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.

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.

• Bridgeport Equipment & Tool
• James River Equipment
• Bane-Welker Equipment, LLC
• Marion Equipment
• Altorfer Ag Products

USDA announced it expects agricultural exports to decline modestly in 2015 and ag imports to continue record growth. Exports will decline about 5% this year from the record $152.5 billion in 2014, while imports rise from $110 billion in 2014 to a record $119 billion in 2015, the agency forecasts.

Foreign economy projections are mixed. While China continues to grow faster than other major markets, it no longer sees double-digit growth. Japan, long a strong market for U.S. agricultural commodities, has again slipped into recession. European economies are mixed. And, while the U.S. dollar has strengthened somewhat, it remains relatively weak enough to keep U.S. export markets in positive territory.

If you are a purchasing or buying agent, no matter how long you have been in the business, the Purchasing Track sessions at the 2015 Spring Conference in Charlotte, NC, have something for you. The Purchasing Track program features two workshops on Contract Topics and Issues for Buyers and Purchasing Agents and Inventory Control and Supply Chain Management.

Swiftly expanding trade ties with Cuba, the Obama administration this month opened the door to easier travel and a wide range of new export opportunities with the island country. The Commerce and Treasury departments unveiled new rules last week permitting U.S. citizens to visit Cuba without special permits, poking a large hole in America’s 54-year embargo.

Canadian agriculture is more resilient, and ready to take on more new opportunities, than ever before, according to J.P. Gervais, Farm Credit Canada’s (FCC) chief agricultural economist.

Beef and pork were the main drivers behind the 2014 increase—good news for producers who saw unprecedented high prices for cattle and hogs. The markets suggest cattle will trend slightly higher in 2015, while hog prices will ease from recent highs.

A federal mediator is now involved in the West Coast port labor dispute that has slowed down shipments of agricultural products, according to agweb.com.

The Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which represents shipping companies, said West Coast ports are facing “complete gridlock,” with few ships going in and out. Members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union have been working without a contract since July 1, 2014. The PMA accuses union members of intentionally slowing down trucks at the ports, while the union says shippers have cut workers’ shifts.

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. Please join us in congratulating the following Association members who received the 2015 AE50 Award:

“We feel your pain,” was the National Federation of Independent Business’s (NFIB) response to the administration’s statement on the Regulatory Accountability Act, a bill that would, according to the White House, “impose unprecedented and unnecessary procedural requirements on agencies that would prevent them from efficiently performing their statutory responsibilities.” It also would create needless regulatory and legal uncertainty.

Many Association members have registered for the 2015 Spring Conference & Supplier Showcase, which we will hold March 18-21 in beautiful Charlotte, NC. To help you plan your trip, here are some highlights you may wish to place on your calendar:

First Event is on Wednesday afternoon, March 18: The plant tours can accommodate a finite number of people, and spots are filling up quickly, so if you want to participate, we encourage you to sign up sooner rather than later.

Final Sessions are on Saturday morning with a NASCAR Experience closing out our schedule that afternoon….

We are excited to offer the NASCAR Experience on Saturday afternoon. All registered attendees and guests are welcome to wind down the week with this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. There is no addition fee to participate—your admission is included with your conference registration.

Association President Mike Kloster has appointed Paula Kaster from Kasco Manufacturing to serve a one year term as chair of our Nominations Committee for Directors of the Association. In addition to the Chair, Kloster also appointed the following former Association Presidents to serve on the committee:

Association staff are finalizing the 2015 Membership Directory & Product/Service Index, and we want to ensure all members’ listings are up-to-date before we publish it.

Last December, we emailed proof sheets showing how your company’s listing now appears and asked you to review it and tell us if it is still correct, or if anything needs to be revised. If you already did so, thank you!

Federal Reserve officials are on track to raise short-term interest rates this year, according to the Wall Street Journal.

U.S. inflation is below the Fed’s 2% objective, but the unemployment rate fell to 5.6% in December, which many Fed officials see as a sign that wage and price pressures could be building in the domestic economy.

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.

Buhler Industries reported its third quarter sales reached the third-highest sales level in the company’s history. Revenues for 2014 were $325.5 million, surpassed only by the records it set in 2012 and 2013.

A specialty tillage implement manufacturer seeks a highly motivated person to manage its engineering team.

• Titan Machinery Inc. third quarter results

• Rocky Mountain Dealerships Inc. recently provided an update on its search for a new CEO.

• RDO Equipment new location in Hawley, MN.

• Bane-Welker Equipment, LLC announced its purchase of The Equipment Store

• Cervus Equipment Corp. to acquire the assets of Deer-Country Equipment Ltd.

• Vetter Equipment officials announced the company’s purchase of Madsen International

• Johnson Tractor Inc. has acquired W.G. Leffelman & Sons,

• Jenner Inc. has completed the purchase of Tri-Co,

• Blueline New Holland’s three Nova Scotia dealerships acquired by Stu Rath and John Lynn

• Padula Brothers announced plans to open a location in the Connecticut River Valley

• Archbold Equipment Co. named Zach Hetterick CEO of the six-store Case IH dealership complex.

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.

Rabobank predicts that U.S. beef prices will reach record levels and production will post another 2-3% decline in 2015, following a 5% decline in 2014.

U.S. cow slaughter was down 14% in 2014 due to aggressive herd rebuilding, which is expected to continue into 2015, reduced beef availability is expected to continue driving market prices up.

When the Washington state legislature convenes this month, one of the proposals up for debate will be a plan to make farmers who use manure as fertilizer subject to the same regulations as dairies that produce the manure, the Yakima Herald reported.

A program proposed by the state Department of Agriculture would license manure applicators and require farms to develop application plans and keep records as a way to protect surface water and groundwater from pollution, which can occur when too much ma

U.S. manufacturing growth slowed in December, with continuing delays at West Coast ports being cited as a contributing factor, according to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). Comments from companies surveyed indicated a widespread negative impact on imported materials shipment due to the West Coast dock . .

The Internal Revenue Service has issued the 2015 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2015, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car, van, pickup or panel truck are:

With the new U.S. Congress convening and two Texans heading the U.S. House Ag Committee, you might expect Texas cotton producers to be optimistic about ag-related legislation during the coming year. But not so, according to the Seminole Sentinel.

With tax season upon us, the Internal Revenue Service requires us to remind members that a small portion of members’ dues payments are not tax deductible as an ordinary and necessary business expense, as it represents this Association’s ongoing lobbying activities on behalf of our members.

Our accounting firm has notified us that, for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2014, 14.81% of the total amount of dues paid is non-deductible.

Marriott and the American Hotel and Lodging Association are asking the FCC to give hotels the green light to remotely disable the Wi-Fi devices that some exhibitors use to connect their laptops and tablet computers to the Internet through cellular services.

We are especially pleased to have secured an engaging and inspirational keynote speaker for Friday, March 20, who is sure to captivate attendees with accounts of his experiences and his insights.

Michael Waltz serves as a senior national security fellow with the New America Foundation and president of Metis Solutions, a defense and intelligence contracting firm that provides strategic analysis, policy development, intelligence support, and foreign commercial development to U.S. Government and corporate customers worldwide. He is also a cofounder and partner in an international consulting firm, Askari Associates, that provides strategic advice and consulting services to foreign governments and private industry.

At midnight on Dec. 31, the federal Terrorism Risk Insurance Act expired (TRIA), ending a financial backstop for private insurance companies and yanking out the foundation of the terrorism-insurance industry. Businesses and insurers were left vulnerable, waiting for action from the new Congress to reauthorize the terrorism act.

The suit to block the Board’s “ambush elections” rule was filed in the D.C. Federal District Court and follows successful litigation to reverse a similar rule that was unlawfully promulgated by two members of the NLRB.

We simply cannot allow millions of workplaces and tens of millions of Americans to be ambushed by this. . .

Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Co. of Iowa announced it will acquire John Deere Insurance Co. and John Deere Risk Protection Inc. No purchase price was disclosed. Deere’s CEO Sam Allen asked the company’s board to cut his 2014 cash bonus by 25%. The board honored Allen’s request, reducing by . . .

“If Cuba resumes purchases of U.S. wheat, we believe our market share there could grow from its current level of zero to around 80% to 90%, as it is in other Caribbean nations,” said Alan Tracy, President of U.S. Wheat Associates in a joint statement with the National Association of Wheat Growers.

U.S. small-business lending never quite regained the ground lost during the Great Recession, research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland finds.

The data shows the volume of small loans, those under $1 million, dropped significantly between 2008 and 2012. The Federal Reserve study reports small commercial and industrial loans grew only . . .

One of the best and most popular aspects of the Spring Conference and Supplier Showcase is the diverse line-up of plant tours offered to attendees. On Wednesday afternoon, March 18, the 2015 Spring Conference in Charlotte, NC, will offer three exceptional tours that allow participants to learn about some of the region’s most interesting manufacturing operations.

With demand increasing across the West, Colorado is drawing up a strategy to keep some of the trillions of gallons of water that gushes out of the Rocky Mountains every spring—most of which flows downstream to drought-stricken California, Arizona, Nevada and Mexico.