Price of Wheat Climbs Amid Uncertainty in Europe
Russia and Ukraine combined account for 29 percent of global wheat exports.
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Legal Focus: What to Expect from the EEOC This Year
The EEOC has not yet pivoted substantially from the Trump administration. Change, however, is coming.
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Red Hot Steel Market Cools
Lower prices will likely take months to flow through supply chains, since many manufacturers purchase steel through fixed-price contracts.
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Crop Insurance Payments Skyrocket
The cost of insuring crops could increase by as much as 22 percent by 2080 due to climate change, even if farmers adapt what they plant and where they plant it.
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New Frontier in Remote Work: Forklift Drivers
The technology would enable forklift operators to be anywhere in the world and operating equipment supporting more than one job site at a time.
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Deere Named in Class Action Lawsuit
John Deere is illegally monopolizing the U.S. tractor repair industry, according to a class action antitrust lawsuit filed in Chicago federal court last week.
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Panel Rules in Favor of U.S. in Dairy Dispute with Canada
Canada’s dairy producers have long fought against opening their market. The country has around 11,000 commercial farms that hold substantial political sway.
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Prepare for a Cyber Breach, Know How to Respond
The Association has formed a partnership with a cyber security firm to provide members information and resources to protect their data. This article is a small sample.
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Sentry Offers Webinars on Reducing Liability Risk, Assessing Hazards
See a full-year schedule for educational content from Sentry. Check out a comprehensive online safety tool. Register for webinars on assessing hazards and reducing product liability risks.
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UPDATE: High Court Blocks Biden’s Vaccine Mandate for Large Employers
At least until the hearing, the mandates are in effect. It is possible that justices will decide then to stay the orders until they issue a decision.
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Ocean Shipping Rates May Double in 2022
Trucking companies are projecting double-digit growth in contract rates for 2022.
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Boards of Four Dealer Associations Vote to Merge
The joint boards of EDA, MSEDA, UEDA, and WEDA have taken the first step to consolidate their associations.
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COVID Relief Fraud Could Cost $100 Billion
The Justice Department earlier this month said that its fraud section has prosecuted over 150 defendants in more than 95 criminal cases stemming from fraud schemes involving the Paycheck Protection Program.
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Is the Worst Over in Supply Chain Mayhem?
In a memo to clients, one economist wrote: “It is still going to take a long time for the supply chains across the country to be fully restored, but at least the first steps appear to be in place towards normalcy.”
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Courts Stop Vaccine Mandate
The White House mandate for employees of federal contractors to be vaccinated will be halted nationwide. Challenges are pending against other mandates, including a mandate for private-sector employers with 100 employees.
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Flooding, Mudslides Threaten Canadian Grain
Canada’s rail lines are operating fully now, but the “reverberations back through the grain supply chain will be measured in months.”
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Six in 10 Containers Leave U.S. Ports Empty
Voracious demand for imported goods by U.S. consumers has pushed up rates for freight being shipped across the Pacific from Asia to the U.S., making that trip far more lucrative than the journey from the U.S. to Asia.
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Survey Offers Manufacturers Insights into How to Support Dealers
If manufacturers can provide better images, real-time updates to parts and whole goods, and easier to navigate co-op policies, they stand to grow their revenue and build loyalty among dealers.
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What is Multifactor Authentication, and Do You Need It?
When 80 percent of breaches are still caused by weak, reused, and compromised passwords, businesses need to focus on putting a stronger security foundation in place. Consider MFA.
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Sentry Offers Webinar on Work Comp
Discuss challenges in the work comp industry, emerging technologies and analytics to improve the process, achieving better outcomes for workers, and more.
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Supply Chain Challenges Accelerate 3-D Printing Use
A rise in global shipping costs and new techniques are making the technology more attractive, and “increased flexibility and confidence on lead times may help drive efficiencies …”
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OSHA Suspends Enforcement of Vaccine Mandate
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has suspended implementation and enforcement of the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for private employers after a federal court
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Association Offers Members High-Value, No-Cost Cyber Resource
“This three-year partnership with Enquiron brings a value to members far higher than their annual membership dues,” said Executive Vice President Vernon Schmidt. “I hope every company seizes the opportunity.”
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What’s Inside the Nation’s Infrastructure Bill?
The new spending bill is an investment that the president has compared to the building of the transcontinental railroad and Interstate Highway System.
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Association Elects New Leaders
The Board of Directors of the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association elected officers at a meeting in Oklahoma City on Wednesday.
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Truckers: ‘Lazy’ Crane Operators Exacerbate Port Delays
Crane operators who belong to a powerful union and earn up to $250,000 a year are worsening the supply chain crisis by goofing off on the job, frustrated truckers told reporters.
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California Bans Gas-Powered Landscaping Equipment
The law requires all newly sold small-motor equipment primarily used for landscaping to be zero-emissions—essentially to be battery operated or plug-in—as early as 2024.
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Dealers Dig Out GPS Units from 2004 for Farmers
“It’s the perfect storm of Tylenol moments,” said AGCO’s Greg Toornman. “It’s one headache after another.”
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Bottlenecks at China Ports More Massive Than In U.S.
“We can expect these growing backlogs across Chinese manufacturers and ports to exacerbate imbalances at U.S. and European ports,” an analyst said. “The challenge is less about achieving full inventory—that ship has sailed—and more about adapting to, and planning for, future disruption.”
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Machinery Purchase Plans Affected by Low Inventories
Fewer farmers this month said they planned to increase their machinery purchases than on the August survey. More than half say their farm machinery purchase plans have been impacted by low inventories.
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Legal Focus: Employee Handbooks Play Critical Role
Employee handbooks are essential for compliance and announce employee expectations. See what the Association’s HR attorneys consider mandatory or near-mandatory policies.
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Cyber Anxiety High, Confidence Low Among Execs
Nearly six in 10 executives say they worry about a cyber attack. One in four has been a victim of such an attack–a 150 percent increase since 2015.
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Smart Leaders Avoid Saying These Things
Avoid starting a question with “Don’t you agree?” See why, and pick up more tips on phrases to avoid.
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Legal Focus: Workplace Vaccine Mandates
Labor attorneys David James and Joe Schmitt help members make sense of OSHA’s intent to develop rules requiring employers with more than 100 employees to ensure their workforces are vaccinated or tested frequently for COVID.
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Construction of Steel Mill Could Ease Price Pressures
The new mill represents a bet by U.S. Steel that demand will remain elevated for an extended time. The spot market price for sheet steel is nearly $2,000 a ton, up from less than $500 a ton during summer 2020.
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Wave of Shipper Consolidations Contributes to Supply Chain Stress
Businesses are paying at least four times more to move their products than they were last year and face longer delivery times. Contributing to the problem is that the top six container operators control more than 70 percent of all container capacity.
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Study: Early Therapy Reduces Work Comp Costs
Average medical cost per claim with early manual therapy was 27 percent lower than similar claims with late manual therapy.
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Survey: Farmers Favor Shortline Brands for Innovation, Value, and More
In a survey conducted by Lessiter Media’s Farm Equipment magazine exploring what drives farmers to choose shortline equipment over major brands, farmers gave the shortline industry high marks.
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Amazon Asks Delivery Partners to Stop Testing for Pot
To find more drivers, the company is advising delivery partners to prominently advertise that they don’t screen applicants for marijuana use.
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Land Prices as High as an Elephant’s Eye
In Iowa, in one week, five counties broke records for price per acre on farmland. In at least one county, the record had only been standing for a week.
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Lean: Do You Decide or Determine Your Solutions?
Determining a solution means that the process, the data, and the criteria drove the outcome. It doesn’t mean that it was devoid of intuition or creativity but that your intuition was validated through the process.
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What Rural America Can Expect from the Infrastructure Plan
Mike Steenhoek with the Soybean Transportation Coalition said the provisions will “clearly enhance the competitiveness of U.S. agriculture.”
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Farm Bureau Among Groups Who Call for Tariff Relief
The trade groups indirectly acknowledged that China has not met all of its purchasing commitments but encouraged the administration to negotiate over issues not included in Phase One.
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Five Reasons You Cannot Miss Fall Convention
It saves time. The potential is unparalleled. You learn from speakers. You gain perspective that improves your operations. And when this madness in the industry ends, the relationships you form will keep you moving forward.
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Vaccine Sentiment Shifts as Cases Rise
Forty-six percent of employers say they are “more strongly” considering a vaccine mandate for employees. The latest data is a stark contrast to earlier sentiments.
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Cervus Equipment Agrees to be Acquired by Brandt Tractor
Transaction would create one of the largest privately-held dealership groups in the world and enhance Cervus’ ability to execute on its strategy of delivering best-in-class equipment and solutions to its customers
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Ag Needs Stronger Representation in Washington
Much is said of big agriculture and its grip on Washington. And farmers have, in recent history, punched above their weight. But the forecast is not promising.
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Supply Chain Backlogs Intensify
Ports contending with record-high volumes are causing delays, and those delays are contributing to ocean freight rates that have quadrupled.
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Dealers Scramble to Serve Farmers Amid Chip Shortage
The shortage of semiconductor chips is contributing to what one dealer characterizes as a return to the “dark ages” in terms of yield data.
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SBA Simplifies Forgiveness for Some PPP Loans
There are about 7.1 million PPP loans that remain outstanding and about 6 million are for $150,000 or less. That is the category the SBA seeks to support with this program.
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