AgJunction Inc. and TeeJet Technologies have entered into a global strategic partnership. AgJunction will become the preferred steering supplier for TeeJet’s range of precision farming solutions.

A Chinese ship carrying more than 9,000 containers passed through the newly expanded Panama Canal in late June, officially launching what NBC News describes as a multibillion-dollar bet on a bright future for international shipping.

While the pages of this Shortliner newsletter and our Ag Innovator magazine have begun promotion of our Marketing & Distribution Convention in San Diego, the leadership of our Supplier Section is hard at work planning our annual spring meeting, where the focus is on the supply chain, including our own Supplier Product Showcase.

Do you work too many hours a week? You could be harming your physical and emotional health.

Organizations and independent researchers have looked at the effects of working beyond the standard 40 hours a week. Their findings include:

Buyers walking into a Cadillac dealer in the near future could find an interesting thing on the car lot: nothing.

The company has hatched a plan to convert a portion of Cadillac’s 925 stores into virtual dealerships that will be low on overhead and big on sophisticated technology.

The Federal Aviation Administration has announced new rules regarding drone operation.

The rules require most small commercial drone operators to fly only during daylight hours and to get certified every two years.

U.S. agriculture could dodge the long-feared collapse in farm real estate prices this commodity cycle, suggest economists, but some cautioned another bubble may burst: the value of used farm equipment.

“Land values haven’t seen near the pullback that everyone predicted,” observed Bruce Sherrick, director of the TIAA-CREF Center for Farmland Research at the University of Illinois, during conversation at a recent Farm Foundation meeting.

The Equipment Dealers Association (EDA) recently announced award recipients of the 2016 Dealer-Manufacturer Relations Survey Report.

Corn futures have fallen by some 29 percent since the close of markets on Friday, as the risk of hot dry weather in July, when the pollinating corn crop is at its most vulnerable, recedes day by day.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled that a 2011 law designed to make it easier to defeat patent trolls was legal. Ruling upholds the process for challenging invalid patents and simplifies the process for companies to fight patent trolls.

TRP International has announced that its GVS Agricultural product line will be represented by Dick Jones and Associates for the southeastern United States.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said there is “no greater issue” in the business world than cybercrime.

‘You know, what really got people’s attention was the degree to which it is perceived that the CEO of Target was sacked in part because of the breach that happened on his watch,’” Bahara said. “That’s what’s going to get people’s attention.”

Highlights from the Association of Manufacturers’ Ag Flash Reports.

Sixty-one percent of Canadians have a “very or somewhat” positive impression of Canadian agriculture, according to a new national survey released by Farm and Food Care (FFC) and the newly minted Canadian Center For Food Integrity.

That’s the highest ranking Canadians have given farming since FFC started asking Canadians for their opinions a decade ago

Under Minnesota’s program, farmers will be reimbursed for 70 percent of the cost of adding rollover protection, with that figure increasing as needed to cap a farmer’s out-of-pocket costs at $500 per tractor. Any tractor built before 1987—or shortly after manufacturers began voluntarily including rollover protection—is eligible for help.

Every other year, our Association has purchased the complete ASABE Standards and Engineering Practices Data and made that $549 resource available to our manufacturing members at no cost.

The 2016 edition is now available and will be sent to any regular member company requesting a copy, while supplies last.

The Creighton University Rural Mainstreet Index for June increased from May’s weak reading, though it remained below growth neutral, according to the monthly survey of bank CEOs in rural areas dependent on agriculture or energy.

Recent conversations in statehouses and on Capitol Hill have gotten the attention of farm equipment manufacturers and dealers. In Nebraska

Stotz Equipment has reached an agreement to purchase the assets of Christiansen Implement. – CLAAS of America will open a third Canada West Harvest Centre location – Atlanta Kubota recently hosted a grand opening of its new facility in Marietta, Ga. – Matsqui Ag Repair, located in Abbotsford, B.C., has joined JCB’s dealer network as Matsqui JCB

On June 22, 2016—just days short of missing the mandated deadline by two years—the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) published its rule governing lighting and marking for agricultural equipment.

The DOT rule is effective immediately – It does not allow for the typical public comment period – The rule was published without advance notice

Trelleborg has finalized the acquisition of CGS Holding. News of the acquisition was released in November; the sale was final May 31. The deal bolsters Trelleborg’s presence to about 23,000 employees in 47 countries.

Orthman will contribute $90,000 to a $370,000 project to renovate a former National Guard Armory and install new equipment for the school district’s welding program.

The Western Equipment Dealers Association (WEDA) has named Darwin Melnyk to its board of directors. Melnyk will serve as an at-large director. His term begins July 1. He succeeds Jeff Flora.

The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) has completed a standard that establishes a framework for charting progress toward sustainable agricultural production.

A one-of-a-kind piece of tillage equipment recently rolled out of McFarlane Manufacturing Co.’s plant in Sauk City, Wisconsin.

Welders, fabricators, painters, and other staff built a 14-by-30-foot tiller for an online fund-raising auction for Operation Eagles’ Wings, which flies veterans’ to Washington D.C. to visit war memorials.

In response to economic challenges facing many members of the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association, its board of directors has decided to expand benefits.

“The Association recognizes that during this economic downturn, the services it offers members become even more crucial,” said Vernon Schmidt, executive vice president. “We will double down on our efforts to serve as advocates for the shortline industry, and we will continue to look at opportunities to bring greater value to our members.”

The McKay-Empire-Wiese Group, through its associate company, MG Holdings, recently announced its purchase of Roose Manufacturing Co. of Pella, Iowa.

Iowa led the country in 2015 in the number of ag jobs. Others states in the top five were California, Illinois, Nebraska, and Texas.

With the farm slump moving into its third year, banks have become more cautious about approving loans to farmers, requiring some growers to offer more collateral and sometimes denying financing outright to others who need it for seeds, crop chemicals or rent.

Farmers typically take out loans in the first three months of the year before spring planting begins. But this year, growers, including some who have been turned away by their primary lenders, have been searching for financing as late as April.

The pesticide glyphosate, sold by Monsanto in Roundup weed killer, is unlikely to cause cancer in people, according to a new safety review by United Nations health, agriculture and food experts.

The U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) said glyphosate is “unlikely to pose a carcinogenic risk to humans” exposed to it through food.

This issue of Shortliner is a collection of current news stories that reinforce what we have long known: These are challenging days for many in the agriculture industry.

In the context of these circumstances, the Association has doubled down on its commitment to serve members and bring value to their membership.

This single priority will frame the conversation when the Association’s Board of Directors gathers in two weeks for its summer meeting. This is one of three meetings a year in which the full board convenes. It also is the meeting in which the board approves the budget for the 2017 fiscal year and affirms our priorities for the coming year.

These June anniversaries represent an impressive 255 years of collective participation in the Farm Equipment Manufacturers
Association. We mark these milestones with gratitude for the companies’ commitment.

Terry Schruth, retired president of Pepin Farm Implements, died May 19. He was 88.

Schruth was president of the family business from the mid-1960s until 1991. The harrow manufacturer is today under the ownership of the family’s fifth generation.

The USDA expects farm sector profits to fall for the third straight year. Net farm income is projected to decline 3 percent to $54.8 billion.

The U.S. economy expanded by 160,000 jobs in April, which missed analysts’ projections of 202,000. The unemployment rate remains 5 percent.

Monsanto canceled plans to launch new biotech soybeans in Argentina and said it may withdraw seeds already sold there.

Titan Machinery Inc. has reported financial results for the first quarter ended April 30. Revenue for the period was $284.9 million, compared to $353.2 million in the same period last year.

The Equipment Dealers Association (EDA) in May released its 2016 Dealer-S Manufacturer Relations Survey Report. In this year’s survey, equipment dealers were asked to rate up to seven manufacturer lines they carry based on 12 criteria related to operations and support.

Voters in Massachusetts will vote in November on a referendum to ban battery cages for chickens. The ballot issue has revived a conversation about the well-
being of farm animals and what consumers are willing—or able—to pay to support costlier care for animals.

S3 Enterprises recently welcomed Al Marques as General Manager for S3 Manufacturing and S3 Blowers in Swift Current, Saskatchewan.

CEO Richelle Titemore said Marques has a unique background in metallurgy and air flow technology that is a “strong complement to these two S3 business units in particular.”

The deadly blaze that destroyed West Fertilizer Co. in West, Texas, in 2013 was a criminal act, according to the ATF.

Bureau spent more than $2 million on its investigation, which included building life-size replicas of parts of the plant and interviewing more than 400 people. It concluded that the fire was set in the seed room.

Association members have asked to learn more about the work of committees and councils. Lucas Sutterer, who is Chairman of the Tillage Council and CEO of Bigham Ag, submitted this overview of the Tillage Council.

Only in Vermont – Bill “Spaceman” Lee, the former Major League Baseball pitcher has declared himself a candidate for governor. He’s running on the Liberty Union Party ticket, a socialist organization that presidential candidate Bernie Sanders helped launch in the 1970s.

Member companies are hiring. Check out these recent postings.

Regional Sales Manager/Account Manager (Jobs 117 and 118)

Vice President of Sales & Marketing (Job 119)

Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) won a precedent-setting victory for property owners this week when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in its favor in the United States Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes.

In the latest trade spat between the U.S. and China, U.S. regulators launched an investigation into complaints from United States Steel Corp. that Chinese competitors stole secrets and fixed prices.

U.S. Steel is seeking to halt nearly all imports from China’s largest steel producers and trading houses in its complaint.

Over the past 15 years, the fraction of U.S. farms run by women has nearly tripled to about 15 percent. And nearly one-third of farms in this country are run by couples working together.

Genetically engineered crops are safe for humans and animals to eat and have not caused increases in cancer, obesity, gastrointestinal illnesses, kidney disease, autism or allergies, according to an exhaustive report from the National Academies of Science.

As of April 30, sales of equipment in Deere’s agriculture and turf division were down by 5 percent for the first half of the fiscal year. Comparing quarters, sales were roughly the same. A news release from Deere says that the six-month decline is largely the result of lower shipment volumes.

In April, our Association, with the endorsement of the Board of Directors, accepted an invitation from the National Association of Manufacturers to join an amicus brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court.

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