It became clear to us by 2012 that dealers wanted more insights than what could be accomplished in our print and web pages alone. They wanted to personally seek out solutions and network with the dealer industry’s “best of the best.”

We knew we needed to separate any event we’d pursue from the endless supply of regional association meetings or the major-lines’ events couched as “professional development” (even though most were rah-rah product pitches and edicts on following the company’s latest “flavor of the day” programs). 

The dealer-only model would be the differentiator, as would be the quick-hit schedule (1-night stay) that would ensure time out of the dealership was fully productive. The program would be “for dealers, by dealers” and we purposely omitted time-wasting motivational speakers and comedians. 

Farm Equipment leveraged its fledgling DOY Alumni Group to plan the content for a 1-day dealer-only event that was open to retail dealers of all colors and sizes and co-located with the Ag Connect 2013 Show in Kansas City. It was jammed with networking and presentations by the dealers themselves.

Without the majors’ presence in the room, dealers spoke candidly in the roundtable discussions, and the all-colors format introduced many dealers to new friends, used equipment trading sources and M&A partners. Dealers supported it from the get-go.

Top: Debut Dealership Minds Summit, 2013. Bottom: Dealership Minds Summit, 2023

“The fact that we didn't allow the major manufacturers into the meeting was big,” recalls Kanicki. “I got calls from some who wanted to attend, and I had to tell them they weren’t welcome. I caught a lot of flack but I’d explain that we needed dealers to be open and candid for this model to work. We stuck to our guns, and that reinforced to dealers that this was ‘their’ meeting and that it wasn't going to be influenced by what the manufacturers wanted. That was unique.”

There were risks associated with that model, but a handful of independent shortliners were ready to assist in the needed financial assistance for the event, and we deliberately chose partners who understood the event was about the dealer, not the machine peddler. In fact, we didn’t allow sponsors to have tabletop exhibits for the first 7 years to make clear that the Summit was an educational event, not a product-hawking event or trade show.

With the exception of one industry consultant, all 14 speakers were DOY recipients. Their open sharing, along with the impressive class of participating dealers in the audience, created what was regarded as perhaps the dealer industry’s finest braintrust ever assembled in one room. Machinery Advisors Consortium’s George Russell, also gave the luncheon address, calling it a seminal event for the future of the farm equipment sales and service business.

Speakers at the inaugural Summit included: 

• Tim Young, Young’s Equipment
• Mike Hedge, Birkey’s Farm Store
• Mark Foster, Birkey’s Farm Store
• David Meyer, Titan Machinery
• Gord Thompson, Moker & Thompson
• Keith Kreps, RDO Equipment
• Clint Schnoor, Agri-Service
• Boyd Hofmann, JayDee Ag Tech
• Eric Johnson, Johnson Tractor
• Tim Young, Young’s Equipment
• Laird Munro, Rocky Mountain Equipment
• Todd Kunau, Kunau Equipment
• Quint Campbell, Birkey’s Farm Store

The sold-out conference (108 attendees) in 2013 was a major success, and dealers wanted more. Farm Equipment returned with a 2-day Dealership Minds Summit on succession planning in the winter of 2015 in Cincinnati before settling on an annual summer event. In 2016, the unique event model was extended to the precision department with the annual Precision Farming Dealer Summit.

“I remember thinking what we did in 2013 was so great,” says Schmidt, also recalling one of several travel episodes that involved “stomach issues” — ask her about it. “And it was great, but today is a different beast than what that first meeting was and 2.5 times larger in attendance today.” 

Farm Equipment grew from 2 dedicated staffers (Mike Lessiter and Dave Kanicki) to a full staff to look over the writing, production and sales of the magazine and its numerous spinoffs. Pictured is the Ag media kit photo from 2013 and 2010 (inset).

Some of the majors didn’t want the event model to survive, and over the years even scheduled their own meetings on top of our dates to try and keep dealers away. But the Summit has stood the test of time, and the 2023 event drew an all-time high of 271 attendees from 71 dealerships across North America. 

The team has made some minor tweaks, but the format remains true to the same format we started with. The 2024 Dealership Minds Summit in Madison, Wis., will be the 10th event.

Partnerships Key to Success

Dave Kanicki notes that much of Farm Equipment’s influence can be attributed to the partnerships. “Our partners helped us start up many of the new things we attempted and keep them going with credible and valuable information for our market that we couldn’t have easily done on our own.”

“What's been really great is that all the editors here have different people who are our go-tos, who have become our resource,” says Schmidt. “That's been helpful because it keeps us from only hearing the views of only a couple of people. We each have developed different relationships.”

George Russell — George Russell was a great contributor to our whole effort, says Kanicki. After getting to know him and a visit to our offices in 2007, he became a Farm Equipment columnist and then brought the Big Dealer Report idea to us in 2009, and has worked with us on every one since then. He’s been a great sounding board for most of the last 20 years, and he and his team have contributed more than 120 columns to Farm Equipment’s library.

Cleveland Research — Kanicki recalls that Cleveland Research approached him about working together on a monthly “Dealer Sentiments & Business Conditions” concept. “We worked with Cleveland Research to flesh that out, develop it and create that whole monthly survey,” he says. “Again, that gave us even more credibility within the industry, with the financial markets and the major and shortline manufacturers.”

Dr. Jim Weber — Dr. Jim Weber was a longtime columnist for NAEDA’s Equipment Dealer, which we thought was the best (and most edgy and polarizing) content from either of our competitors. He and I found ourselves in the Regina airport following our separate travels to Saskatchewan and got to talking at the airport, which continued with a long layover in the Delta Club at the Minneapolis airport. 

He had seen our editorial influence and was ready for a change. We were delighted that he chose to work with us, but the cantankerous Weber had requirements, too. He insisted that “no one messes with my words” and “no one is going to put a stupid comic strip as artwork with my column.” I was familiar enough with his work to agree, and he became a much-turned-to writer of Farm Equipment’s “The Business of Selling” column from 2010-15. On two occasions, he also delivered keynote presentations at the Dealership Minds Summit.

“Dr. Weber is one of the most influential philosophers in the ag equipment business. Every issue, I would skip to Farm Equipment’s last page, read his column first and then return to the beginning,” says Casey Seymour of Moving Iron LLC. 

Charlie Glass — Charlie Glass was one of the most important contacts in Farm Equipment history, dating back to our first FEMA-FEWA (now EMDA) Convention in 2004 in Orlando. The chairman of the Dealer Relations Committee made sure we understood the present landscape, and dealer-manufacturer issues became a regularly covered theme amidst the consolidation and brand purity efforts by the majors. Glass was a prolific writer in his own sense and contributed to an array of content for Farm Equipment, Rural Lifestyle Dealer and Ag Equipment Intelligence over the years, including a small tractor sales analysis that he maintained for a decade or more. He also once represented the magazine at the EIMA show in Bologna, Italy.

Casey Seymour — “Our relationship with Casey Seymour grew out of the Dealership Minds Summit,” says Schmidt. “Instead of a broader operations theme in 2017, we wanted to focus a meeting entirely on the challenges in managing used equipment. Through our research, we were told if you're going to talk about used equipment, Casey Seymour is your guy. He was instrumental in getting that program together. That was the first year I was in charge of the program, so I'm forever grateful for his guidance because it made a big difference in venturing into a new topic.”

Analysts — Analysts from several investment banks have also partnered with us over the years. Some have come and gone, but the group included Charlie Rentschler and companies like RW Baird, Stifel, Raymond James and Colliers International Securities. Analysts from Citigroup, Jefferies and Desjardins also traded data underlying trends to help investors understand what’s happening in the ag space.

Freelancers — In-field talent like Lynn Woolf (who later became managing editor of Rural Lifestyle Dealer), Mike Wiles and Dan Crummett supported the Farm Equipment staff on assignments and workload. (Crummett is part of the Lessiter Media staff today). Ag Equipment Intelligence also has established relationships with writers/reporters in Europe and South America, that included the U.K.’s Peter Hill and Luis Vieira in Argentina. More recently Illinois-based Libby Wawzenek has helped on a number of projects.