Obama signed a two-year budget agreement last week that authorizes the Occupational Safety & Health Administration to increase penalties by as much as 50 to 82%. . .

The Export-Import Bank won a strong shot at reauthorization last week when it became part of the transportation bill passed by the House.

The Ex-Im Bank helps overseas customers of U.S. companies finance purchases with loans and credit guarantees. Its charter expired at the end of June. Supporters of the bank say it keeps U.S. firms on a level playing field against foreign competitors that enjoy similar support from their governments; opponents say it puts taxpayers at risk and allows the government to pick winners and losers.

A handful of readers of this issue of Shortliner are still “prospects” and undecided about membership in the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association.

The Association offers manufacturing members a web page to sell surplus stock. Items for sale must be outside the company’s marketed product lines.

Learn more at FarmEquip.org/Surplus.

While members of this Association gathered in Kansas City at the end of October, the Ag Banker’s Conference also was underway in Kansas City. In an article for Farm Progress, Mike Wilson wrote that bankers who spoke focused on caution and risk management in the context of their farmer-clients facing increased
financial stress.

Deere has entered an agreement with The Climate Corporation, a subsidiary of Monsanto Company, to acquire the Precision Planting LLC equipment business, and it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Association member Monosem.

A manufacturer of agricultural equipment in the Midwest has an opening for a career-oriented person to lead its sales and marketing department.

The position is responsible for increasing domestic sales and establishing international sales. The candidate must have at least five years of experience in a sales management position.

The national agriculture community and the Oklahoma State University community are mourning the loss of Martin Stone, Ph.D.

Stone and his wife Bonnie, both 65, died Oct. 24 when a driver crashed her car into a crowd of people at the Oklahoma State University homecoming parade.

The Company’s Agricultural Division reported net sales of $58.92 million in the third quarter, a slight increase compared to the $58.87 million achieved in 2014. For the first nine months, the division’s net sales were $160.4 million this year compared to $163.3 million in the first nine months of 2014, a decrease of 1.8%.

Railroads have more time to prepare for PTC. As part of the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2015 signed into law Oct. 29, railroads have through 2018 to install positive train control (PTC) technology.

Several agricultural groups sought the deadline extension. They argued that the majority of railroads would not have met the 2015 deadline, which would have meant millions of dollars in federal fines for rail companies and likely prompted the companies to discontinue some services. S

Members elected, or re-elected, new product council leaders at Association’s Fall Convention in Kansas City. Among 2016 leaders:

Financial Report:Total operating revenue for the fiscal year saw an increase of 7.4%, while the increase in total expenses was held to 3.5%. These strong numbers allowed the Association to strengthen our reserves for the fifth consecutive year.

Membership Report: The strong balance sheet above is thanks in part to an aggressive campaign over the last three years to recruit new member companies. Even in a slower ag economy, 71 new companies became members in the last year, bringing total membership to 724.

Meetings Report: We continue to see strong participation for both our Fall Convention and Spring Conference. Attendance in Kansas City last month was higher than in Las Vegas in 2014, which had traditionally been one of the best cities to draw attendance.

National meteorologists anticipating one of the strongest El Niños on record are forecasting a wet winter for the southern tier of the U.S., USA Today reported, while drier-than-average conditions are likely in the northern Rockies, northern Plains, and in the Great Lakes.

The USDA has compiled an industry resource that dives into the details about the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The resource explains agriculture-specific components of the international trade agreement that includes the U.S., Canada, and 10 other Pacific Rim countries. The reports break out information on a state-by-state basis and by agricultural product.

An Association member company has introduced a policy to monitor its drug tests after learning that someone recently used urine made in a laboratory to beat the test. The incident provided a wake-up call to how prevalent the problem is.

Companies market the fake urine using names such as XStream and Quick Fix Synthetic Urine. They list purposes for the product such as animal repellent and “curative powers,” but language in their communications suggests otherwise:

The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay Oct. 9 against the Waters of The United States rule, or WOTUS. The rule is on hold throughout the U.S. until the court can resolve pending legal questions.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted Topcon Positioning Group a Section 333 exemption to operate its Falcon 8 rotary-wing unmanned aerial system (UAS) in the United States.

Highlights from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers’ Ag Flash Reports.

Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) was in Marysville, Kan., last week to visit Landoll Corporation and discuss policy priorities for business and the freight railroad network in Kansas.

CEOs of rural banks who participate in a monthly survey on the economic health of their communities indicated continued angst in the 10-state region surveyed.

Creighton University, which leads the assessment and reporting, released results for October, which reveal that the farm equipment sales index has declined to a record low, falling to 10.8 this month from September’s 14.2.

A recent move by Kinze Manufacturing, Inc., won the approval of other employers in Eastern Iowa. The company hosted a job fair to assist employees who were laid off during a reduction in force.

A worrisome piece for shortliners in the Affordable Care Act has been corrected. President Obama signed into law recently a measure that makes the ACA expansion of the small group health insurance market optional for states. The market had been slated to expand to businesses with between 51 and 100 employees, Politico reported. Both the House and the Senate passed the fix earlier this month.

Grain carts built by J&M Mfg. Co. make an appearance in a video that is approaching nearly 30,000 views on YouTube.

The carts are used in a wheat-and-barley harvest captured in an under-five-minute video titled “Harvesting Along the Edge in Central Montana.”

Elections in Canada… Speaker of the US House…. Baseball. I have been reminded several times recently how little control we have over issues that affect us in this industry, in our members’ businesses, and in our personal lives. The best we can do is stay informed, plan for multiple scenarios, and react quickly to changes.

In Canada, for example, the political landscape changed dramatically this week when voters elected Justin Trudeau and a clear majority from the Liberal Party of Canada. While Canadians as a whole chose a liberal government, much of rural Canada—the agricultural regions of the country, in particular—chose to send Conservative MPs back to Ottawa. An acquaintance tells me that if the election had been held a week earlier, it is unlikely that the Liberal Party of Canada would have won such a clear majority.

An Association member company is searching for a national sales manager to direct its sales and marketing department.

AgJunction Inc. announced last week it has completed a merger with Novariant, Inc., which had been announced in March.

The USDA reported that as of Sunday, 59% of U.S. corn is harvested, which is slightly ahead of the 54% five-year average.

Seventy-seven percent of soybeans are harvested, compared to 68% typically for this time of year; 96% are dropping leaves, matching the normal pace.

Deere has formed a partnership with the Colorado-based DN2K, which stands for Data Into Knowledge. The companies have together formed SageInsights, with Deere owning a majority stake, aiming to optimize use of the data farmers gather through their equipment.

Great Plains Manufacturing, Inc., in Salina, Kan., and SureFire Ag Systems, Inc., of Atwood, Kan., have announced a cooperative marketing agreement regarding Great Plains’ Nutri-Pro line of fertilizer application equipment.

SureFire Ag manufactures and installs fertilizer application systems, which currently mount as an accessory to Great Plains Nutri-Pro bars. With this agreement, Great Plains will continue to design and build Nutri-Pro machines, while SureFire Ag will provide and install customized plumbing application systems for each machine. Both companies feel the agreement capitalizes on their expertise.

After several years of rising row crop prices, a “perfect storm” of economic conditions has emerged that may position the industry for new alliances among the majors and an uptick in acquisitions of smaller manufacturers and specialty lines.

Rabobank Group, a worldwide bank that in the Americas offers expertise and strategic counsel to the farming and agribusiness industry, released a report in September titled “Contraction Today, Consolidation Tomorrow?”

The 2015 Fall Marketing & Distribution Convention is sold out of hotel rooms at the Sheraton Crown Center. See who will be there at m.farmequip.org,

“Nobody in the world understands what’s going in America. . . because every other developed country in the world offers export financing to their manufacturers. The American brand is really damaged by these crazy guys who do things nobody understands.”

“We already have very, very bad tax laws. We can’t repatriate foreign earnings. We have a business-unfriendly government. . . So this is another element that forces manufacturing out of the country.”

California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed into law the nation’s toughest pay equity law, and Americans strongly support it.

The new law mandates equal pay for men and women if they do “substantially similar work,” even if they have different job titles or work at different locations.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 60% of American adults favor such an equal pay requirement, while 26% are opposed.

“The EPA’s proposed rule and the uncertainty around it have frozen investment in rural communities and sources of income for farmers in the advanced and cellulosic biofuels industry at a crucial time,” said Roger Johnson, President of the National Farmers Union. “The economic and environmental benefits of advanced biofuels cannot be realized without a strong RFS.”

For the second year in a row, the rate of global agricultural productivity growth has stalled, according to a report from the Global Harvest Initiative (GHI).

Report warned that unless this productivity increases, the world may not be able to effectively provide the food, feed, fiber and biofuels needed for a booming global population.

Research from the Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte predicts as many as 2 million unfilled manufacturing jobs by 2025, up from initial estimates of 600,000. Add to that a whopping 77 million members of the Millennial generation entering the labor force, and what do you get?
Scott Stone, Director of Marketing for Cisco-Eagle, Inc., posed this question in a column he wrote at manufacturing.net.

His response: an opportunity to revitalize the manufacturing sector with a renewed emphasis on technology, innovation, and digitization.

Millennials, ages 18–32, are expected to take over 75% of work over the next decade. This shifting demographics will alter the manufacturing landscape, he wrote, and he offers these tips to prepare.

On its own YouTube channel, the DOL posted a video called “Start the Conversation.” It’s clearly pro-union, although it does not use the word “union.” It’s meant to help draw attention to the White House Summit on Worker Voice (the video includes a link to the White House’s page for the summit). – Video –

Camoplast Solideal, a Canadian company specializing in components and assemblies for manufacturers like Deere, AGCO, Case IH, New Holland, and Claas, changed its name this summer to Camso.

The Broyhill Company was featured on a two-minute piece on Manufacturing Marvels, a show dedicated to spotlighting American manufacturers and products. Among Broyhill’s products are agriculture sprayers. (video)

Vermeer Corporation has introduced a program designed to give peace of mind to farmers shopping for pre-owned machines: Job Ready.

The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) has completed the national adoption of ISO Technical Specification 28924:2007 Agricultural machinery—Guards for moving parts of power transmission—Guard opening without tool.

This identical adoption, designated ASABE/ISO TS 28924:2007 SEP2015, provides safety requirements for the design and construction of guards that can be opened without a tool and that shield the moving parts of power-transmission machines used in agriculture.

Any Association member who manufactures equipment that may be towed on public roadways is invited to participate in the Towed Implement Council meeting at 3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, at the Fall Convention in Kansas City.

The feisty and passionate John Ratzenberger is looking forward to meeting members of the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association. He chatted with Shortliner this week to offer a quick preview of what we’ll hear in Kansas City.

Ratzenberger tells his audiences: “If every actor, celebrity and sports hero disappeared tomorrow, our families would be sad, but that’s about it. But if every machinist, welder, and fabricator disappeared, our civilization would grind to a halt.”

The U.S. international trade deficit in goods and services increased to $48.3 billion in August from $41.8 billion in July (revised), as exports decreased and imports increased.

Exports decreased to $185.1 billion in August from $188.8 billion in July. Goods were $124.5 billion in August, down from $128.5 billion in July.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece on employees who keep trying to boot the United Farm Workers, but California’s labor board won’t allow it. This excerpt offers a good sense of the pro-union tactics at work in this case.

“In the tradition of the Obama administration’s pro-union shenanigans with the National Labor Relations Board, California’s Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) has teamed up with the United Farm Workers union to shake down workers at the state’s largest tree-fruit grower. Gerawan Farming, a third-generation family farm in Fresno, is trying to fend off the attack.

Art’s Way Manufacturing Co., Inc. has announced its financial results for the quarter ending August 31. The company’s consolidated corporate sales for the period were $6,886,000, compared to $11,585,000 for the same periods in 2014, a 40.6% decrease for the quarter.

The EPA and Justice Department have announced a settlement with Tractor Supply that resolves allegations that the company imported and sold more than 28,000 . . .

United Auto Workers voted this week to ratify a six-year contract with Deere & Co., deciding that a modest pay bump and increased job security outweighed increases in their medical costs, the Des Moines Register reported.

Some Michigan farmers are being forced to leave crops to rot in the field for lack of available harvest laborers. The Detroit News calls the problem shameful and blames bad immigration policy, which it says could be easily fixed if Congress would stop fighting about immigration and start adopting sensible regulations.

October has long been a standout month for membership. It is the month of the Fall Marketing & Distribution Convention, the event upon which the Association was built and the event which continues to rank among members’ most valued benefits.

This October is marked not only by a long list of anniversaries but a number of members with remarkable longevity.

This is what gives the Association such strength. When we can bring together shortliners with a 60-year history in the Association with shortliners who are new to membership and perhaps rookies in the industry, we can bring together the wisdom and energy that can lead to great things.

To these members, and to each of you, thank you for being part of Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association.