Many actuaries say they still don’t have a clear sense of what their health costs will be this year, even as they set prices for 2015. One chief actuary told the Journal he spends 80% of his time talking to lawmakers, journalists and others outside the company, instead of doing typical actuarial work.

To help farmers and ranchers understand the new provisions in the Agricultural Act of 2014, the Farm Service Agency (FSA) has outlined key information in a fact sheet.

It explains new and revised provisions for adjusted gross income (AGI), payment limitations compliance, marketing assistance loans (MALs), disaster programs and dairy programs.

Alamo Group Inc. announced its European subsidiary acquired Kellands Agricultural Ltd. and its subsidiary, Multidrive Tractors Ltd., based near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire in England.

The North American Equipment Dealers Association (NAEDA) elected new officers for 2014-15. They assumed their new roles on March 1 at NAEDA’s annual meeting in Phoenix, AZ.

Blaine Bingham of Mesa, AZ, was elected chairman of NAEDA’s board of directors. Brian Carpenter of Middlebury, VT, was elected first vice chairman and treasurer. Mark Foster of Attica, IN, was elected second vice chairman and secretary.

The company plans to consolidate one of its Iowa agriculture stores into an existing Titan dealership and reduce staff at other dealerships and at its shared resource center. Overall, the realignment and staff reductions will shrink the company’s total headcount by 4.5%.

2013 was a year of solid performance and strong asset quality for farm banks, who significantly increased agricultural lending by 9% and held $87.8 billion in farm loans at the end of the year, according to the American Bankers Association’s (ABA) annual Farm Bank Performance Report.

A recent change in Nebraska law allows equipment haulers in that state to act as farm equipment dealers’ representatives when hauling equipment to or from the dealer’s place of business.

The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) completed a new safety standard for post-hole diggers. ANSI/ASABE S619 DEC2013, Safety for Tractor-Mounted, Boom-Type Post Hole Diggers, establishes recommendations for the use and operation of boom-type post hole diggers designed for attachment to the three-point hitch of agricultural tractors.

The Union Leader and AP are reporting that Merrimack County judge in New Hampshire has rejected a request for a permanent injunction to prevent the auto Dealer Bill of Rights law from taking effect. Story and link to court order below with more in next Shortliner issue.

The Mills Companies announced it has acquired EIP Manufacturing, LLC, in Earlville, IA.

For the second consecutive year, Vermeer Corporation was awarded “Dealer’s Choice” in the Ag/Shortline Manufacturer category.

University of Iowa associate professor of finance Art Durnev, who is Russian, said the conflict had produced “tremendous uncertainty” for western companies such as Deere operating in the region. Deere and other western companies are likely to put any plans for new investment in the region on ice.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives has resolved to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from disclosing private information of U.S. farmers and ranchers, as it did in early 2013, reported Dairy Heard Management on its website.

The first major expansion of the Panama Canal was expected to wrap up in time for the canal’s centennial this year, Southeast Farm Press reported. But most work on the canal was suspended when the contractors ran out of money. Officially, the new completion date is December 2015; unofficially, it may be much later.

The Kentucky Senate voted to punish animal-rights activists with jail and fines for secretly filming farm operations, attaching the proposal to legislation meant to prevent animal shelters from using gas chambers as a form of euthanasia, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported. But the bill itself may be doomed.

During the recently concluded Spring Conference in San Antonio, Association President Marc McConnell appointed the following members to serve one-year terms on the committees listed below.

Ranchers and farmers who suffered losses due to disasters from 2012 through this year should assemble their paperwork now, before the USDA’s April 15 deadline for issuing guidance for receiving assistance, said Agriculture Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden. According to agweb.com, Harden, who is in charge of USDA’s rollout of farm bill provisions, added that there may be a lag after April 15 before producers receive checks.

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 these companies, and yours, as members for many more years.

Please join us in congratulating the following members on their April anniversaries.

The Association welcomes two new members to its 2014-2015 Supplier Associate Section Board of Governors. Recently elected and installed are Scott Moss, Agricultural Sales Manager at Comer Industries, Inc., and Joe Sampson, Sales and Marketing Manager for Osmundson Manufacturing Co.

Recent changes to the speaking program proved successful, including offering more sessions, starting the first full day with morning sessions, and scheduling the Supplier Showcase earlier in the week.

One of the best-attended sessions was our panel discussion on managing risks in the workplace. In the photo above, Association President Marc McConnell introduces our panel of experts, who addressed issues ranging from workers’ compensation and employee theft to prescription drug abuse and the use of camera surveillance. A diverse panel provided for differing viewpoints and a healthy debate among our HR attorney, insurance executive, doctor and surveillance expert on a number of topics.

The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) initiated a project to adopt nationally an international standard, ISO 10448:1994, Agricultural tractors—Hydraulic pressure for implements.

ISO 10448 will replace the withdrawn ASABE standard ASAE S489, Hydraulic Pressure Available on Agricultural Tractors for Remote Use with Implements, which no longer reflected the state-of-the-art designs for flow rates, pressure, tolerances, usable hydraulic power, and sampling capability.

Today, most businesses accept electronic payments via credit and debit cards to offer added convenience for their customers and to boost profits by increasing income. However, many business owners who engage in these types of transactions do not fully understand how much they cost.

The dissenting justice said that the digger’s designer and distributor were ordered to compensate the victim because they had deeper pockets than the farmer who owned the device, and such “soak-the-rich fact-finding is commonplace in American tort law.”

The American farm economy will face “headwinds” in 2014, according to a report by the American Bankers Association (ABA). It quotes the USDA as projecting net farm cash income of $101.9 billion in 2014, down nearly 22% from 2013. The expected decline will be driven by lower crop cash receipts, a change in the value of crop inventories, and reduced government farm payments, the report said.

Parts of the nation dependent on agriculture have had slow or no growth in recent months, Creighton University economist Ernie Goss said Thursday. His survey of bankers yielded a Rural Mainstreet Index of 50.1 for this month’s survey, up slightly from 48.4 in February, according to the World-Herald article. An index below 50 means economic decline. The farm and ranch land price index was 40.9, the lowest since March 2009, and the farm equipment sales index was 29.3, the lowest since May 2009.

The showdown between EPA and farm groups and crop protection organizations over the Environmental Protection Agency’s interpretation of Clean Water Act language protecting the “waters of the United States” has begun, reported Delta Farm Press.

Caterpillar Inc. deferred or avoided paying $2.4 billion of U.S. taxes under a corporate restructuring that shifted profits from overseas replacement-part sales to a Swiss subsidiary, according to a Senate subcommittee report, said the Wall Street Journal.

The new document, ASAE EP344.4, Lighting Systems for Agricultural Facilities, includes updates that reflect current practices and equipment. The document is intended to serve as a guide for the effective design of lighting installations on or within agricultural facilities.

Ever-higher electricity prices, driven in part by a 22% government-mandated levy to fund renewable-energy sources, are prompting companies large and small to invest in their own power-generation infrastructure.

In the U.S., the House of Representatives has approved a bill to block President Obama’s climate plan that aimed at regulating so-called carbon pollution from new power plants. The bill would put a stop to proposed EPA rules . . .

Association provides space on our website—free of charge—for regular members to advertise for sale their surplus supplies and equipment. To view the page, visit FarmEquip.org/classified_ads/surplus.

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 these companies, and yours, as members for many more years.

The Agri-Pulse Farm Opinion Poll, launched last month, found that 58% of Iowa farmers responding said, of several national issues including the Farm Bill, trade, tax codes and immigration, the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is most important to the future profitability of their farms.

We are pleased to report that Tom Taylor, Vice President of Business Development for the Agricultural Division of Alamo Group has been elected to the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association Board of Directors.

If the current administration fails to learn from history and instead repeats it by imposing such sanctions as a ban on exports of grain and other commodities to Russia, the greatest casualties likely will be American business and agricultural interests.

The U.S. unexpectedly cut its estimate for 2014 corn inventories after a price slump to a three-year low boosted global demand.

“We need to continue the profitability of large-scale commercial sized operations. We need to continue to promote programs and policies that will ensure that profitability will remain,” he said. “At the same time, we have the responsibility to preserve and expand mid-sized operations coming up with new ways to create income opportunities so folks don’t necessarily have to give up. . .

PEER Bearing was recognition as a Partner-Level Supplier for 2013 and inducted into the 10-year Supplier Hall of Fame in the John Deere Achieving Excellence Program.

One broker was quoted saying that if the USDA had “factored in acreage coming out of CRP or even a portion of the 8.3 million acres of prevent plant from last year, I haven’t found it. . .

For the quarter, total revenues declined 3.4% to $290.6 million and used equipment revenues increased 6.5% to $84.9 million. For the year, total revenues increased 4.3% to $1,007.8 million, while equipment inventory decreased $14.8 million.

The ASABE Technical Committee for Farm Materials Handling and Transport would like additional experts familiar with open- and closed-tank manure spreaders and self-unloading forage boxes.

An Association member seeks a Territory Manager for Alabama and Tennessee. The member manufactures peanut harvest equipment, tillage tools, poultry house maintenance equipment, and disc mower caddies. A dealer network exists, and a strong market for the company’s products has been established.

ASABE announced that the international community approved four new International Organization for Standardization (ISO) projects to develop or revise documents in the ISO 4254 series of standards for agricultural machinery safety.

Dealers contend that Tesla’s direct-selling model violates franchise and consumer laws in many states and Tesla should have to comply with the same rules other automakers follow. Dealers also fear Tesla’s stores could open a path for other manufacturers to sell directly.

Trade sales for the fourth quarter were $88 million, up 47% over the same period last year, with annual sales of $358 million, up 14% over last year. The situation in Ukraine and the region is very fluid. Although at this time our customers have not changed their view with respect to capital projects this may change if the situation worsens.

DuPont Coating Solutions changed its name to Axalta Coating Systems. The company, based in Hilliard, OH, also launched a new website, and staff email addresses now include the new name

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Small business optimism continues its winter hibernation, with the latest Index dropping 2.7 points to 91.4, a reading historically associated with recessions and periods of sub-par growth, according to a recent report by the . . .

The number of product liability lawsuits—and the costs related to them—continue to grow, and we’re all susceptible. Any claim, regardless of its merits or lack thereof, can be expensive to defend. Learn how to protect your company, prevent loss and mitigate risks by attending the Business Risk Reduction: Product Safety Is Liability Prevention breakout session at the Spring Conference in San Antonio.

The late rush of registrations for our Spring Conference last week filled all of our rooms at the Grand Hyatt and put us on track for one of the largest spring meetings in many years. Unfortunately, it also left us short of rooms for some of our late registrations.

During the Dealer Relations Committee Meeting at our Spring Conference, Vince Tomlonovic, Committee Chair, and Association Exec. Vice President Vernon Schmidt will discuss legislation effecting contractual relationships between shortline manufacturers and their dealers.

In an attempt to manage risks and enforce its safety policies, AT&T appears to have walked head-on into what is sure to be a costly battle with government-funded lawyers.

U.S. Department of Labor attorneys filed a lawsuit against the company for suspending 13 workers without pay, allegedly for . . .