• Ohio Ag Equipment, a division of Ohio CAT and an authorized AGCO and CLAAS dealer for the state of Ohio, announced it will acquire

• 21st Century Equipment LLC announced it will acquire Frank Implement Company’s

• Henry S. Miller, past president of Far West Equipment Dealers Association, recently passed away

Bankers are worried about the drop in farm profits and the repayment capacity of their borrowers, said professor emeritus and ag banking consultant David Kohl at the American Bankers Association National Agricultural Bankers conference held in Omaha in November, reported The Progressive Farmer.

An experienced Director of Business Development with agriculture and commercial experience in business planning, and forecasting seeks an opportunity to lead a sales and marketing team.

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The U.S. House of Representatives last week voted to pass a one-year extension of more than 50 tax breaks that expired at the end of 2013, including the Section 179 provision allowing a full depreciation deduction of up to $500,000 on most equipment and machinery in the current year. The “bare minimum” measure was the only option left to the House following an Obama veto threat of a deal that would have made certain provisions permanent.

The Obama administration is expected to soon release a contentious and long-delayed environmental regulation to curb ozone emissions, reported the New York Times. The sweeping regulation, which would aim at smog from power plants and factories across the country, particularly in the Midwest, would be the latest in a series of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) controls on air pollution from smokestacks and tailpipes.

State Rep. Charlie Davis filed legislation this week that would protect employees who don’t give their bosses their passwords. If passed as is, the bill would prohibit employers from firing or disciplining workers who don’t give them access to their online accounts. It also would prevent employers from holding it against job applicants who refuse to disclose their passwords.

Sharply lower gasoline prices through November and higher ethanol quotes have raised concerns about the future of ethanol demand and the potential for lower corn prices, but University of Illinois ag economists Darrel Good and Scott Irwin say “this risk is overstated,” reported AgWeb.com.

We are extremely thankful for our members’ support in many areas over the last 12 months and for the success we have enjoyed in continuing to build a strong association of farm equipment manufacturers.

While numbers don’t tell the entire story, they are an important tool in measuring our success. By the time 2014 draws to a close, we will have added over 70 new members to our Association for the second consecutive year and remain on track to see our total membership top 750 companies in 2015. Much of this success can be credited to current members’ efforts in sponsoring new members.

Having claimed its place in the soda, water, energy drink, and juice markets, Coca-Cola now is going after milk. In a blog post on HoosierAgToday.com, Gary Truitt said the beverage giant is preparing a nationwide launch of Fairlife, a high-end milk, in 2015.

For future meetings, the section’s Board of Governors will offer “Key Sponsorships” to supplier companies. A Key Supplier will pay $1,000 to have its company name featured at serving stations and on printed conference materials. The event will still be listed as the Supplier Section welcome party but will offer increased visibility for the sponsor company.

If you would like your company to become a Key Sponsor for the 2015 Spring Conference in Charlotte, NC, please contact Elaina Jackson at elaina@farmequip.org or 314-878-2304 before January 15.

The anti-GMO movement’s two biggest efforts—ballot initiatives in Colorado and Oregon that would have required labels for genetically altered food—were defeated during the recent midterm elections.

The results in Colorado and Oregon follow similar ballot initiative defeats in California in 2012 and in Washington state in 2013. While the vote in Oregon was very close (800 votes), in Colorado, the vote was more decisive. There, labeling proponents lost by a 2-1 margin. “If this had been two candidates, they’d say the ‘No on 105’ coalition had a mandate, said Don Shawcroft, Colorado Farm Bureau president and co-chair of No on 105.

The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) completed three standards projects regarding power take-off drive shafts and related equipment.

The new standards are:

Some small-business owners hope that a new Congress will change the federal health law’s requirement that businesses provide health insurance to workers who clock as little as 30 hours a week, or pay a penalty, reported The Wall Street Journal.

The GOP-controlled House of Representatives voted in April to back raising what qualifies as a full-time workweek under the health law to 40 hours a week, from 30, though President Obama threatened to veto the change. After midterm elections, House Speaker John Boehner said the 40-hour definition remains one of his top agenda items. The proposal to extend the full-time workweek definition to 40 hours for the purposes of the health law would likely require support from at least 60 votes in the Senate. Republicans have locked in 53 seats for the new year.

Crop operations consume much more energy than livestock operations, and energy expenditures for crops account for a higher percentage of farm operating costs, according to a recent brief from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The document also states that rice and peanut crops use the most energy per planted acre; wheat, soybean, and oat crops use the least.

This month we thank the following companies for their membership in, and continued support of, the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association.

Congratulations to these companies on their November anniversaries.

The Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association joined with 375 trade associations and chambers from 50 states representing a wide range of industries to voice strong concerns regarding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ flawed proposed rule to dramatically expand the scope of federal authority over water and land uses across the U.S. and to call for the proposal to be withdrawn. The effort was led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Vernon Schmidt, the Association’s Executive VP, called the proposal an “unlawful power grab by the EPA to assert federal jurisdiction over local water and land use.” Schmidt said the rule would make it impossible for the manufacturers he represents and the farmers and ranchers who buy their equipment to know what routine business practices could be carried out without obtaining an expensive federal permit. “This administration’s EPA has shown a continued pattern of disregard for business, industry, and farm and ranch families,” Schmidt said.

More than 50 partners in the 25x’25 Alliance have urged the EPA to issue guidance on flex fuel vehicles (FFVs), according FarmIndustryNews.com.

The Alliance wrote a letter to the EPA endorsing the Volkswagen Group of America’s recent request for EPA to issue guidance concerning the E85 weighting factor (“F factor”) for model year 2016-2025 FFVs. The F factor is used to estimate the volume of E85 combusted in FFVs to calculate their greenhouse gas emissions.

The Equipment Marketing & Distribution Association (EMDA) announced that its newly elected officers and directors for 2014-2015 will be:

Farm values in Plains states rose by 2.0%, year on year, for irrigated land and by 1.2% for non-watered plots, the weakest price growth pace since 2009.

“After several years of strong price appreciation… cropland value gains have dropped considerably,” the Fed said, adding that about one-third of bankers contacted for its survey forecast a further decline in values, against only 5% foreseeing an increase.

At our Fall Convention in Las Vegas, when our Dealer Panel was asked, “What can manufacturers do to help dealers with year-end sales?”, their answer was loud and clear: Contact your U.S. Senator and your Representative in Congress and tell them how critical it is to restore Section 179 of the tax code.

Four states—Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska and South Dakota—passed measures to increase the minimum wage. Alaska’s measure will increase the minimum wage to $9.75 in 2016, the Arkansas measure raises the minimum wage to $8.50 by 2017, Nebraska’s will rise to $9 by 2016 and South Dakota’s goes to $8.50.

By a wide margin, Illinois voters also recommended an increase to the minimum wage, but the vote was nonbinding.

In Alaska and South Dakota, the minimum wage could climb higher . . .

Three out of four U.S. farmers fear data they share with companies offering big data services may fall into the wrong hands or be used without their consent, including for commodity market speculation, according to a survey published this week . .

According to a report on NJ.com, Governor Chris Christie told Iowa pork producers he intends to veto a bill passed by the New Jersey Legislature which bans the use of gestation crates for pigs.

The Republican governor made his intentions clear on a pig gestation crate bill when asked about it last month during a visit to Northwest Iowa.

Crop producers and scientists hold deeply different views on climate change and its possible causes, a study by Purdue and Iowa State universities shows.

More than 90% of the scientists and climatologists surveyed said they believed climate change was occurring, with more than 50% attributing climate change primarily to human activities. In contrast, 66% of corn producers surveyed said they believed climate change was occurring, with 8% pinpointing human activities as the main cause. A quarter of producers said they believed climate change was caused mostly by natural shifts in the environment, and 31% said there was not enough evidence to determine whether climate change was happening or not.

Baker No Tillage – BNT/Cross Slot is undertaking a Direct Public Offering to raise capital to expand it’s North American operations under the Security Exchange Commission via a Private Placement Memorandum (PPM), reported Lessiter Publications.

Ag-Pro Companies announced the acquisition of Mid Georgia Tractor — Jenner Sales has taken over operation of Tri-Co Equipment — Butler Ag Equipment announced the acquisition of Henkens Equipment

Winnipeg-based AGI announced Tuesday it signed an acquisition deal with Westeel’s owner Vicwest Inc. and Irish building materials manufacturer Kingspan Group. Kingspan said Tuesday it will buy Winnipeg-based Vicwest for $12.70 cash per share, pegging the enterprise value of Vicwest at about $350 million.

During its 64th annual Fall Convention held Nov. 3-7, in Las Vegas, NV, the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association elected and installed the following officers:

President, Mike Kloster, Worksaver Inc.; 1st Vice President, Ric Kirby, Kirby Manufacturing Inc.; 2nd Vice President, Paul Jeffrey, MacDon Industries Ltd.; Treasurer, Robert Atkinson, W & A Manufacturing Company; and Secretary, Stanley McFarlane, McFarlane Manufacturing Co. Inc. Outgoing President Marc McConnell, Art’s Way Manufacturing Co., will serve as an Ex Officio member of the Executive Committee.

Blount International, Inc. announced its results for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2014. Third quarter sales were $245.2 million, an increase of 6.3% over the third quarter of 2013. Operating income for the third quarter of 2014 was $23.5 million, compared to $15.6 million in the same quarter last year. Third quarter net income was $16.1 million, compared to $7.7 million in the third quarter of 2013.

Western Kansas Manufacturers Association (WKMA) announced it will change its 3i SHOW dates beginning in 2015. The Association made the decision after giving significant consideration to exhibitor feedback, as well as crop schedules, other farm show dates, and multiple other factors.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has disclosed its latest stock holdings as of Sept. 30, 2014 with the SEC. While the value of its portfolio was unchanged at $108 billion relative to the end of June, and it continued to hold 46 stocks, there were still a number of changes to note.

The U.S. Department of Commerce named AGCO Corp. Chairman President and CEO Martin Richenhagen to the President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa, reported MarketWatch.com.

Speaking earlier this month at the Association’s Fall Convention in Las Vegas, Howard Dahl reported that the current business climate in Russia and Ukraine offers significant opportunities and risks for equipment manufacturers conducting business there. Dahl, CEO of Amity Technology, Fargo, ND, has been selling farm equipment in Russia since 1991 and has made 73 trips to the region.

“If you’re doing business in the Russian cattle, hog or dairy industry, there are record profits right now,” Dahl said. “The amount of money being made is phenomenal. Potato growers told me in October that they were making $5,000 per hectare in profit.”

The United States will make a one-time final contribution of $300 million to the Brazil Cotton Institute, and Brazil will terminate the cotton case and give up its rights to countermeasures against U.S. trade or any further proceedings in the dispute. Brazil also agreed not to bring new WTO actions against U.S. cotton support programs while the current U.S. Farm Bill is in force or against agricultural export credit guarantees under the GSM-102 program.

Final results from Farm Equipment’s “2015 Dealer Business Outlook & Trends” survey indicate that equipment early orders are down compared to what North American farm equipment dealers have seen over the past few years. Just over 300 dealers responded to the question, “How do your pre-sells or early orders this year compare with early orders last year at this time?” and 60% said their early orders are down. In last year’s survey . . .

Bill Smyth runs Westover Winery in Livermore Valley, CA, as a hobby, and he’s going out of business after being fined $115,000 for using volunteer workers.

Smyth, a retired teacher, said he usually works only about 10 hours a week at the winery, sells about $200,000 worth of wine a year, and nets about $11,000 in income.

This month we thank the following companies for their membership in the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association and their continued support. We look forward to having them, and you, as members for many more years.

Congratulations to these member companies on their October anniversaries.

Omni Gear, a Houston, TX-based manufacturer of power transmissions and gearboxes, announced it is sponsoring a Formula E race team, Team China. Formula E is an FIA-governed single-seat vehicle series, and the world’s first fully-electric racing series.

For a second time, AGCO cut its forecast for full-year earnings, citing “lower sales levels across all regions”. . . The group attributed its downgrade to “lower sales levels across all regions, lower production and foreign currency translation”, with the rise of the dollar to a four-year high against other currencies such as the euro.

How can shortliner manufacturers best work with their independent dealers during the current market correction?

What issues keep dealers awake at night?

To gain further insights, and perhaps hear some answers, to the Dealer Panel on Thursday, Nov. 6. – During this panel discussion, industry experts will discuss sales expectations, consolidation, dealer purity, state regulations and, in general, how to improve the important partnership between shortline manufacturers and their independent dealers.

Deere & Co. said it will lay off nearly 10% of its workers at a factory in southern Brazil, citing falling equipment sales in South America and “the volatility of the Brazilian market” . . . The Horizontina factory, where the layoffs will take place, has roughly 1,800 workers and produces mechanical harvesters and planters. Deere has four other factories in Brazil.

On October 3, Kondex Corporation celebrated National Manufacturing Day with a visit from U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI). The senator toured Kondex’s plant near Lomira, WI, and gave a presentation on the state of the nation to Kondex associates; approximately 100 students from Lomira Middle and High Schools; and representatives from the Lomira School District, Village of Lomira, Dodge County Board, and Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM).

The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) announced the completion of three standards projects related to power take-off drive shafts and related equipment.

The new standards are:

Revision ANSI/ASABE S604.1, Safety for Power Take-off (PTO), PTO Drive Shafts, and Power Input Connection (PIC) for Agricultural Field Equipment

Adoption with deviations of ISO 5673-1:2005, ANSI/ASABE AD5673-1:2005, Agricultural tractors and machinery — Power take-off drive shafts and power-input connection — Part 1: General manufacturing and safety requirements

The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) has initiated a project to nationally adopt recently amended international standard ISO 730:2009, Agricultural wheeled tractors. Rear-mounted three-point Linkage. Categories 1N, 1, 2N, 2, 3N, 3, 4N and 4.

“They’re kickin’ in the front door, knocking over the vase, while they’re walking out with your television set. They’re just prolific. Their strategy seems to be: ‘We’ll just be everywhere all the time, and there’s no way they can stop us,’” Comey said.

The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) has initiated four standards projects for rotary disk, drum, and flail mowers.

KMW Ltd., manufacturer of front-end loaders and backhoes for tractors, announced the addition of Kansas Tractor Works to its operation. Kansas Tractor Works, located in Lyons, KS, provides detailed assembly and pre-delivery services on both farm and utility equipment.

Even those who already met the law’s requirement to offer health insurance to at least 70% of full-time staffers by 2015 are trying to determine whether their plans are affordable to their employees, as required under the law. The cost cannot exceed. . .

Smaller businesses, those with 50 to 99 workers, have until 2016 to comply with the law. Companies with fewer than 50 workers are exempt from the employer mandates

Art’s Way Manufacturing Co., Inc. announced its financial results for the three and nine months ended Aug. 31, 2014.

Third quarter sales for the company’s manufacturing division were $9.3 million, compared to $8 million the same period of 2013, an increase of 17.0%. Nine-month sales for 2014 in the division were $21.4 million, compared to $22.7 million for the same period in 2013.

A 50-year-old family-owned and -operated, short-line equipment manufacturer seeks an Ag Products Sales Manager.

Business models to market are direct-sales staff, independent sales representatives and distributors.

The position requires extensive travel throughout North America. Estimated travel time is 50%.