I’m guessing that by now, many of you have seen the viral video postings from August 29 that included a video captured from inside the conference room at Illinois’ John Deere dealer group AHW LLC, also known as Arends, Hogan and Walker. To-date, this 71-second video has been viewed 1.2 million times. And another 3-minute, 17-second video posted on August 30, has 143,000 views.
Monticello, Ill., farmer Jake Lieb filmed the conclusion of his meeting with a corporate AHW director. During that gathering, he was informed that AHW was ripping up a multi-unit deal purchase order (P.O.) for spring 2025 delivery that was inked just 2 months ago.
AHW is an 18-store John Deere dealer group that employs 550. According to the Farm Equipment Dealer 100™, AWH is the 44th-largest dealer group in North America.
You can bring yourself up to speed by watching the videos linked below.
@freedomfarmer4020 #johndeere #farmtok #ahw #business #farm #harvest24 #goviral #share @growincorn2020 ♬ original sound - freedomfarmer4020
Video 1 — Posted on 8-29-24 and to-date has received over 1.2 million views, 83.2k likes, 4,472 comments, 5,033 saves, and 24.6k shares.
@freedomfarmer4020 #farmtok #johndeere #farmlife #share #goviral #harvest24 #farm #business @growincorn2020 ♬ original sound - freedomfarmer4020
Video 2 – Posted on 8-30-24 and to-date has received over 143.7k views, 10.2k likes, 448 comments, 380 saves, and 1,027 shares.
Key points from the videos are summarized below.
“We've just been informed that a deal we made 2 months ago to trade equipment is no longer being honored by AHW because some things have changed in the used equipment market.” says Lieb, who runs a progressive (technology, no-till and cover crops to name a few) corn and soybean operation with his brother Josh. The farm is in its 5th generation of family ownership.
Lieb adds he never had any issue with the local store. In the video, he says, “Now, AHW has close to 20 stores, and I guess they think they're too big to care about honoring deals, which we've got on paper. They're saying they're not going to honor it … that the P.O. is worthless anyway. So, if you, the farmer, have a P.O. and with grain prices being down you feel bad about the agreement you've made, I'd encourage you to just back out of it,” he says, also pointing his fellow farmers to 2 other Deere dealers he mentions by name.
Lieb says he told the AHW director that he was going to post the meeting outcome on social media. “He acted like he didn’t give a s - - -, like I was just a peon, and it wasn't going to matter.”
“I understand that the equipment markets changed. But so have commodity prices and we weren't running to them trying to get out of it. You make these deals, and you’ve got to live by them. If they're in a bad spot moving forward, perhaps they should’ve adjusted their trade-in philosophy moving forward. But you've got to honor the deals that are already made.…” – Jake Lieb, Lieb Farms, Monticello, Ill.
The 8-30-24 video provided an update on how things have blown up since the original posting. Lieb heard from three local farmers who cited similar exchanges with AHW. “This means our local dealership will be one to suffer from corporate decisions. That's the worst part of it.”
From my conversation with Lieb, it sure sounds like he has a solid argument to make and clear documentation to boot. “There was no room for interpretation on anything; it was all spelled out and agreed to. And after all these emails, our last response was ‘AHW acknowledges, accepts and agrees to the terms listed below, and we will begin ordering equipment as the windows open.’ So, we thought we had a deal and 2 months later they called and said they wanted to meet with us.”
Both on the video and my phone call to him, Lieb reinforced his affinity and loyalty for the people at the dealership that he’s known for so many years. He reached out to his salesman — whose position was overruled by AHW corporate — and the service techs to say that it was unfortunate, but AHW would be losing all his business.
During our interview, I mentioned to Jake what Core Value #1 was at Lessiter Media (and which survived two rounds of Strategic Planning over 17 years). It’s one that we strive for and take seriously. That is, “We conduct ourselves as if what we do today will be tomorrow’s front-page news.” That by itself is a good gut-check for decision-making; to consider the Wall Street Journal recapping the prior day’s action for you and the masses – as you sit down at the breakfast table.
Lessiter Media’s Strategic Planning Process outlined 6 Primary Core Values for the business, with supporting maxims for each. Core Value #1, Integrity & Trust, makes mention of today’s actions appearing in tomorrow’s front-page news…
AHW apparently doesn’t share such a core value or concern, Lieb says. “AHW has had a lot of fallout from this. There's been a lot of people who say they won’t do business with them anymore. I hate it for the local dealer – that's the worst part, I grew up with some of the guys that work there.”
Another industry source confirmed reports that AHW apparently “stepped into a pile” with other multi-unit buyers, too. Another said he’d heard that AHW was asking for twice the price to trade than what was agreed-upon, essentially a “take it or leave it” on combines. If true, he says, this is the kind of mess that could take years to overcome, if possible at all, with 2 well-respected John Deere dealers nearby.
We reached out to two executives at AHW to fact-check what was posted on social media and to hear their perspective, but neither of our calls nor emails were returned. Lieb has not heard anything more from AHW either. We’ll update this article as more is learned on the matter.
Our industry is facing economic challenges where principles will be tested. But remember that integrity cannot be situational. And whether you like it or not, social media is a megaphone for customers to quickly call your business on the table. So, a swift reaction to missteps is a wise move as well.
