Agricultural Manufacturers of Canada (AMC) announced the appointment of Ms. Leah Olson to President effective March 2. Olson will assume her presidential responsibilities immediately under the guidance and transition of retiring President, Jerry Engel.

The Wall Street Journal reported recently that domestic steel makers in the U.S. slashed prices in February to cope with a flood of imports juiced by the strong dollar, a move that will pressure their profit margins and reduce costs for buyers of steel.

Imports rose 33% in January compared with the year before, according to figures released Wednesday by the American Iron and Steel Institute, reaching 3.85 million tons, compared with 2.9 million tons a year earlier. The jump in imports comes as oil and gas drillers cancel orders for steel pipe, underscoring the resilience of overall U.S. demand compared with other markets.

Warren D. Bottenberg, 78, of Holton, KS passed away March 13. Warren was on our Board of Directors in the early 1980s

Bob Mancuso, Sr., 82, of Omaha, NE passed away March 9. Bob was founder of the Triumph of Agriculture Exposition, Farm & Ranch Machinery Show, and a member of our Association since 1971.

A new field-based study from the University of Maryland shows that the world’s most common insecticide does not significantly harm honey bee colonies at real-world dosage levels.

The study, published recently in the journal PLOS ONE, looked at the effects of the insecticide imidacloprid on honey bee colonies over a three-year period. To see significant negative effects, including a sharp decrease in winter survival rates, the researchers had to expose the colonies to at least four times as much insecticide encountered under normal circumstances. At 20 times the normal exposure levels, the colonies experienced more severe consequences.

Mahindra USA will begin utilizing Paladin Attachments as its implement supplier in April 2015. This follows Paladin’s acquisition of Kodiak Manufacturing, Mahindra’s current implement supplier. Mahindra anticipates a smooth transition as the Kodiak management team will remain in place and the Paladin team will bring its expertise along with a solid platform for continued growth through increased capacity and market support.

Advocates and authorities on U.S. agriculture traveled to Cuba earlier this month to talk with Cuban government officials about the opportunities for both countries if the United States lifts the trade embargo with Cuba.

Alamo Group reported net sales for the fourth quarter of 2014 were $223.9 million, an increase of 34% from 2013. Net income for the quarter was $11.4 million, an increase of 104%. For full year 2014, net sales were $839.1 million versus $682.1 million in 2013, an increase of 23%.

The governor of Kentucky signed a law in mid-March that bans breweries from distributing their own products, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. The measure is aimed at forcing St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch to sell or close its two distributorships in the state.

AgJunction Inc. announced in March an agreement with Novariant Inc. to acquire Novariant through a merger transaction. The transaction is expected to be complete this summer and is subject to several conditions.

Rick Heiniger, president and CEO of AgJunction, said the merger “extends the reach and influence with which we pursue a common passion – delivering the most accurate, innovative and reliable steering solutions in the world.”

A Southern Illinois manufacturer of hot-formed and heat-treated component parts is seeking an outside sales person to travel the Corn Belt and Northern Plains, calling on OEMs and distributors.

Candidates should have experience with metals and heat-treating. Knowledge of agricultural practices and turf maintenance is a plus, as is being a veteran.

Ag Growth International Inc. has announced that sales for the year ended December 31, 2014 represent record highs for AGI and were primarily the result of a strong performance in AGI’s core North American market

Farmers are using their phones for more than talking. According to a February 2015 Farm Journal Media survey, 69% of farmers today own smartphones. Based on plans to purchase, 87% of farmers will use smartphones by 2016. Prior surveys show that only 14% of farmers owned a smartphone in 2009, and that number has grown roughly 10% each subsequent year.

Vermeer Corporation recently announced that Nathan Guess has been named Managing Director, Forage Solutions. The company also announced that in addition to his role as Chief Marketing Officer, Mark Core will now provide senior leadership to the forage segment as Executive Vice President of Forage and Lifecycle Solutions.

Topcon Positioning Group in Livermore, CA recently announced the acquisition of Digi-Star LLC, based in Fort Atkinson, WI.

Chip Bowling, president of the National Corn Growers Association, issued a statement last week in response to a movement by the International Agency for Research on Cancer to reclassify glyphosate as a class 2A probable carcinogen.

In his statement, Bowling said this move to reclassify the herbicide “ignores findings of more than four decades of credible scientific research” and “creates unnecessary fear and confusion over the proven safety record of this important agricultural tool.”

Highway Equipment Company has named Cory Venable its director of business development.

Venable joined HECO in 2013 as Original Equipment Manufacturer Account Manager. He will continue to manage key relationships and add oversight of strategic growth initiatives for New Leader crop nutrient applicators and Hi-Way road maintenance equipment brands.

Sentry Insurance invites you to a national seminar on planning, implementing, and managing your company’s safety policies and programs. The training is May 19 to 21 at Sentry’s headquarters in Stevens Point, WI.

While OSHA maintains baseline compliance standards for employees to follow, this seminar will go beyond those regulated minimum standards to help you further understand and apply the OSHA standards at your business. The seminar is $350 for Sentry customers and $375 for others.

While we monitor all states for legislation that could effect our members, our Association has retained a lobbyist to protect our interests in Kansas for the 2015 session. We have not yet seen any proposed legislation related to dealer buyback, warranty or lemon laws, but we did note some other relevant activity.

Some ag companies feel the need to build sturdier digital fences to fend off cyberattacks that industry officials say increasingly target the sector, the Wall Street Journal reports. Companies including Monsanto and Deere are investing more in cybersecurity as the farming business grows more data centric, with satellite-steered tractors and algorithm-driven planting services expand.

A new bill has been introduced in the Ohio legislature to protect Lake Erie from harmful algal blooms, adding several new proposals to a measure that last year passed the House but failed to make it through the Senate.

The new bill is designated as “Senate Bill 1,” a numbering that apparently reflects the Ohio Senate leadership’s determination to make it a priority. The sponsor claims the bill represents the strongest effort yet by lawmakers to curtail harmful algal blooms that threaten municipal water supplies drawn from Lake Erie.

The bill includes the following provisions, all similar to those in the House measure, House Bill 490, that was defeated in 2014:

Deere’s equipment operations reported operating profit of $414 million for the first quarter, ending January 31, compared with $891 million last year, according to Nasdaq.com. Net income of the company’s equipment operations was $241 million for the quarter, compared with $543 million in 2014.

The company’s worldwide sales of agriculture and turf equipment are forecast to decrease by about 23% for fiscal-year 2015, including a negative currency-translation effect of about 4%.

West Coast port employers and their union came to a tentative five-year agreement on a new contract Friday night, a union spokesman said, bringing an end to a nine-month negotiation process that resulted in significant slowdowns at the ports.

• Mahindra USA announced the opening of a new Midwest Authorized Distribution Center in Lyons, KS

• Tractor Supply Company, announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended Dec. 27, 2014

• Hoober Inc., an agricultural equipment dealer with 9 locations in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, announced it opened

AgJunction Inc. announced it has entered into a strategic OEM partnership with Pulse Aerospace of Lawrence, KS, to integrate SATLOC®, application controls with a new generation of unmanned aerial system (“UAS”) solutions for precision agriculture.

An OEM seeks a Business Development Manager (BDM) to represent the company and market its products. The BDM will find, qualify, and close opportunities on products within existing product lines, grow revenues by adding new customers, and identify cross-selling and up-selling opportunities within existing product lines and made-to-order parts within assigned account

AGCO reported net sales of approximately $2.5 billion for the fourth quarter of 2014, a decrease of approximately 13.1% compared to net sales of approximately $2.9 billion for 4Q13.

Net sales in North America declined 11.5% in 2014 compared to 2013. The most significant decreases were in high-horsepower tractors and implements, with growth in small tractor sales and hay tools partially offsetting the decline

A global manufacturer of agricultural tillage parts seeks a sales representative to serve its markets in both Canada and California.

The ideal candidate will have experience in selling to both OEM’s and distributors, as well as a strong background in agricultural sales. He/she will travel extensively throughout the two territories.

Kubota Tractor Corporation announced earlier this month that it has expanded the roles of several of its senior leaders to reflect the company’s vision of strategic, customer-focused product and market expansion.

Todd Stucke has been named Vice President, Sales, Marketing and Product Support. Stucke will lead the company’s national product and operations strategy for each of the company’s product segments, including ag and turf equipment, utility vehicles, and construction equipment.

Caterpillar dealers Fabco Equipment, Milwaukee, WI, and John Fabick Tractor Co., Fenton, MO, plan to merge their companies to create one of the largest Caterpillar dealers in the United States, reported rermag.com. Doug Fabick, president and CEO of Fabick Cat, will lead the expanded organization as CEO and dealer principal; his cousin Jeré Fabick, currently president and CEO of Fabco, will serve as president and co-dealer principal.

The House Ways and Means Committee in February approved a slate of bills to reform the tax code, including one bill that would make higher section 179 expensing levels permanent, reported FarmFutures.com.

The bill, H.R. 636, America’s Small Business Tax Relief Act of 2015, makes higher section 179 expensing levels experienced through the 2010-2014 tax years permanent. This will allow farmers, ranchers and small business owners to deduct up to $500,000 in qualifying expenses, with a phase-out threshold of

U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Pat Toomey (R-PA) introduced bipartisan legislation that would save taxpayers more than two billion dollars by capping federal crop insurance premiums for the largest farm businesses,

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released fiscal year 2014 private sector data tables providing detailed breakdowns for the 88,778 charges of workplace discrimination the agency received.

CNH reported a drop in fourth-quarter operating profit, amid weak demand for agricultural machinery, according to Reuters.

The company said its operating profit from its industrial activities fell to $376 million in the quarter, down from $389 million in the same period the previous year. For the full year, CNH saw profit for industrial activities at $1.99 billion. Its industrial sales fell 11% to $8.02 billio

Kifco, a water reels manufacturer based in Havana, IL, recently acquired Weiss Master Manufacturing.

Weiss Master, based in Brush, CO, produces hay and livestock handling equipment and cattle guards. The company specializes in custom heavy-duty hay heads for moving, stacking and loading hay in all forms and bale sizes.

This month we thank the following companies for their membership in, and continued support of, the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association. We look forward to having these companies, and yours, as members for many more years.

Congratulations to these companies on their February anniversaries.

Quoting the budget proposal directly: “Overly generous benefits have almost eliminated the risk in farming at a cost to taxpayers in the billions.”

While cuts in federal spending are long overdue, it’s important to remember that many programs important to production agriculture were sacrificed in the 2014 Farm Bill, in exchange for help with the cost of crop insurance. Agriculture has clearly already done its part when it comes to cutting federal programs.

The Association opposes the proposed cuts and earlier this month, published the following statement on our website (FarmEquip.org/CropIns) as an open letter and sent it to House and Senate Budget Committee Chairs and Ranking Members:

Art’s Way Manufacturing Co., Inc. announces its financial results for the year ended Nov. 30, 2014. The company’s consolidated sales increased 5.7%, from $34,227,000 in fiscal year 2013 to $36,170,000 in fiscal year 2014.

The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) recently announced the recipients of its 2015 AE50 Awards for outstanding innovations, and several Association members’ products appear on the list.

SRI Quality System Registrar announced recently that it has awarded an ISO 9001:2008 Management System certificate to Superior Gearbox Company, located in Stockton and Buffalo, MO, for the design and manufacture of gear drives for power transmission systems.

The annual business meeting of our Associate Supplier Section will be held on Friday, March 19 at 2:00 p.m. during the Association’s Spring Conference and Supplier Product Showcase in Charlotte, NC. The purpose the meeting shall be the election of leadership of the Associate Supplier Section and the transaction of such other business as may come before the meeting.

Last month the New Jersey Senate Economic Growth Committee reported Assembly Bill A1812 favorably out of committee.

This bill amends the new vehicle “lemon law” to extend the protections of that law to “new motor vehicle farm equipment” This bill amends the new vehicle “lemon law” to extend the protections of that law to “new motor vehicle farm equipment” purchased or leased in New Jersey. Specifically, the bill includes farm tractors under the types of motor vehicles covered under the terms of the “lemon law,” along with the existing categories of passenger automobiles, authorized emergency vehicles, and motorcycles. The bill references the definition of “farm tractor”

Europe’s agricultural machinery industry takes a cautious outlook for 2015, with overall equipment sales expected to drop by 5-10%, reported cema-agri.org. Compared to 2014, sales in Germany and France are expected to fall 7% and 10%, respectively, with similar declines expected in other key markets, such as the UK (-5%) and the Netherlands (-5 to -10%).

SIMA 2015, Paris International Agri-Business Show, will take place from Feb. 22-26 in Paris Nord Villepinte, France. Event organizers have offered members of our Association an opportunity to receive complimentary registration for the show.

The Rotary Cutter Product Council will meet during the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, KY. The meeting will begin at 5:30 pm on Tuesday, Feb. 10, in room Coronet B at the Crown Plaza Hotel.

Farmer and rancher delegates to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s (AFBF) 96th Annual Convention on Jan. 20 approved resolutions that will provide the organization grassroots authority to ask Congress to finish many measures that remain unsettled at the start of 2015, according to a Farm Bureau news release.

This year, during our Welcome Reception, we will offer a chance for supplier members to increase their visibility by becoming Key Reception Sponsors. The benefits include having their company name/logo featured at one of our serving stations or at the bar. Also, as guests enter and exit the reception, they will see signage with sponsors’ names and logos.

The Supplier Section Board has an opening for a new director. At the governors’ January board meeting, Chairman Gary Esterling, of ABT Bearing, appointed Johnny Mills, of Bondioli & Pavesi, Inc., to serve as the Nominating Committee Chairman. Other nominating committee members are still being appointed.

AGCO and Russian Machines Corporation announced they have completed a deal to begin operations of “AGCO-RM” for production of agricultural equipment.

The joint venture began in March 2013, when the two companies signed an agreement to establish mutually owned Russian manufacturing and distribution businesses. While competition approvals were being sought,

Social media is more than a trend; it is a phenomenon that can help make or break an individual business or revolutionize an entire industry. But far too often, presentations on social media focus on the technical aspects of using the latest tools, but fail to tell business owners and managers how to actually use them as part of an effective sales and marketing strategy. The Social Media General Session on Friday, March 20, at the 2015 Spring Conference in Charlotte, NC, will explain how you and your company can use Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and other Social Media to enhance your exposure, expand your reach, boost sales, and increase profits.

Ag Innovator’s 2015 Winter issue is now available online at FarmEquip.org/AGI.

To subscribe to either the print or electronic edition, go to the Association website’s home page and click on “Manage Your Subscriptions” in the left column.