If there’s such a thing as a reluctant Hall of Famer, Ron Offutt might be it. In the time we’ve known him, he appears more comfortable behind the scenes, elevating and promoting the achievements of his staff when it comes to taking a bow. When he got the news of his induction in Arizona before Christmas, we imagine he was more excited by what it would mean to those rowing the boat for him than accepting another piece of hardware for his crowded office wall.

RDO Equipment Co. (so-named for his initials) is the 8th largest farm equipment company in North America with 34 ag stores that focus on agricultural equipment (and 86 in total with construction and Vermeer), with additional locations in Australia, Mexico and Ukraine. In total, RDO employs 3,500.

If you’ve met Ron at an industry meeting or while touring an RDO facility, you already know that he isn’t one to seek the limelight. While leaders are built with a wide array of skill sets, Offutt’s understanding of himself may be what most contributed to his success. 

That is, he never needed to be “the man,” and he wasn’t even all that excited about running a dealership business, instead he hired the best he could find. 

For this article on a humble leader, Farm Equipment went into its past articles for context on Offutt as change was happening in real time.

“After running the store for about 2 months, I realized I wasn’t going to be very good at it,” said Offutt. “I very quickly found it was easier for me to manage a manager than to do it myself.”

Management was not his bag, but leadership would be. And these ideals would culminate in a culture that attracted the best of the best. Offutt saw early on what some entrepreneurs fail to realize in their professional lifetime. That is, goals can be achieved much faster by joining up with co-workers, customers and other businesses and foregoing control. 

R.D. Offutt Company: More Than Just Equipment

The equipment dealership group is only one part of Ron Offutt’s business interests. R.D. Offutt Company is a family owned and operated entity with two additional business units that include agriculture and food/food processing.

The operation’s cornerstone is a 5-state farming operation, which is one of the largest potato producers in the U.S., with most of its potato acres under center pivot irrigation. In addition, the farming operation includes 39,500 acres of irrigated farmland and a dairy in Boardman, Ore., which consists of 3 dairies milking 36,000 cows. The company also operates food processing plants and markets its crops through relationships with major processors such as Simplot, Lamb-Weston and McCain Foods. Its french-fry plant processes 450 million pounds of french fries annually.

From that one single-store dealership (Casselton, N.D.) grew a juggernaut of a John Deere group of 80-plus stores spanning 12 states, not to mention expansions into construction, irrigation solutions and advanced technologies. 

So many of Offutt’s accomplishments seem obvious today, but there was a time when they were major breakthroughs and departures in the industry. 

“It was apparent that Ron was a man with a vision,” says Charlie Gause, retired VP of marketing. “He followed that vision and was highly motivated in achieving his goal. He was the first dealer to expand into many locations and turn the management of each location over to someone who did not have ownership in the business.”

Getting Started

Offutt never expected to run a dealership; he was built to farm. He worked alongside his dad, Ron Sr., on their Moorhead, Minn., potato operation from age 6, including driving the truck — a true story.

After college, he joined his dad on the farm for 3 years before an opportune visit to the John Deere, Melroe and Versatile dealership in Casselton, N.D., that they rented their green equipment from. In 1968, the dealer-principal, Grant Mattson, shared his plans to retire. He told the 26-year-old Offutt that he had what it took, but Offutt promptly dismissed his offer. He didn’t have any capital to speak of.

“Grant was a good equipment dealer and the first in the country to rent farm equipment,” said Offutt. After some repeated coaxing, Offutt agreed.

In 1968, with the help of a farm loan, the liquidation of a potato warehouse and 160 acres of farmland, and $10,000 borrowed from his grandmother, Offutt became the owner of the store. Mattson lived up to his promise to mentor the young Offutt and help him learn the business, get to know the customers and find his rhythm of operating an equipment dealership. 

Offutt quickly established himself with moxie and earned the trust of farmers. In fact, he convinced customers to pre-pay their invoices so he could make payroll. 

Observers say the reluctant dealer was equipped with several traits that would serve him well over his 55-year career.


“Ron saw the need and opportunity for consolidation, and built one of the largest and most successful 'extra-large' dealer groups. He saw the need, and responded to it with courage and well-funded leverage…” – Stan Jackson, retired manager of Deere dealer development


First, as a wrestler and football player, he is instinctively competitive and thrives on a challenge. Once he got a taste of entrepreneurship, he never stopped the quest for continuous improvement, spurring him to pursue the economies of scale that came en route to becoming one of the industry’s first large dealer groups.

Appetite for Growth

Because he quickly staffed up to give him time to pursue his farming passions, Offutt was always closer to walking in the customer’s shoes than most dealers. He saw what was most important when it came to choosing an equipment dealer, and what wasn’t. This would also prove fortuitous as growth opportunities revealed themselves.

After 8 years in Casselton, he bought and expanded the Deere dealership in Lisbon, N.D., (also the location of Titan Machinery’s second dealership) in 1976, followed in 1979 by a third in LaMoure, N.D. Three more North Dakota stores were quickly added: Breckenridge in 1983, Kindred in 1986 and Fargo in 1987.

RDO was blazing trails with multi-store locations at a time when the majors wanted no part of this dealership structure, says Bob Lamp, retired executive of the North Dakota Implement Dealers Assn. , which he led from 1978-2010.

In the first Big Dealer Report from Ag Equipment Intelligence in 2011, RDO was the 3rd largest ag dealer in North America with 28 stores, a trend that the dealership started and others embraced. Today, 7 other dealership groups operate more than RDO’s 34 ag stores.

As RDO grew, so too did the opportunity to diversify. In 1989, the business expanded into a new industry — construction — with the acquisition of 4 stores in North Dakota. 

By the early 1990s, RDO had operations in Arizona and California, and figured out how to successfully navigate management from a “faraway land” decades before that challenge was addressed at industry meetings and in Farm Equipment articles. The foundation of culture induced by Offutt and RDO’s highly empowered store managers made it work. 

Going Public

After steady acquisition, RDO’s 11 ag stores and 21 construction equipment stores became a publicly owned company in 1997.

The decision to go public was based on thoughts of his mortality, Offutt said. 

“With John Deere having the right to name its dealers, this is a poor business to die in without a successor,” he said. Offutt thought public ownership would solve that problem as well as bring liquidity to his investments in the business.