Mike Lessiter, a second-generation ag journalist, has been Editor/Publisher of Farm Equipment since 2004. He has covered business-to-business operations, manufacturing, and marketing topics since 1992 and has held various roles with the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Assn. and the Assn. of Equipment Manufacturers. Mike is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was named president of Lessiter Media in 2007.
With the CDK-e-Emphasys merger in May further reducing the independent software choices for dealers, our “deep dive” into software for our next edition is most timely.
This “naked pursuit of scale” and quest for market share sounds familiar. Farm machinery manufacturers and their dealers have dealt with this push-pull reality for decades (at least since I started covering the industry in 2004).
This blog was posted in response to Frank Lessiter’s article, “133 Right-to-Repair Concerns -- Growers Get Loud,” that was a follow-up to a unique content project between Lessiter Media’s farm equipment and grower divisions. To view the original work, click here to review the arguments for dealers/manufacturers (Executive Editor Kim Schmidt) and growers (Grower Division Editorial Chairman Frank Lessiter).
Lessiter Media Inc., now in its 42nd year of independent and family ownership, is uniquely positioned in the Right to Repair (R2R) debate, publishing both grower- and dealer-facing content.The content that follows presents a unique vantage point in all of agricultural media. Here, the content leaders of the two divisions – and on each side of the chasm –express their respective audience’s arguments on this R2R debate.
As the NCAA’s wrap up and baseball’s opening days take place this week, we went to farm equipment leaders about the lessons learned from their sport-playing “glory days.”
What lessons learned from your sports-playing days do you use and leverage daily in the farm equipment business? What traits and skills do you find come more naturally by those who competed on the court and fields, even if many years ago?
As in so many other tragedies, there’s no way to arrive at meaning through such tragedy. There is no explanation nor are we equipped to comprehend it. But we still can learn along the way.
Those of you who’ve been to our Dealer Summits know the power of the dealer-to-dealer roundtables and the aha-moments revealed in those settings. January’s record-setting Precision Farming Dealer Summit in St. Louis did not disappoint.
Without fail, every one of our semiannual Dealer Summits drops several ideas to swim in my brain for weeks on end. And the record-setting 2023 Precision Farming Dealer Summit in St. Louis did not disappoint.
With our study of ag technology development and adoption in recent years, we understand how dramatic, lasting change requires an aligning of the stars.
In this episode of On the Record, brought to you by Associated Equipment Distributors, Marc Johnson, principal with Pinion, provides 4 factors that will be important for dealers to watch in 2025 that will impact their business.
Built on 90 years of expertise, Yetter Farm Equipment leads the agriculture industry in designing effective and innovative equipment for residue management, seedbed preparation, precision fertilizer placement, harvest attachments, strip-tillage, and more.
At Machinery Scope, we believe you deserve the best risk management solutions for your investments in heavy equipment. Since 2013, we have been proud to offer extended warranty, appraisals, and inspections. Machinery Scope is a family-owned business built on our experience in farming and equipment dealerships. We understand your business and provide a personalized and professional level of customer service. Machinery Scope has built a strong warranty product with our customers in mind, offering the same professional level of service from the time you get a quote, through the processing of a claim.
Finance Scope is able to provide the best financing opportunities for equipment dealers and customers through a diverse mix of lending companies under one single platform. Our large group of lenders, allows for competitive rates regardless of credit scores. Additionally, dealers and customers have access to the industry’s best expertise surrounding finance and lease structures, for all purposes, within the agricultural and construction industries. We provide all of this into one online platform to provide our customers with the best available tailored finance solution for their equipment.