Large companies would be required for the first time to make their worker injury and illness records public under a new rule that a Labor Department agency is set to propose, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The EPA dropped the bad news for corn farmers with a recent release of the Obama administration’s proposed 2014 renewable fuel standard (RFS), revising the total renewable volume obligations downward for the first time. The target number, if it becomes law, would be a reduction of nearly…

A leaked United Nations backed report on global warming claims the global food supply is at risk, with yields of wheat, rice, corn and other major crops projected to drop by as much as 2% each decade for the rest of the century, even as demand rises.

According to a landmark analysis of workplace drug test results released by Quest Diagnostics, drug use among American workers declined dramatically over the past 25 years, although the rate of positive test results for certain drugs, including amphetamine and opiates, continues to climb.

Our International Relations Committee is seeking some very basic information to help it better serve the needs of our member companies. This is a very quick survey to complete with only eight questions, all of which provide multiple choice answers.

Alamo Group Inc., Seguin, TX, reported results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2013. Highlights for the Quarter: Record net income of $11.3 million; Record net sales of $174.7 million; North American Industrial Division up 16%; North American Agricultural Division up 13% and the European Division up 4%.

“U.S. farmers are aging, but their aging mirrors the U.S. labor force,” Zulauf said in a recent policy brief on the topic. “The U.S. farmer population is older than the U.S. labor force, but this has been true since 1980 and likely much earlier.”

One-hundred and fifty years ago this week President Abraham Lincoln spoke 272 words in his Gettysburg Address. That is how many words people from all over the world were asked to write in celebration of the anniversary of the Gettysburg Address, including Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman.

Highlights from AEM’s (Association of Equipment Manufacturers) monthly Ag Flash Reports for unit retail sales are listed below.

The Fall Convention is over, but if you didn’t have a chance to check or forward your messages available to attendees on the joint e-message system before leaving, there’s still time. All messages from the meeting will remain in the e-message system and will not be deleted until. . .

The lobbying arm of Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is spending $100,000 in a campaign to get a key animal rights amendment stripped from the 2013 farm bill.

The ads, which began running last week, targets members of the House-Senate Farm Bill conference committee.

Mike Lessiter, Farm Equipment/Ag Equipment Intelligence was elected to serve on the Association’s Board of Directors, representing our Supplier Section. Lessiter is president of. . .

Texans overwhelmingly passed a constitutional amendment Tuesday to jump-start financing for water projects in the state: Proposition 6. The plan will take $2 billion in surplus state money to start a low-interest loan program for water projects in. . .

Newly elected officers and directors of the Equipment Marketing & Distribution Association (EMDA) for 2013-2014 are: Ted Traeder, CPMR, Traeder Enterprises, Inc., Hillsboro, Wisconsin, President. . .

Sentry Insurance Co. has announced an average dividend of 5% for Product Liability insurance participants who were in the program with their products liability policy expiring in 2013. Due to the tiered dividend program, those who were in the. . .

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd’s Farm Equipment Sector (FES) sold 37,532 tractors in the domestic market, a 30% rise from 28,872 units sold during the same month a year ago.

Nick Jensen, President of Product Development & Distribution and third generation co-owner at Thurston Manufacturing, was elected to a three year term on the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association Board of Directors during the. . .

The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) recently announced the adoption, with deviations, of ISO 4254-13:2012, Agricultural machinery – Safety – Part 13: Large rotary mowers. . .

RDO Equipment Co. recently announced the acquisition of Water Tech Ag Supply

Tractor Supply Company has announced that Cynthia T. Jamison, will succeed James F. Wright as Chairman of the Board

AGCO, Dulth-GA, reported net sales of approximately $2.5 billion during the third quarter of 2013, an increase of approximately 7.9%, compared to net sales of $2.3 billion for the third quarter of 2012.

According to a new study by the ADP Research Institute, a specialized research group within ADP, the cost of health coverage and other employee benefits, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and the level and volume of government regulations are the. . .

Reuters reports that U.S. ethanol plants that have been shut for as many as five years are now coming back online as a record U.S. harvest has pushed down corn prices and improved profit margins for. . .

During our recently completed Fall Convention in Indianapolis, we gathered a group of individuals who have worked in the fields of industry standards, product liability and government regulation to discuss what impact pending federally imposed regulations will have on our portion of the farm equipment industry.

The level of U.S. farm output more than doubled between 1948 and 2011, growing at an average annual rate of 1.49%. Aggregate input use increased at a modest 0.07% annually over this period, so growth in farm sector output was almost entirely due to. . .

We would like to recognize the following companies for their continued support of the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association and thank them for their membership over the years.

As of last week, 98% of corn has reached maturity, compared to 100% this time last year and the five year average of 97%, while 59% is harvested, compared to 91% a year ago and 62% on average. 62% of U.S. corn is in. . .

At the recent Indianapolis Fall Convention, member companies celebrating their 50 and 60 year memberships with the Association were given a special recognition plaque by the Association’s President, Andrew Cummings (Photos)

Montag Manufacturing Inc. based in Emmetsburg, IA will supply Bigham Brothers Inc. of Lubbock, TX, with its fertilizer metering systems, effective as of. . .

During the 63rd Annual Fall Convention,the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association elected Marc McConnell, Art’s Way Manufacturing Co., as the 61st President of the Association. McConnell has served on the Association’s Board since . . .

Kubota Corporation has appointed Masato Yoshikawa as the new President of Kubota Tractor Corporation based in Torrance, Calif. Yoshikawa is a 32-year Kubota veteran and most recently held the position of. . .

Reuters reports that bankrupt LightSquared has sued leaders in the GPS industry, including Deere & Co and Garmin International Inc, saying they kept mum about interference concerns stemming from LightSquared’s wireless network until the company had . . .

The National Corn Growers Association, American Soybean Association and the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) have announce a new collaborative venture which combines the Commodity Classic with. . .

John Brown of Myers Spring Co. Inc, in Logansport, Indiana – This year’s winner of the Association’s C.P. Nicholson Membership Award. Brown sponsored eight new member companies. . .

Voters in the state of Washington appear to have turned back Initiative 522 which would have required agricultural products produced entirely or partly with genetic engineering, to be labeled as genetically engineered when offered. . .

House and Senate tax committee members are finally putting pen to paper and drafting comprehensive reform legislation. Industry groups are getting nervous as lawmakers have warned that key parts of the Internal Revenue Code are on track for major changes or outright repeal.

Of particular concern to our dealer friends at NAEDA is the fact that “last in, first out” (LIFO) tax accounting method and like-kind exchanges (LKE) are apparently both in the crosshairs.

The Food and Agriculture Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri-Columbia has released a new report comparing the House and Senate farm bills.

The analysis examines possible policy changes, including the elimination of the direct payment and ACRE programs, common features of both bills, and the establishment of new programs intended to provide safety net coverage for growers in different regions and of different crops.

Members will soon be receiving the 2013-2014 Membership Directory & Product Index paper edition.

South Dakota Sen. Thune says getting a Farm Bill passed is one of the most important actions Congress can take to help western South Dakota ranchers who lost thousands of cattle in the weekend blizzard. Some ranchers have reported as much as 50% or more of their cattle died after rain was followed by heavy snow and winds up to . . .

Year-on-year steel demand growth “on the order of 3%” in both 2013 and 2014 “is fairly good for a mature industry,” Edwin Basson, director general of the World Steel Association (WSA) told Platts on the sidelines of the group’s annual conference.

A mile wide, tornado packing 170 mph winds has devastated parts of Wayne, NE and left amidst the rubble, the remnants of Grossenburg Implement Inc., a company headquartered in Winner, SD.

“Our business was hit with an F-4 tornado. We had 22 employees in the building and they were watching it come,” said CEO Barry Grossenburg

With the Humane Society of the U.S. giving only 1% of its budget to local pet shelters. Where does the rest of the money go? A significant amount is spent on employing dozens of in-house lawyers, which leads to frivolous litigation. The latest HSUS “fail” is a lawsuit intended to harass the pork industry.

Video parody: Lawyers in Cages . . .

Highlights from AEM’s (Association of Equipment Manufacturers) monthly Ag Flash Reports for unit retail sales are listed below

Please pick up a copy of the 2013 Fall Issue of Ag Innovator at the Registration Desk in Indianapolis during the Fall Convention. This issue includes special features and interviews with several of our member companies who have supported our Association for over 60 years.

Effectively Managing negative social media interactions is key. You would be hard pressed to find a non-profit organization, business, or public official that doesn’t already have a social media presence, these days. The following scenario will be familiar to most, but addressing the topic of comment management is worthwhile for social media veterans and neophytes, alike.

The upcoming Indianapolis, Fall Convention, October 22-25, will feature a panel discussion on the effects of new regulations and standards on shortliner equipment. This important panel discussion will focus on two major issues, which will both impact much of the farm equipment your company manufactures in the decades to come.

– Federal Lighting & Marking Rules Mandated by Highway Funding . . .

– State Regulation via Implements of Husbandry Study . . Here’s more about our featured panel speakers. . .

We would like to recognize the following companies for their continued support of the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association and thank them for their membership over the years. We look forward to many more years of having these companies, and yours, as members. Please help us congratulate the following members on their anniversaries.

According to a new market research report on the Precision Farming Market, published by MarketsandMarkets, the overall global precision farming market will be worth $3,721.27 million by 2018, at an estimated compound annual growth rate of 13.36%. The major drivers for the global Precision Farming Market are…

According to a new report from the Rabobank Food & Agribusiness (FAR) Research and Advisory group, the era of extremely low interest rates and extraordinarily high commodity prices is drawing to a close. As this trend nears an end, the prices of U.S. land values will level.

“We’ll likely see lower commodity prices this year, but they aren’t going to be low enough long enough to substantially impact land values over the coming year or so,

AGCO, Duluth, GA, and Russian Machines announced the $100 million joint investment, saying the companies will build a manufacturing plant near Moscow that will include a show room, training center and eventually a model…

Art’s Way Manufacturing Co., Inc., Armstrong, IA, and Ohio Metal Working Products Company announced they have signed a letter of intent. The letter of intent calls for Ohio Metal Working Products Company to sell to Art’s Way Manufacturing Co., Inc. the operating assets of Ohio Metal Working Products Company, doing business as American Carbide Tool Company.