In mid-April, Chris Frodel, Mid-State Equipment (John Deere) drove over from her store to meet in the conference room at Johnson Tractor (Case IH), Leo Johnson’s store. The length of Frodel’s drive on Highway 14 was a full 4 minutes. That’s how close these two dealerships are in the rich agricultural region of Janesville, Wis. Both are second-generation dealers with siblings as partners (Chris runs the business with her brother Bryan and father Curt Hanson, while Leo does the same with brother Eric) and steadily collected additional stores from small-operation origins. Frodel (44) and Johnson (62) also found a lot of similarities and values in their businesses as they dug in for a candid discussion and what the future may look like.

Herbicide resistance, varied growing conditions, and the need for top-notch seedbed preparation drive equipment makers to find new tillage solutions.

Dealers & manufacturers need to work together to promote & take advantage of parts programs that can help improve margins.

Farm equipment manufacturers are responding to and, in some cases, anticipating farmers’ needs in designing new products. This was evident in the many new developments rolled out during the 2016 Farm Progress Show.