New product line is based on a Canadian design, produced by Degelman Industries, that has been licensed to Kinze to build at its manufacturing facility in Williamsburg, Iowa.

Thanks to the work of several members, the standard project proposed to ASABE for towed implements seems to have taken a more reasoned direction. That said, we are still concerned with the lack of a cost-benefit analysis.

Linamar Corporation has completed the previously announced $1.2 billion acquisition of the outstanding equity interests of MacDon Industries Ltd. and its group of companies.

White House last week unveiled a program to transform how the nation’s infrastructure is funded and developed – proposal would include $50 billion for direct grants to rural areas.

Remlinger Mfg. has promoted Ron Hovest to president. Hovest is the oldest grandson of the company’s founder—the late Wilbur Remlinger.

Underground Agriculture will focus on providing innovative agricultural equipment and intelligence to farmers using organic no-till methods,

AGCO reported a 20.7 percent increase in net sales for its fourth quarter of 2017 compared to the same quarter last year.

The National Federation of Independent Businesses reports an “all-time record-setter” in small business confidence. The organization’s CEO and its chief economist attributed the boost in confidence to policy changes under the Trump administration.

The 2018 farm bill should provide crop insurance products that allow farmers to withstand economic slumps while it cuts spending in nutrition assistance programs, the U.S. Agriculture Department said yesterday.

A spokesman for U.S. Wheat Associates says news that the 11 remaining countries in the Trans-Pacific Partnership are moving ahead without the U.S. “should serve as a rallying cry for farmers, ranchers, and dairy producers calling for the new trade deals we were promised when the president walked away from TPP.”

The Senate Agriculture Committee, which last year was left without a Nebraskan for the first time in 50 years, appointed a senator from the state earlier this week.

Six companies are celebrating milestone membership anniversaries with the Association this month. Seven others have applied for membership. See who they are.

The International Monetary Fund has improved its forecast for world economic growth and credits the recently passed tax reform law with contributing to the growth. Economists warn, however, that the “economic momentum reflects a confluence of factors that is unlikely to last for long.”

Geringhoff Corp. will add a second factory assembly line in St. Cloud, Minn. The addition will lead to the creation of 20 permanent jobs atop the 34 currently employed at the plant.

We learn important things in our conversations with members. Among them, we need to do a better job of explaining the value of our meetings to folks who don’t attend.

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The 2018 Supply Summit & Showcase is approaching quickly. Take a look at who will present at our general sessions and where we’ll go on plant tours.

The unemployment rate remains the lowest it has been since 2000, and hiring has risen for 87 months, which is the longest uninterrupted period of job expansion on record. But, the labor market expansion is more notable for its length than its strength.

Lessiter Media has promoted publisher and senior account executive Michael Ellis to director of sales. Ellis will oversee sales and sponsorships across all Lessiter Media titles.

Rusty Fowler, who led Krone North America for 28 years, has returned to the company to replace Tommy Jones as president and CEO. Fowler said the decision ensures “consensus and alignment on business direction and goals.”

The member company’s new plant in Normal, Ill., will serve as a training center, warehouse, and sales-and-service location.

ASABE has published a new standard for speed signage on agriculture equipment. It specifies the dimensions, characteristics, and positioning of speed identification signs.

Members of the Rotary Cutter Council will gather for a joint meeting with members of AEM on Tuesday, Feb. 13, at the Crowne Plaza Louisville.

Wickham Tractor Co. has purchased all three locations from B&G Equipment, which owned stores in Greeley, Longmont and Fort Collins, Colo.

The Internal Revenue Service has released Notice 1036, which updates the income-tax withholding tables for 2018. Employers start using the withholding tables no later than Feb. 15.

An ag technology firm in Iowa has successfully tested one of the industry’s first driverless systems for tractor. With the push of a button, a farmer, from his seat on a combine, can summons a tractor pulling a grain cart, and ultimately send the unattended grain cart to unload.

A paradox has developed among farmers. Producers’ have remained consistently optimistic about current economic conditions while optimism about the future has faded to a 14-month low.

The Equipment Dealers Association (EDA) has announced that Alexis Strieker has joined the association’s government relations team.

Reduced tax revenue means fewer dollars in government coffers. What might the new law mean for funding the 2018 Farm Bill?

The IRS has released mileage rates for 2018. Rates have increased by one cent for business travel and medical or moving purposes.

We heard from an unprecedented number of you about your experience at the Marketing & Distribution Convention in Houston. We’re using that information to put together a spectacular Supply Summit & Showcase in Omaha in April.

Several member companies will be featured in a new podcast series produced by Farm Equipment magazine. Listen to the introductory broadcast here.

The new tax law creates a 20 percent deduction on income for pass-through entities, which are businesses in which the profits pass through to individual owners and are taxed as individual income.The deduction is subject to certain limitations.

Fastline Media Group has released a price comparison tool on Fastline.com. The tool is the first of its kind in the ag equipment market.

In addition to the pass-through deduction, the law includes these changes that may be significant to members.

Sukup Manufacturing Co.’s new Sweep Wheel Grain Reclaimer has been honored by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers as one of 50 outstanding innovations of 2017.

Life expectancy in the United States dipped in 2016 as the number of deaths due to opioid drug overdoses surged. Too often, these addictions begin with prescriptions resulting from a workplace injury.

Association member MacDon and its group of companies will sell its business to Linamar Corporation. Linamar CEO Linda Hasenfratz said MacDon will be “the centerpiece of our agricultural business.”

For the third consecutive year, the U.S. saw an increase in workplace fatalities. Among the deaths were double-digit increases in workplace violence and overdoses.

Foreign steel is surging into the U.S., with 2017 year-to-date imports up 19.4 percent over the same period in 2016. Hear what the president of the U.S. Business and Industry Council thinks the White House should do to fix what he considers unfair trade practices.

How can an operations strategy benefit your company? The easiest answer is that the business achieves more with it than without it.

States and localities concerned that women have suffered from pay disparities have begun to pass laws that forbid employers from asking job applicants about salary history.

By the end of 2020, one-third of all manufacturing supply chains will use analytics-driven cognitive capabilities, thus increasing cost efficiency by 10 percent and service performance by 5 percent. That is among a handful of predictions that suggest manufacturers are on the cusp of dramatic technological change.

Ashland Implement in Ashland, Ohio, closed at year’s end. It will reopen as Wellington Implement Co. this year.

The ‘share economy’ has gone beyond Uber and Airbnb. Manufacturers and equipment rental companies are preparing themselves to meet the demands of customers who prefer not to buy but rather borrow for a price.

Net farm income is forecast to increase by 2.7 percent to $63.2 billion when analysis is complete for 2017, the USDA says. And, the value of U.S. agricultural sector production is expected to rise by 2.2 percent.

Nearly 30 states have passed a law restricting employers’ abilities to ask applicants about their criminal history. There’s also a move afoot to use saliva rather than urine for drug testing. And, ‘zero-tolerance’ is increasingly being replaced by ‘last chance.’ See what’s trending in HR.

While the monthly survey reflects the challenges the industry has experienced in recent years, the most recent reading is the highest since December 2014. The overall index has improved by more than 11 percent in a year.

Mark your calendars for these 2018 and 2019 meeting dates. And suppliers, book your showcase space now for Omaha!

A newly appointed Republican majority on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has overturned two Obama-administration rulings related to joint employment and handbooks.