In a stark contrast from last year when near record low water levels on the Mississippi River halted barge traffic, a second wave of spring flooding has again closed several locks along the river. According to the Chicago Tribune, the Coast Guard has stopped barge traffic from northern Iowa to St. Louis leaving numerous grain elevators along the river unable to load barges.

According to a new survey by Ask.com of 2,060 adults employed full-time in the U.S., the biggest drains on productivity during the workday have nothing to do with how nice the weather is outside. “The research yielded some unexpected findings,” said Lisa Ross, Ask.com’s vice president of human resources.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, New Delhi, India, reported that the company’s international tractor sales rose 24.24% to 23,626 units sold in May 2013, as compared to 19,016 units sold in the same period of the previous year.

Despite rains, drought still had a hold on much of Texas. According to the June 4 U.S. Drought Monitor, more than 87% of the state was still suffering from moderate, severe, extreme or exceptional drought. The areas with the worse drought conditions remained the Panhandle, parts of the South Plains, South and the Southwest regions.

Miller-St. Nazianz, Inc., St. Nazianz, WI, recently announced a $4.5 million expansion of their production facility following an office-wide remodeling project. Due to strong North American and international demand for its crop application equipment, investment in a major facilities expansion is necessary to maintain its growth trajectory, the company said. Miller will soon break ground on a 60,000 square foot addition to its manufacturing facility.

The Immigration law debate and overhaul continues this week in Congress. Republicans in the Senate and House want tighter control of the border with Mexico before the estimated 11 million people who entered the country illegally or overstayed their visas would be allowed to gain permanent legal status.

Titan Machinery Inc. reported financial results for the fiscal first quarter

Hoober, Inc., ag dealer with locations in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland, officially opened two locations in Virginia

Arnold’s of Willmar, MN, a Case IH dealership suffered from a fire this week

Highlights from AEM’s (Association of Equipment Manufacturers) monthly Ag Flash Reports for unit retail sales are listed below. For complete data, go to aem.org.

Smokers cost their employers nearly $6,000 a year more than staff who don’t smoke, researchers said in what they say is the first comprehensive look at the issue. And, in what some might see as a dark twist, they’ve taken into account any savings that might come because smokers tend to die younger than non-smokers, drawing less in pension costs, NBC News reports.

Lindsay Corporation announced results for its second quarter ended February 28, 2013. Second quarter fiscal 2013 revenues were a record $175.5 million, increasing 33% from $132.1 million in the same prior year period. Net earnings were $19.4 million compared with $12.8 million in the prior year.

The Business Recorder reports that global agricultural production is expected to grow 1.5% a year on average over the coming decade, compared with annual growth of 2.1% between 2003 and 2012, according to a new report published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The National Association of Manufacturers’ (NAM) second-quarter survey said that 82.2% of manufacturers identified rising health care and insurance costs as their top challenge, an increase from 74% in the previous survey, according to the Industry Week Survey of Manufacturers.

By a vote of 66 to 27 the Senate approved a half trillion farm bill package. The legislation includes significant cuts in direct subsidies to farmers and roughly a $4 billion cut in the $80 billion federal food stamp program over the next decade.

Proof sheets for the 2013-2014 Membership Directory & Product Index have been mailed to all prime contact members. Please take the time to make changes on your proof sheet and send it back to the FEMA office.

Monsanto Co. recently won another round in a legal battle with U.S. organic growers as an appeals court threw out the growers’ efforts to stop the company from suing farmers if traces of its patented biotech genes are found in crops. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a previous ruling that found organic growers had no reason to try to block Monsanto from suing them as the company had pledged it would not take them to court if biotech crops accidentally mix in with organics.

Environmental Protection Agency has issued an inspection guidance to help state regulators determine whether pesticides are responsible for specific incidents of bee kills. The guidance is expected to increase state investigations of bee deaths and provide EPA with important data on the role of pesticides in incidents for use in future risk assessments. EPA considers pesticides as only one of a number of factors in the overall decline in bee populations seen nationwide since 2006.

Blount International Inc., Portland, OR, announced that Jerry Johnson has been promoted to president of its Farm, Ranch and Agriculture (FRAG) division. Paul Valas, who has been president of the FRAG division since 2011, will transition to a new position as senior advisor.

Orthman Manufacturing, Lexington, NE, has added two new members to its growing dealer support network. Kyle Frazier is a regional product specialist for the Midwest, including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio and Wisconsin; Paul Hartness has been named territory manager for North and South Dakota and Minnesota.

With nearly 250 members of the Oklahoma National Guard currently assisting with victim search and security in Moore, OK, it’s important to remember that many who have served in the Guard are now seeking full time employment.

Highlights from AEM’s (Association of Equipment Manufacturers) monthly Ag Flash Reports for unit retail sales are listed below. For complete data, go to aem.org.

Engineer wanted, for Midwest manufacturer. B.S. Mechanical or agricultural engineering required, minimum five years of experience in product design/new product development. Responsible for new product development and improvement to existing products. Competitive salary and benefits.

Southeast Farm Press reports that University of California scientists are engineering the tobacco plant to produce oils that, when extracted, can serve as drop-in biofuels to power airplanes, cars and other machines. Research success would allow farmers who have been growing tobacco for generations to continue the tradition for a different purpose, while taking advantage of an infrastructure established to serve the diminishing cigarette, cigar and snuff markets.

During the fourth quarter of 2012, Southeastern Management, a large mutual fund managed by billionaire Mason Hawkins, initiated a position of 1.5 million shares in CNH Global CNH +2.70%, a $10 billion market cap manufacturer of farm and construction machinery. The fund has continued buying stock in CNH, with a recent 13G filing revealing that it now owns 3.7 million shares or a little over 12% of the total shares outstanding.

John Deere, Moline, IL, warned that global financial pressure and cool, wet weather in North America could reduce future sales growth. Deere affirmed its earnings forecast but projected equipment sales to grow 5%, not the earlier forecast of 6%. For the current quarter, Deere forecasts equipment sales to expand 3%.

The nonprofit Pollinator Partnership announced the grant award decision of the Corn Dust Research Consortium, a multi-stakeholder initiative formed to fund research with the goal of reducing honey bee exposure to dust emitted during treated-seed corn planting.

The Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association provides space FREE of charge for Regular Members to advertise for sale surplus supplies and equipment online at FarmEquip.org/surplus.

The only limitation is that items offered cannot be lines normally sold by your company. If you would like to post surplus inventory, please email your information to: surplus@FarmEquip.org.

Newly added on the Surplus Page:

Thurston Manufacturing Company, Thurston, NE, recently announce the asset purchase of a Spencer, IA, based company, Simonsen Iron Works.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago says while farmland values continue to increase, there are signs of moderation. For the first quarter of 2013, agricultural land values appreciated 4% in the district from the fourth quarter of 2012. They are up 15% from the first quarter of a year ago. Cash rental values are up 11% for the year.

The USDA has developed a “conditional scenario” of the future of agriculture in the next decade, according to “USDA Agricultural Projections to 2022.” Overall, this report indicates an optimistic future that includes some bumps along the way. A couple of these bumps include the short-term softening of commodity prices which are affected by increased production encouraged by high prices from the drought induced short crops of 2012 and increasing crude oil prices.

At the federal level, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which enforces federal anti-discrimination statutes, has issued guidance expressing its view that employers should not deny employment based on arrest records and should only utilize conviction records after evaluating the nature of the job, the severity of the conviction, the time elapsed since the conviction, and the applicant’s rehabilitative efforts.

USAgNet reports that areas of severe drought are continuing to shrink across many key agricultural areas of the central U.S., though it may be too late for some wheat farmers who are preparing for harvest.

Proof sheets for the 2013-2014 Membership Directory & Product Index will be mailed out this week. Please take the time to make changes on your proof sheet and send it back to the FEMA office. This will ensure that we have the most up-to-date information for paper edition of the Directory and for the Online Directory at FarmEquip.org. Please look for your proof sheet in the mail early next week.

U.S. farmers last week, utilized a break in the rains to plant corn at a record pace, sowing an area equivalent to more than twice the size of Ireland with the grain to near catch-up on lost ground.

Ag-Pro Companies of Boston, GA has announced the acquisition of GreenSouth Equipment

Cervus Equipment Corp. has announced its financial results and operational highlights for the quarter ended March 31, 2013.

Rocky Mountain Dealerships Inc. announced that it has accepted the resignation of Keith Macdonald as a director of Rocky

Titan Machinery, along with other North Dakota Case IH dealers, is now partnering with the North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton, ND, to educate, train and provide hands-on internships

This week, the Senate began consideration of the 2013 Farm Bill, with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) offering the first amendment to eliminate crop insurance subsidies for tobacco.

AGCO recently announced that it has begun further expansion of its Jackson, MN, manufacturing center. During the next three years, AGCO will invest an estimated $42 million in infrastructure, increasing production capacity and efficiency in order to help meet growing demand for the tractors and application equipment built there, the company said.

Lauri Raymond “Ray” Heikenen, 89, founder of H&S Manufacturing, passed away on May 10, 2013. After beginning high school, Heikenen went to work in a defense industry on the west coast during World War II, then enlisted in the Army Air Force on October 4, 1943. In the Army he received his high school equivalency, attended radio and gunnery school and became an aerial gunner in a B-17 Flying Fortress. The war ended before he was deployed overseas and he left the service on November 6, 1945 with the rank of sergeant.

Mahindra USA recently reported that retail sales of tractors in fiscal year 2013, grew 30% year-over-year. That represents the company’s highest retail sales to date.

Tractors from Mahindra, which is based in India and entered the U.S. market in 1994, range from 22 hp to 100 hp and are targeted at farms of varying sizes.

A revised Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, the form that must be completed by all employers to verify the employment eligibility of every new hire, was recently released in the Federal Register and is effective immediately. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has also adopted a revised layout for the form.

Gov. Nikki Haley said that South Carolina does not want and cannot afford the president’s plan, “not now, not ever.”

“To that end, we will not pursue the type of government-run health exchanges being forced on us by Washington,” she said. “Despite the rose-colored rhetoric coming out of D.C., these exchanges are nothing more than a way to make the state do the federal government’s bidding in spending massive amounts of taxpayer dollars on insurance subsidies that we can’t afford.”

Unusually-cold spring weather is causing new concerns for Iowa’s delayed planting season; the 2012 drought depleted the nation’s reserves making this year’s crop a crucial one for global market exports, biofuel production and livestock farmers, according to the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF).

The April price index for U.S. farm production inputs, at 234, increased 2.6% from a year ago. USDA reports that indexes for feed, seed, farm machinery and agricultural chemicals increased across all subcategories, with feed concentrates and supplements showing the largest price increase. Indexes for fertilizers and fuel decreased across all subcategories, with gasoline prices showing the largest drop.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) will convene a meeting of its technical committee on tractors and machinery for agriculture and forestry, TC23, and several TC23 subcommittees, for five days of technical discussions related to tractors, safety, sustainability, and equipment compatibility. The meeting is being hosted at the CNH America LLC facility and will take place June 10-14, 2013.

Kinze Manufacturing Inc., Williamsburg, IA, is opening its first production plant abroad in Lithuania. The facility will manufacture Kinze row crop planters, contributing to its growing market in neighboring countries including Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Hungary. Kinze will hire welders, mechanics, CNC operators and other specialists to work in the new plant.

AGCO reported net sales of approximately $2.4 billion for the first quarter of 2013, an increase of around 5.7% compared to net sales of $2.3 billion for the first quarter of 2012. Excluding unfavorable currency translation impacts of approximately 2.7%, net sales in the first quarter of 2013 increased approximately 8.4%, compared to the first quarter of 2012.

North American sales grew 10.3% in the first quarter of 2013 compared to 2012, excluding the impact of unfavorable currency translation. Elevated levels of farm income in 2012 continued to support industry demand in the first quarter of 2013 from the professional farming sector and produced strong growth for AGCO. The most significant increases were in high horsepower tractors, implements and combines. Higher sales and margin improvement initiatives contributed to growth in income from operations of

Blount International, Inc., Portland, OR, announced results for their first quarter ended March 31, 2013. Sales in the first quarter were $232.6 million, a 3% increase from the first quarter of 2012. Operating income for the first quarter of 2013 was $19.1 million compared to $13.6 million in the prior year, which included $4.9 million of facility closure and restructuring charge

A welcomed decision came this week from the U.S. District Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C., invalidating the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rule requiring businesses to post notices that amounted to little more than advertisements for union membership.

The Union Poster Rule would have required some six million employers to affix notices in their workplaces, and on their internet sites, informing employees of their legal union “rights” on everything from collective bargaining, to wearing union “hats, buttons, T-shirts and pins” at the office.

While most of our industry has moved away from defined benefit retirement plans, actions by DuPont are worth noting for those still making that type of contribution.

CFO Nicholas Fanandakis said his company will contribute to its pension only as much as current law demands, to avoid overfunding the plans if interest rates rise.

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:

South Texas drought-related crops losses this year in cotton, corn and grain sorghum could double the $50 million lost in 2006. “Reports of failed acres of cotton, grain sorghum and corn have not yet started coming in, but I suspect they will in the coming days and weeks,” said Dr. Luis Ribera, an AgriLife Extension agricultural economist.