Deere has announced a partnership with King Agro, a manufacturer of carbon fiber technology products, to develop and distribute carbon fiber booms exclusively for Deere application equipment.

I have had the pleasure the last few weeks of meeting with the Association’s Board of Directors and leadership of the Associate Supplier Section. The meetings were outstanding opportunities to hear more about the boots-on-the-ground experiences in the industry and to explore how the Association can best be of service to its members in years to come.

More than 2,400 exhibitors from 49 countries have registered to participate in Agritechnica 2015, the annual autumn trade fair for agricultural machinery and equipment in Hanover, Germany. Registrations on track with record-breaking participation

Supreme Court rules a 66-year-old program that lets the government take crop away from farmers to help reduce supply and boost market prices is unconstitutional.

“Let them sell wine’ is probably not much more comforting to the raisin growers than similar retorts have been to others throughout history,” he wrote. “Property rights cannot be so easily manipulated.”

A group of environmentalists has sued California and federal officials, claiming the governmental bodies are harming fish and wildlife in their efforts to deliver more water to farms and cities, the Sacramento Bee reported recently.

Talks began last week between executives at U.S. Steel and leaders of the 30,000-member United Steelworkers Union. Circumstances in the American steel industry make this negotiation especially high-stakes.

The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) has initiated a project to revise ANSI/ASAE S315.4, Agricultural Baling Twine for Automatic Balers. Seeks input from manufacturers…

Labor Department expected to propose a rule as early as this week that would double the salary-level threshold at which employers must pay overtime. Under the anticipated rule, salaried workers who earn less than $52,000 a year would be eligible for overtime pay.

L.F. Trottier & Sons, moving its Deere dealership to a bigger location in Hartland, Vt.

Koenig Equipment, an 11-store Deere dealer, opens a new Greenville, Ohio, location.

When the U.S. Supreme Court resumes in October, among cases it will consider is Tyson Foods v. Bouaphakeo. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and NAM are among groups who have asked the high court to hear arguments in the case, which could curb class action litigation

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday issued a ruling on patent royalties that the National Law Journal characterizes as a blow to inventors who may not know the intricacies of patent licensing agreements.

Weather patterns in much of the United States this month forced growers to park their tractors and consider alternative crops.

Tropical Storm Bill soaked—even flooded—farmland in sections of the Midwest, but in the days since the storm, it is difficult to assess its cost.

A bill seen as essential to the success of a trade deal with Japan and 11 other Pacific-rim countries cleared its final hurdle Wednesday when the U.S. Senate passed Trade Promotion Authority, also known as the fast-track bill.

The Federal Aviation Administration announced last week it will finalize rules on commercial drone use within 12 months. This is ahead of a previous target date of early 2017. “The rule will be in place within a year,” FAA Deputy Administrator Michael Whitaker said in recent testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee. “Hopefully before June 17, 2016.”

Administrators must continue “to monitor trust investments and remove imprudent ones… This continuing duty exists separate and apart from the trustee’s duty to exercise prudence in selecting investments at the outset.”

Gov. Terry Branstad (R) signed a “Connect Every Acre” high-speed broadband bill into law in a machine shed in Perry, Iowa, on Monday, Radio Iowa reported. The bill helps coordinate and facilitate broadband access in targeted service areas throughout the state, and it establishes a grant program to communication service providers.

Oregon man files suit against his eye surgeon seeking funds to cover costs of two subsequent surgeries he needed to correct the first one. His suit is complicated, however, by his signing a paper he was unable to read.

Rain in the Midwest, coupled with low prices for corn, has disappointed ag analysts who hoped supply of the grain would surpass USDA estimates.

Still, numbers for this growing season are comparable to recent averages,including:

Ingersoll Tillage Group (“ITG”) and its majority owned subsidiary, Corporacion Patricio Echeverria announced the sale of a portion of ITG’s shares to ONCAP, effective June 1.

The last time the Association surveyed members, you sent a clear message: The Shortliner—and its online companion—are among the most valued benefits of your membership.

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), with the Texas Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), has filed an appeal to overturn a court decision upholding a new union-organizing timeline.

A rule issued by the National Labor Relations Board accelerates the schedule by which workers can file a petition to hold a union election and the election itself. The rule, which became effective April 14, has been dubbed the Ambush Election Rule by opponents who say it robs businesses of proper time to respond to such petitions.

The EPA has claimed “unprecedented jurisdiction over many different kinds of water, including those that temporarily result from a ‘drizzle,’ and areas that are not always filled with water,” said Sen. Lamar Smith (R-TX), who led the hearing. “Under this regulatory regime, Americans will be subject to required permits and the constant threat of government intervention. The onslaught of EPA regulations continues.”

A preliminary report on the cost of drought to California agriculture suggests the toll could reach $2.7 billion.

The University of California-Davis and ERA Economics released a report to the California Department of Food and Agriculture in May that forecasts:

The International Monetary Fund issued a discussion note recently that governments should be charging consumers more for water. The Fund argues that paying more will lead to sustainable water use and improve access for the poor,

We are 138 days away from the opening of the Association’s convention in Kansas City. It is not time quite yet to pull the suitcase from the closet, but at the Association, we are thinking KC!

The Social Media Examiner, an online magazine that defines its mission as helping us “navigate the constantly changing social media jungle,” has released a 53-page report that breaks down how businesses use social media marketing and what they might do next.

The Environmental Protection Agency released a decision in May that eases requirements on how much ethanol goes into the nation’s fuel mix, citing market restraints and other challenges preventing compliance with a 2007 law.

The law requires refiners to blend an increasing amount of biofuels into the U.S. gasoline supply each year. The EPA was late in setting the ethanol quotas for 2014 and 2015, so the decision in May included requirements for 2014, which resembled actual use, the current year, and 2016.

The USDA has approved a plan to import eggs from the Netherlands for use in baking and processed foods.
This comes in response to a bird flu outbreak that has devastated poultry in the United States. The death toll among egg-laying hens has risen to 35 million.

The U.S. Supreme Court last week revived a discrimination lawsuit that accused Abercrombie & Fitch Co. of refusing to hire a Muslim woman because she wore a religious headscarf, the Legal Times reported.

In the case, Samantha Elauf applied for a job at Abercrombie & Fitch while wearing a religious headscarf, or hijab.

Financial Times took a look recently at wearables in the workplace—devices that track employees’ whereabouts, for example, or their productivity or stress level. What the newspaper found: the potential is impressive, implementation complex.

Talk of global trade agreements happens far beyond the walls of the U.S. Capitol.

It’s part of conversations, for example, in the tobacco fields of North Carolina, where farmers cultivate land that Johnny Barnes considers the “Napa Valley of tobacco.”

Barnes talked with The Farm Journal recently about what he grows in Spring Hope, N.C., and how pending trade legislation could affect farmers’ futures.

Canada filed a request with the World Trade Organization (WTO) last week seeking to impose $2.4 billion in retaliatory tariffs on United States exports. The request is a response to the failed Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL) rule.

To television viewers, he is best known as Cliff Clavin, the endearing mail carrier with a seat at the bar on the NBC sitcom Cheers, but John Ratzenberger considers himself a blue-collar everyman and has dedicated much of his career to celebrating America’s manufacturers.

Ratzenberger will join the Association at the Fall Convention to share thoughts on U.S. manufacturing and its workforce.

RDO Equipment Co. has named Chris Cooper as its COO

Meade Tractor purchase of eight stores from Nortrax

H&R Agri-Power acquisition of Black Prairie Tractor

Mississippi AG, named Kyle Fulcher as its CEO

These members represent a collective 160 years of participation in Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association. We mark their milestone anniversaries by thanking them—and each of you—for your commitment to the farm equipment manufacturing industry and the Association that supports it.

The Cedar Valley Business Journal reported recently that at least a handful of workers will return to plants in Waterloo and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and that the union will continue to fight for more.

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Titan Machinery has reported financial results for its quarter ending April 30, defined as the first quarter for fiscal year 2016.

Titan reported equipment sales down by $100 million compared to the same quarter last year. Sales fell by $345 million in FY 2015 to $245 million in FY 2016.

The boards of directors of the Western Equipment Dealers Association and the Pacific Northwest Association announced Monday an agreement to merge.

The merged organization, which will operate as the Western Equipment Dealers Association, will represent more than 1,250 dealers in the United States and Canada.

Steven Key has been named Business Development Manager for Kondex Corporation. In this newly formed position, Key will expand business and pursue opportunities in new markets.

Key has more than 20 years’ experience in sales and marketing. He joined Kondex in 2009 as an account manager for various corporate accounts.

An alternative crop is emerging amid the corn and soybean fields of Iowa: hops. The Iowa City Press-Citizen talked with a farmer in May who is converting a fourth of his 100-acre traditional farm into a hopyard.

Participants at the Association’s Fall Convention need not go far to find fun. The Sheraton Kansas City is part of Crown Center, an 85-acre “city within a city” in downtown.

Crown Center is home to three live theaters, a movie theater, 300,000 square feet of shopping space, and more choices for meals than time to eat them, including The American Restaurant, rated by Forbes as a four-star dining experience.

Idaho has surpassed New York State as the nation’s third largest milk producer, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The state finishes behind dairy powerhouses California and Wisconsin.

Sentry Insurance sponsored an OSHA compliance seminar at its Stevens Point, Wis., headquarters in May.

Farmers in California have offered to reduce their water use by 25%, which matches a mandatory water reduction that Gov. Jerry Brown (D) called for in cities and towns in April.

The BBC reported that a group of about 350 farmers made the concession after state officials threatened to cut their water rights. The agreement is the first of its kind in more than 30 years, and involves farmers in the delta of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers.

Kubota Tractor Corp. and Kubota Credit Corp. will move out of their corporate headquarters in Torrance, CA, and into new space in Grapevine, TX, near Dallas.

Kubota also announced this week it will build a 502,000-square-foot manufacturing plant and expand existing operations in Gainesville, GA.

A new rule from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that compresses the schedule between the filing of a petition to unionize and conducting a union election has in its first six weeks altered the labor-organizing landscape.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City reported earlier this month that financial pressures on farmers are bleeding beyond the farm and into rural communities. The data show crop farmers are bearing the brunt of the downturn; livestock producers continue to see better market conditions because of the affordability of grain.

“Mr. Samuel Adams … Allen,” said Clarke President Sister Joanne Burrows. “I knew I was going to … you know, I practiced not to say that.”

The U.S. Department of Commerce has awarded Ace Pump Corporation of Memphis, TN , The President’s “E” Award for Excellence in Exporting. The “E” Awards are presented annually to organizations that have made significant contributions to increasing America’s exports. Only 26 companies received the award.

A non-profit organization committed to closing the “farm to food knowledge gap,” is about to release its first project, a film about a struggling family dairy farm and a conflict that emerges when the family’s Harvard-educated son pushes for high-tech farming processes. The family’s drama plays out against the backdrop of a community where schoolchildren are not getting enough to eat.