Lessiter Media Ag Division Wins 5 Awards
Farm Equipment and Ag Equipment Intelligence are among four Lessiter Media publications to win regional awards in the American Society of Business Publication Editors’ 2025 Azbee Awards of Excellence. No-Till Farmer and American Farriers Journal also were named finalists.
Farm Equipment won a Silver Award in the Special Section category for the Dealership Minds — Vanderloop Equipment project that appeared in the October/November 2024 issue. Technology Editor Noah Newman won a Bronze Award in the Feature Series category for the Boots on the Ground series. The September Shortline Edition won a Bronze Award in the Special Issue or Supplement Catagory.
Ag Equipment Intelligence won Bronze Award in the Data Journalism category for its 2025 Dealer Business Outlook & Trends Report, an excerpt of which appeared in the January 2025 issue of Farm Equipment. It is among good company in this category, with two other Lessiter Media publications being named finalists as well — No-Till Farmer for its 2024 Benchmark Report — which took the Gold Award — and American Farriers Journal for its farrier business practices survey, Farriers Cut Costs as Gross Income Drops, which also received a Bronze Award.
Boots on the Ground
Pressure bursts pipes, but it also makes diamonds. Vincennes, Ind., farm equipment dealership Sloan Implement — formerly known as Alliance Tractor — went through arguably its most challenging year of all time, and Farm Equipment magazine was there to cover every single hurdle. The region had its wettest planting season since 2019 and sales stalled when commodity prices plummeted. On top of that, the dealership changed its name and organizational structure after being acquired by 22-store John Deere dealer Sloan Implement in the middle of the growing season.
For this special “Boots on the Ground” series, we traveled from Milwaukee, Wis., to the Vincennes, Ind., dealer 4 times throughout the year — once in fall, winter, spring and summer — to show our readers how one of the region’s most successful dealerships navigated the ups and downs of a unique year and the critical lessons learned along the way. The 4-part series features in-depth interviews with representatives from every department (parts, sales, precision, service) and also 17 videos that take the audience behind the curtain to see how the industry’s top minds elevate their performance when the going gets tough.
Check Out "Boots on the Ground"
September Shortline Edition
The editors of Farm Equipment produced a special 118-page edition devoted to the rarely-reported-on “shortline” or specialty equipment companies. While the big “major-line” players like John Deere, AGCO, Case IH, New Holland and Kubota dominate industry headlines and attention, Farm Equipment editors devoted an entire edition to the innovations that come from the smaller, independent suppliers. Included in this coverage in this special edition was
The new Shortline Legends Hall of Fame (p. 28) recorded, for posterity, 5 independent, small-company innovators (from Kentucky, Ohio, Iowa, North Dakota and Saskatchewan) whose inventions changed the trajectory of the ag machinery industry. The 2024 Hall of Fame class included active, retired and posthumous recognitions. So influential was this Hall of Fame class that the industry’s largest equipment association (the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association) requested a special ceremony at its annual convention in Dallas.
A unique “Day in the Life” article with a small salesman of shortline products (p. 56) – This diary format article unearthed the daily activities of a road-warrior sales professional making a living by promoting shortline innovation. Associate Editor Mackane Vogel logged 245 miles across multiple states in the 4-appointment workday with a shortline salesman located in the Northeastern U.S.
A timeline of the most influential small-company innovations for the last 55 years (p. 64) – This in-depth research and pictorial guide authoritatively identified the 55 most important independent innovations over the past 55 years. The compilation spurred dialog and debate and an industrywide recognition of the vast impact that the small companies played in advancing ag machinery. (Read the full Farm Equipment Timeline of Ag Equipment Firsts.)
A special, fresh analysis of the rankings of an association survey (p. 70) -- Editors attained permission from an industry trade association to compile a complete and unbiased review of the rankings of the shortline equipment manufacturers. Few media outlets in the industry have the courage to provide the good, the bad and the ugly, but editors’ independence was exhibited once again in this only-one-of-its kind coverage. Manufacturers said that these published rankings spur them to enact change and to earn higher marks from the dealers ranking them.
View the 2024 Shortline Edition
Dealership Minds — Vanderloop Equipment
This once-every-5 years special section in the October/November issue is the 6th Dealership Minds project the editors of Farm Equipment have completed. This year, the project took 7 Farm Equipment staff members to central Wisconsin to interview several members of the Vanderloop Equipment staff across their 3 stores for full coverage of all the cogs that make this AGCO dealership work covering all aspects of the business (operations, sales, parts, service, precision, etc.). Between 2 cars, we covered 615 miles, filmed 10 hours of video interviews, 1 hour of b-role videos and had 11 hours of interview audio with 15 Vanderloop employees. The result is a deep-dive into how one business operates at all levels of the business that readers can use to benchmark their own business, shared through 11 different feature articles along several stand alone sidebars and web-exclusive articles.
Founded in the early 1950s as a Sheppard dealer, which was one of the first tractor brands to build its own diesel engines. The company stopped building tractors in the mid-1950s, and Vanderloop became a Massey Ferguson dealer. Added Claas in 1995, Fendt in 2000, in 2023 started working with Sabanto on autonomous solutions. Currently managed by 3rd generation (Robb and Carey Vanderloop) and 4th generation (Mark Vanderloop).
Read the full Vanderloop Equipment Coverage
Watch the Dealership Minds Video Series with Vanderloop Equipment
Ag Equipment Intelligence 2025 Dealer Business Outlook & Trends Report
Compiled and written by the editors of Ag Equipment Intelligence and in its 20th year, the 66-page Dealer Business Outlook & Trends Forecast has become the must-have business planning tool for the equipment dealer, manufacturer, consultant and other key players in the ag equipment industry.
Featuring data compiled from North American dealer survey respondents, there is no comparable source of North American farm equipment industry data and analysis that...
- Identifies trends for individual product sales growth
- Breaks down dealers' 2025 outlook by country (U.S. and Canada), by U.S. region, by equipment brand and by the size of dealership
- Provides a status report and analysis of North American farm equipment industry retail sales and inventory data
- Offers insight into farm equipment pricing & inventory
Besides the outlook for both new and used equipment during the coming year, the 2025 report also identifies the major issues dealers are confronting in the year ahead, which includes finding and retaining talent, as well as best bets for improving unit sales.
The report is made available to all Ag Equipment Intelligence subscribers, but it is also available for purchase for those who are not subscribers.