NEW! 鈥� Cami Erickson Vice President, North Star Ag., ND: Cami holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Minnesota State University Moorhead and has been a key part of the first-generation, family-owned shortline dealership since 2018.

Tim Brannon 鈥� President, B&G 婷婷激情五月天, Inc., Paris, TN
After graduating from Murray State University, Tim joined Allis-Chalmers Farm 婷婷激情五月天 in 1975. Three years later, he returned to lead B&G 婷婷激情五月天, a family-owned Massey Ferguson dealership founded in 1978, serving the rural lifestyle community around Paris.

Eric Reuterskiold 鈥� President & CEO, Johnson Tractor, WI & IL
Eric started at the parts counter in 1993 and grew with Johnson Tractor through nearly every role. He now operates 11 Case IH, New Holland, and Kubota dealerships with the Johnson family, employing over 200 people and serving 40 counties.

David Orr 鈥� General Manager, Intermountain New Holland, ID
David advanced from sales director to general manager at Idaho鈥檚 premier agriculture and construction equipment dealer. He oversees two locations in Twin Falls and Heyburn, emphasizing strong, lasting customer relationships.

Panel Focus: These leaders will discuss economic conditions, tariffs, dealer鈥搈anufacturer relationships, and practical strategies to help dealerships navigate today鈥檚 marketplace.

FEMA Members Only: Don’t miss the Tillage Council Meeting on October 29 at 4:00 p.m. at the Marketing & Distribution Convention. Join the four panelists above for a dynamic roundtable discussion on market resilience and valuable opportunities to improve tillage solutions.

Comedian Ron White had a famous line about being arrested when the police found him drunk in public. The officer stated, 鈥淪ir, you have the right to remain silent.鈥� Ron said, 鈥淢y problem was I knew I had the right to remain silent, but I didn’t have the ability!鈥�

Recently, there was a court ruling about  as it applies to farm equipment. The new court ruling gives owners the 鈥榬ight鈥� to repair, but will they have the 鈥榓bility鈥� and at what cost? To think that some of the high-tech customers have not already dabbled in the software of the farm equipment that uses such, would be very na茂ve. Now the examples I might list are from a 鈥榝riend鈥� as we have no such knowledge of customers 鈥榬epairing鈥� said equipment.

(This quote will be saved for my court testimony.) First, let me vent. What we have today is automotive technology that has found its way into the farm equipment industry. What our customers want, for the most part, is the serviceability of the performing system. Instead of a micro switch controlling a module that is interfaced via CAN bus (CAN bus should be outlawed on combines and tractors or wherever mice or rats or farmers can be found), there should be a fused wire from a robust switch that when activated, does something and if it does not, a simple $5 test light can diagnose the problem. 

For those who wish Jetsonian technology, then make that an add-on system that will not force a 鈥榣imp home鈥� derating of the entire unit (that runs on Spacley Sprockets or Cogswell Cogs) when a mouse chews a wire for breakfast. Instead, what we have today is CAN bus laden, electrically charged control systems integrated with the 鈥楨lectronic Control Module鈥� controlling everything from the engine to the transmission to the hydraulics, bathroom breaks and everything in-between. THUS, our customers lost the ability to repair the equipment they purchased due to its proprietary software. 

One side of our brain says if a farmer purchases a half million-dollar machine, he should have the right to try to repair it, period. Why should us dealers have all the fun? The other lobe is concerned about the customer going in and doing permanent damage that they then expect us to fix. Also, a farmer鈥檚 grandson or daughter could hack into the software and discover some trade 鈥榮ecret,鈥� or they could take that Fendt tractor that is limited to 35 mph and make it an Amish Dream prime mover that will now get them a speeding ticket in the 55 mph speed zone.

Many customers have trained techs on the payroll who were hired out of a dealership and are fully capable of diagnostics and repairs. Why should owners be forced to pay hundreds per hour to do what the guy on the farm payroll can do for a fraction of this? 

The other side is dealers are forced to spend big bucks training techs and paying license fees to be able to service what they sell. We could go on, but one sees why this debate has dragged on for so long.   

I have written previously about the needless emission controls on tractors. Emission systems are a major portion of repairs. It would make more sense to require emission controls on my gas stove, gas water heater or gas clothes drier (some government do-gooder is probably proposing this right now), but we have them and we all have to deal with it. We have heard of tractors with the DEF deleted, Regen burn-off systems bypassed and horsepower increased via programing. We are libertarian enough to say let the 鈥榗hips鈥� fall where they may (that was a good pun even if I say so myself). The automotive field has worked under this requirement as anyone who has bought a OBD2 scanner from Harbor Freight can attest.

Finally, the industry has brought all this on itself. Our field (this word has been outlawed as racist – I am not a racist) is so small, selling to a limited population, that the ones who dictate to the engineers did not see this coming.  People who bought tractors decades ago were good ole boys and never caused much trouble. Today, with prices at all-time highs and an ever-increasing population of tractor owners that are high tech and now own this high tech 鈥� this issue was inevitable. 

Bottom line, hindsight is 20/20. The future sight will be very interesting with lots of stories, some with horror preceding them. Be ready for everything from phone calls wanting to borrow your computer to asking how much it would cost to get set up to diagnose issues, to rent or purchase of special tools and questions we can鈥檛 even imagine. The only thing certain about R2R is change is coming. Our job is to do the research, educate ourselves and be prepared or maybe even proactive and figure how to oblige these customers and find a profitability niche in the process. 

I鈥檒l have more as the story unfolds.聽’til next time, wishing you miles of smiles and regulations.

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