 acres every year, and did sweet corn, tomatoes, seedless watermelons, which were new at that time, and peppers.”

Dick lost his first wife in 1996. After that, Dick’s world took a dark turn, as he said he didn’t want to farm anymore.

“I just didn’t want to be here anymore,” says Dick. “So, I sold the farm.”

Finding Purpose Again

In 2001, Dick found purpose again when he met Carolee. The two traveled to Alaska for the summer, as she was a traveling nurse, and they both fell in love with the state.

Fast forward a couple decades, and the couple purchased land and are refurbishing an Alaskan home. But as they searched for a tractor to use on their Alaskan land, they found that tractors aren’t only expensive, but hard to find in the state. So, they decided to buy one near their northeast Colorado house and shop, and drive it to Alaska from there.

The two found a tractor in Iowa that seemed to fit the bill for the job: a 1977 International Harvester 574 that they purchased for around $3,500 sight unseen.

“When this came along, we knew couldn’t go out on the highway; it wasn’t in that good of shape. It had been outside for a while, and it was pretty rusty. We had to do a lot of work,” says Dick.

After purchasing the tractor in February, the couple, along with some help from family and friends, spent five months fixing up the tractor that they named “Aggie.”

“We adapted cab from an Allis Chalmers xt170,” says Dick.

Instead of hauling the tractor to Alaska, which Dick and Carolee say would have been quicker, easier and cheaper, they’re driving the tractor there. The tractor has no air conditioning and can go a maximum speed of only 20 mph on the highway.

One challenge for their tractor trip is the immediate heat. As they head out this week, forecasts show 106-degree temperatures. However, Dick and Carolee don’t seem to mind it one bit, because this is more than just a trip.

“We’re not really looking at the challenges because we know we can deal with whatever comes,”
says Carolee.

Raising Money for a Reason

The couple has a plan to stop at pre-determined Case IH dealerships along the way, all in an effort to raise money.

“Carolee said, ‘What would we do with the money?’ And I said, ‘Well, this might be a good place to put it,’” says Dick.

The Ouradas are raising money for the Colorado Children’s Hospital Foundation, a hospital that saved Dick’s daughter’s life 58 years ago this week.

“She just refused to eat, and the doctors here spent three days trying to figure something out,” remembers Dick. “They told us put her in the car and go to Denver. Don’t stop or anything. Just go to Denver.”

At the time, there wasn’t a quicker way to get her there, so Dick and his late wife did just that.

“We dropped her off dying,” says Dick.

They couldn’t stay with their daughter in the nursery, so they left her in the hospital expecting the worst. By the next morning, their daughter had made a miraculous comeback.

“And it turned out that they had run into the same problem with premature babies that would refuse to eat,” says Dick. “And so they had done a lot of research to figure out why, and they came up with a special nipple, and she had taken to it immediately.”

The life-saving move may seem simple, but Dick says that to him, the Denver Children’s Hospital did something he will never forget.

“We owe the hospital a lot,” says Dick. “This is kind of a way to help pay that back.”

The idea also sparked meaning for Carolee, whose family had also experienced the life-saving services the Denver Children’s Hospital provide.

“My nephew was born with multiple congenital heart defects,” she says. “And through the years, they’ve researched and come up with new ways to help him. He’s in his upper 30s today and living a normal, productive life. But when they first took him up there, they weren’t even sure he was going to survive the first procedure.”

Both Dick and Carolee feel indebted to the hospital, so they set a goal of raising $100,000 as they make the 3,910 mile trip.

“There are so many kids out there that need the resources and the research that children’s hospital does,” points out Carolee.

The Ouradas admit they’re a long way from their goal as they start off on their two-month long trip. But with compassion, drive and awareness, they hope generosity will continue to sprout along their route and across the country.

To donate, the Ouradas have set up a website , along with a Facebook page . Carolee says they will continue to update the page throughout the trip.

Top Lessons to Help You Avoid Machinery Fires

Thu, 29 Sep 2022 19:57:50 GMT

Drought conditions across the Corn Belt and really the entire U.S. set the table for combine and equipment fires. Some things I’ve learned too late about machinery fires:

1. Warning lights and grain cart drivers should never be ignored. If multiple warning lights in a combine’s cab starting flickering, or engine and slow shaft speed warning systems all come on at once, there’s a good chance a main wiring harness has melted back in the engine compartment due to engine fire. Perhaps the best early warning system for combine fires is an attentive grain cart driver who always scans the machine as they approach it.

2. Carry nothing less than two of the biggest fire extinguishers available, whether they are chemically-charged or water-charged. Make sure they’re both accessible from ground level. I’ve seen more than a few charred fire extinguishers still clamped in the engine compartment of burned-out combines.

3. Strong tailwinds can whip chaff and debris into the engine compartment and against exhaust manifolds on older combines. Newer combines have “enclosed” engines to reduce but don’t eliminate that risk.

4. Never assume a combine fire is out. Big, corrugated plastic wiring harnesses in the engine compartment often get packed with super-dry crop dust. That dust can smolder like a fuse inside those harnesses for dozens of feet from the actual fire. It’s tough to get water inside those plastic harness protectors, but a fire isn’t out until all of those protectors are cool to the touch.

John Phipps: You'll Have to See This to Believe What Artificial Intelligence Can Now Do

Wed, 21 Sep 2022 14:02:24 GMT

Fair season is winding down, with its images of earnest young men and women leading impeccably groomed animals in a show ring. At least that’s what pops to mind for many of us in agriculture. But other stuff goes on at the fairs, and this year at the Colorado State Fair, there was a bombshell event seemingly unconnected to agriculture.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Colorado State Fair (@colostatefair)

This is the first-place entry in the digital art division. The title is “Space Opera Theater,” only in French, which I would only mangle hopelessly. I know, it looks like a slick science fiction book cover, but the uproar is over how it came to be.

Using an artificial Intelligence program called Midjourney, artist Jason Allen of Pueblo, Colorado created this image without a brushstroke or pencil line – he entered some carefully chosen text into the program and then took the image to be printed on canvas.

While the picture may not be your preferred type of art, such AI programs can tackle styles and subjects from impressionism to portraiture. In fact, they are doing so with rapidly increasing skill, originality, and acclaim. Using a process called diffusion, the program somehow matches the text with millions of online images into a mashup that has the art world flummoxed and artists terrified.

One reason is while we could kind of imagine AI taking over sophisticated automation and even complex management tasks like hiring decisions, we have considered the mystical skills of creative work like art of music as beyond the reach of computers. This picture is early proof that assumption may not be completely true.

While AI works essentially by trial-and-error on a massive scale, it can learn to pick out those very few results that people connect with, just like it sorts resumes with remarkable success to find the right people to hire. AI is also muscling into creative fields like writing – you have probably already read a computer-generated newspaper story, especially on the sports or financial pages. AI is even being used to write humor – a troubling development for me.

As the programs keep improving, which they do on their own, the output is slipping unnoticed into more and more creative fields, such as fashion design, for example. I’ll talk more about how AI might surprise us in agriculture, but we probably won’t believe it until, like Colorado fair-goers, we see it with our own eyes on our own farms.

John Deere Updates 5M Tractors With More Power, Tech and Transmissions

Wed, 21 Sep 2022 03:49:50 GMT

The model year 2022 5M tractors from John Deere now top out at 125 hp.

In addition to the higher horsepower range, the 5M series is available with integrated AutoTrac guidance when also geared with PowrQuad transmission. This feature provides hay, livestock, and other operators to have the benefits of straight-line guidance to reduce implement overlap, maximize fuel use, and more.

“No other utility tractor on the market offers this level of integrated guidance on a mid-spec utility tractor, making the productivity potential of the 5M Series unmatched,” Greg Christensen, marketing manager for John Deere said in a product release. “This low-cost, entry-level guidance system, can later be upgraded by plugging in a premium display for mapping and prescription-based applications.”

PowrQuad transmissions provide clutchless, push-button shifting between gears and are now available on models 5090M, 5100M, 5115M cab versions and the 5125M, which is only available with a cab.

Specifically for handling hay bales and other large objects, when equipped with PowrQuad, the 5M series has increased hitch-lift capacity and there’s an optional panoramic roof for increased visibility.

The PowrQuad transmission models are now available to order, and John Deere says the PowrReverser option models will be available to order in late 2021.

As another option, John Deere has developed the John Deere Smart Connector for select 5 series tractors. This is a parts kit marketed as an entry-level connectivity product so owners can track maintenance intervals and tractor performance via Bluetooth connection and the TractorPlus app.