John Deere Stuff

Tires Seen From Space

2011-11-23T14:57:00.001-05:00

Story first appeared in the Traverse City Record-Eagle.

The sprawling pile of hundreds of thousands of tires including tractor tires isn't easy to spot from the ground, sitting in a rural South Carolina clearing accessible by only a circuitous dirt path that winds through thick patches of trees. No one knows how all those tire got there, or when.

But, Calhoun County council Chairman David Summers said of these giant rubber menace, that you can see it from space.

Authorities have charged one person in connection with the mess of roughly 250,000 tires, which covers more than 50 acres on statelite images. Now a Florida company is helping haul it all away.

Litter control officer Boyce Till said he contacted the local sheriff and state health department, which in investigating who had been dumping the tires that are said to include ag tires. But the worst possible penalty that could be imposed locally? A single $475 ticket for littering.

JOHN DEERE DOESN’T WANT NEW CELL TOWERS THAT DISTURB FARMER’S GPS

2011-07-26T11:48:00.001-04:00

Original story first appeared in USA TODAY.
John Deere chairman and chief executive officer Samuel Allen has aligned the manufacturer with military and aviation interests against a broadband proposal by Virginia-based LightSquared. Allen said LightSquared's proposal for 40,000 new cellphone towers in rural areas would push the global-positioning systems in farmers' tractors and combines further down the band, compromising movements across the fields.
Allen said that it's not a money issue for them; they contract with GPS providers, but precision agriculture is vital.
Lightsquared has said it would resolve potential interference for most GPS users. The Federal Communications Commission is due to report on the matter later this summer, but Allen thinks ultimately Congress will make the final call.
Allen stated that what he worries about more than anything in this business is government action, particularly if it comes suddenly. He feels they can handle volatile commodity prices and mechanical and engineering problems. It's always the public issues that worry him.
In a wide-ranging interview at Deere's Eero Saarinen-designed corporate headquarters in Moline this month, Allen talked about Deere's business, the agriculture industry, golf and other topics.
To ease his edginess about the vagaries of politics, Allen is confident that high commodity prices will continue and will be something of a buffer against the expected changes in ethanol tax policies or the farm bill next year.
As head of the world's biggest maker of agricultural equipment, Allen is automatically a senior statesman in agriculture.
The boom in agriculture and partial recovery of the industrial equipment sector has put Deere Financial, the company's credit arm, on stronger ground.
But Deere Financial has developed a unique problem.
Allen said they have to be creative to find ways to get financing business for agricultural customers, because they are in such good cash position now that their biggest competition for credit business is the farmer with cash.
Allen is a John Deere lifer who joined the company in 1975 after receiving an industrial engineering degree from Purdue University.
He succeeded Robert Lane as CEO in 2009 after being president of Deere's Worldwide Construction and Forestry Division. Earlier he oversaw human resources and credit operations and from 1999 to 2001 was Deere's senior officer in China.
Allen's first year as CEO in 2009 was rocky. A dip in agricultural commodity prices and the construction recession forced Deere to temporarily lay off more than 1,400 workers.
While agricultural equipment sales held their own in the post-2008 recession, a plunge in sales of industrial and forestry equipment to 50-year lows took Deere's stock down from $73 per share in mid-2008 to less than $40 per share when Allen became CEO 49 months ago.
But in the last year Deere has caught a break as corn, wheat and cotton prices have doubled, soybeans are up more than 50 percent and construction activity has picked up.
Deere's shares reached $92 per share earlier this summer and the company has forecast double-digit increases of sales along most of its product lines.
Numbers like those impress shareholders and analysts, as well as dealers and farmers.
Allen's low-key approach won over Mike Brelsford, a Perry-area farmer. Brelsford had reason to appreciate Deere's pioneering approach to equipment.
Brelsford was one of the first buyers of Deere's 48-row planter, and the machine paid off this spring when corn planting was delayed until late April by wet, cold conditions. They started on April 30 and got their entire corn and bean crop, over 5,000 acres, planted in 10 days, and that included several moves of 30 miles or more.
Brelsford was just an extreme example of the power of modern big equipment agriculture, which uses 24 and 16-row planters pulled by tractors with 500 or more horsepower and 16-row cornheads on combines.
"Industrial" agriculture is a frequent target for critics. But to Brelsford, bigness is simply an answer to a problem.

Private Equity sees 'Buckets of Money' in Water Buys

2010-11-09T18:37:00.000-05:00

Reuters

Water scarcity will generate big returns for the irrigation sector once climate change and population growth take their toll on farming, private equity managers said on Tuesday.

Asked at an agriculture investing conference whether it is possible to make money from water, typically a public good rather than a bankable commodity, Judson Hill of NGP Global Adaptation Partners was unequivocal.

"Buckets, buckets of money," he told the meeting of bankers and investors in Geneva, a leading European hub for commodity trading. "There are many ways to make a very attractive return in the water sector if you know where to go."

Smart irrigation technology will be at a premium in arid regions and places where higher crop yields are needed to meet rising food demand, Hill said, also citing opportunities from water rights in Australia and parts of the United States.

"Irrigation is a big industry and it is growing. I think it's going to grow dramatically," he said, estimating the sector at $3.5 billion today. "In parts of the U.S. we still grow rice in the desert, as crazy as that is. I think that will change."

Gary Taylor, a partner with AgriCura, a fund focused on U.S. corn, soybean, cotton, rice and wheat farming, said water was fundamental to smart agricultural land investments.

"We have done extensive work to understand the aquifer system along the Mississippi river and do believe over the term of our fund that water will become increasingly important," Taylor, a former executive at Cargill, said.

For agricultural equipment manufacturers such as John Deere, there are also opportunities in tailoring irrigation systems to drought-resistant seeds developed by companies such as Monsanto, Dupont and Syngenta.

"There are very efficient ways to approach irrigation," said Cory Reed, John Deere's director of strategic marketing, describing a need to water certain commodity crops with careful volumes on a fixed schedule.

Hill also named links with communities as critical to gaining traction in the "very, very local" water sector, where investments can involve negotiations with governments amid growing awareness about scarcity risks.

"The water business is very much like the energy business was 20 or 25 years ago," he said. "As the price of water increases we are all going to become better stewards, not because we all become environmentalists but because it will affect our pocketbooks."

School brings Farming to Big Apple

2010-11-05T16:38:00.000-04:00

Kansas City Star

No one expects to find beets and carrots in a sliver of the South Bronx wedged between Metro-North Railroad tracks and a busy elevated highway.

But there they are, along with late-season eggplant, tomatoes, basil and habanero peppers, all growing in a pocket-sized farm called La Finca del Sur, Spanish for Farm of the South.

The formerly weed-choked vacant lot will be a classroom for a new venture called Farm School NYC: The New York City School of Urban Agriculture.

Starting in January, the school will offer a two-year course aimed at developing "the next generation of leaders who will work to use urban agriculture to transform their communities into healthy food communities," said executive director Jacquie Berger.

The school is not yet accredited, but Berger said a number of colleges have expressed interest in partnering with Farm School to offer accreditation in the future.

Once it is up and running, Farm School will join an urban agriculture movement that includes former professional basketball player Will Allen's Growing Power, which operates farms in Milwaukee and Chicago with the goal of creating "a just world, one food-secure community at a time."

The movement has a bimonthly magazine, Lexington, Ky.-based Urban Farm. Magazine editor Lisa Munniksma said Farm School would serve a useful purpose because "a lot of people who are interested in growing food for themselves or for others in cities or in suburbs don't have a lot of agricultural skills."

One of Farm School's instructors will be Karen Washington, a longtime urban farmer and a founder of La Finca del Sur, which sells its produce at a farmer's market.

Washington said she hopes Farm School will serve as a prototype for other urban centers by providing "the incentive to say, you know what? We can do the same thing."

On a crisp fall afternoon, Washington stopped by La Finca on her way to pick up chickens for a community garden in another Bronx neighborhood. It is legal to keep hens in New York City but not roosters - too noisy. Beekeeping was legalized this year.

She grabbed a handful of soil and said, "This is life here. This is what we call black gold because it's compost. Smell it."

Washington said she hopes to train students for jobs like working in the school system to oversee school gardens or canning and selling local produce.

A lifelong New Yorker who has grown food for 20 years, Washington also works as a physical therapist.

Her routine of rising early to farm before heading off to her day job is not so different from the lives of many small farmers in rural America, even if they till 300 acres instead of three.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the average family farm household in 2010 will receive just 11 percent of its income from farm sources. The rest is largely from off-farm jobs. Sixty percent of the nation's family farms are small farms with gross annual sales of less than $10,000.

For Farm School students who hope to scratch out a living in agriculture, the second year of the program will include training in setting up a business plan, Berger said.

But for many the overriding goal is to grow nutritious food in neighborhoods where a dearth of fresh produce contributes to health problems like obesity and diabetes.

"When you grow food in the city it's such a visible act," Berger said. "It has such a visceral impact on the neighborhood around it."

Farm School will start with 10 students who will commit to one evening and one weekend day each week. Another group of more casual students will take one class at a time. Tuition is on a sliding scale starting at $1 per course hour.

Farm School is a program of a nonprofit organization called Just Food, which also promotes other agricultural initiatives in New York.

Berger said the school will have classroom space at Just Food's Manhattan offices but most classes will be hands-on and outdoors.

One of the first students will be Tanya Fields, a Bronx activist who said she believes in urban agriculture "as a community development tool."

Fields didn't start out as a farmer. "I don't really have a green thumb," she said. "I don't know how my acrylic tips are going to feel about this."

Deere Lawnmowers Recalled

2010-11-02T22:25:00.000-04:00

UPI

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a voluntary recall of John Deere mowers with foot lift option due to an injury hazard.

About 6,450 John Deere EZtrak Zero Turn lawnmowers were manufactured by Deere & Co. of Moline, Ill., and sold nationwide -- except in California -- from February 2009 through September 2010 for about $5,300.

The BM22809 Premium Foot Lift Kit, sold separately from mowers for about $80, is also being recalled, the commission said.

A bolt on the steering lever can catch on the tab of the foot lift stop and lock in place, the commission said. This can stick the steering lever in a forward position, which poses a risk of injury to users.

The recall involves numerous models of Z445 riding mowers with 54-inch-high decks and 7445 or 7465 Zero-Turn Mowers with Premium Foot Lift features.

Consumers were advised to stop using the mowers and contact a John Deere dealer to have the lift stop bracket removed.

Consumers can call 800-537-8233 for information.

Fair Showcases Alternative Fuel, Electric Vehicles

2010-10-18T00:47:00.000-04:00

The Desert Sun

Turn on Nissan's new all-electric Leaf and here's what you hear — nothing.

“There's no rev,” said Greg Tabak, director of Business Sales for Enterprise Rent-A-Car, which is set to introduce the electric car into its rental fleet in 2011.

“There's no transmission (noise). When you hit the accelerator, it just goes,” he said.

Tabak and the Leaf were in Palm Springs Friday for the city's first Electric and Alternative Fuel Vehicle Fair, which brought a small fleet of electric, hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles — and more than 150 residents and visitors — to the Palm Springs Convention Center.

“I think it's the nicest,” said Mark Thomas, 46, of Cathedral City, who was checking out the Leaf. “It seems the back seat has a lot of space. The only problem is it's all electric so the range is going to be short.”

Tabak said the car has about a 100-mile range, a little more depending on how you drive.

Electric vehicles such as the Leaf and the supercharged Tesla roadster, which goes 0 to 60 mph in less than 4 seconds, can travel as fast as 245 mph and comes with a six-figure price tag, were the stars of the event.

“It's fantastic. I've never run out of juice,” said Tesla owner Gary Warner, 64, of Indio. “The only thing that makes noise is the battery for the air conditioning.”

But beyond the flash, the purpose of the event was to focus valley officials and businesses on getting ready for the range of electric and hybrid vehicles coming to the market in 2011.

Enterprise plans to add the Leaf to its rental fleets in San Diego and Los Angeles locations — where Nissan is introducing the car — before gauging the market in the Coachella Valley, Tabak said. The roll-out to smaller markets could be in 12 to 18 months, he said.

Hertz will also be offering the Leaf and Mitsubishi's i MiEV beginning the end of the year, but again in larger, metropolitan markets to start, said Annette Zackey, a sales representative for the company.

With more and more car companies introducing electric models, Michele Mician, sustainability manager for Palm Springs, says the valley needs a network of charging stations for visitors and residents.

“We have to have infrastructure,” she said. “You have to be able to run errands, to move around the valley and plug in.”

Valley residents ready to take the leap will be able to install chargers in their homes, sold by local businesses such as the Green Bay Group in Palm Desert.

The company has a 240-volt home charger that can recharge a car in six to eight hours, said Jeffrey P. Bay, company president. Installing the device is similar to installing a dryer hookup, he said.

And Dick Cromie of Southern California Edison, said electric models such as the Leaf would cost about $1,100 to $1,300 a year less to operate than comparable gas cars.

Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez said electric vehicles can only add to the valley's profile as a renewable energy powerhouse, with wind, solar and geothermal resources.

“We have a window of opportunity that has never existed in the past,” he said. “Let's incorporate electric vehicles; let's incorporate infrastructure. We can create good-paying jobs; we can recover as a state and a nation, while reducing our greenhouse gas and carbon emissions.”

Corn Prices Soar amid Supply Worries

2010-10-12T07:31:00.000-04:00

Associated Press

Corn prices extended their rally Monday amid heightened concerns about tight supplies even as demand remains strong from ethanol producers, livestock owners and overseas buyers.

Corn rose 27.5 cents, or 5.2 percent, to settle at $5.5575 a bushel. It was the third straight gain for corn, which is at its highest price since the recession intensified in the fall of 2008.

Much of the trading action was driven by a U.S. Agriculture Department report issued Friday that lowered this year's production estimate to 12.7 billion bushels from last year's record of 13.1 billion bushels. Yields were forecast at 155.8 bushels per acre, compared with 164.7 bushels per acre a year ago.

Meanwhile, more overseas buyers are turning to U.S. corn to help feed their livestock after a drought ravaged Russia's wheat crop, including grains used to feed cattle and hogs. In addition, there is strong demand among ethanol producers and domestic livestock owners.

Barclays Capital analysts said in a report issued Monday that U.S. corn production is on track for the third-highest level on record. At the same time, high consumption levels and demand for corn exports is taking U.S. corn supplies to their lowest levels in 14 years.

"The global corn market ... suddenly finds itself on thin ice," the report concluded.

The impact of higher corn prices eventually may result in higher prices for bread and other products, but manufacturers and wholesalers also factor in other costs, such as labor and delivery, said Greg Grow, an Archer Financial Services broker who specializes in grains and livestock.

"The raw commodity price can be absorbed by wholesalers and manufacturers to a degree, but it will undoubtedly place upward momentum on wholesale and then retail prices for foods," he said.

In other grains contracts, November soybeans rose 17.5 cents to settle at $11.5250 a bushel while December wheat lost 10 cents to $7.0925 a bushel.

In December metals contracts, gold for December delivery rose $9.10 to settle at another record high of $1,354.40 an ounce; silver gained 24.4 cents to settle at $23.349 an ounce; copper added 1.5 cents to settle at $3.7895 a pound and palladium gained $1.15 to $588.75 an ounce.

Platinum for January delivery lost $17.90 to settle at $1,690.80 a pound.

Oil prices slipped Monday as the dollar strengthened and traders hunkered down ahead of some important economic news, due out later this week. Since crude and other commodities are priced in dollars, a stronger dollar makes crude, priced in dollars, less attractive to investors who buy it with other currencies.

Benchmark crude for November delivery dropped 45 cents to settle at $82.21 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Wheat Futures Drop Most in a Week in Chicago as U.S. Supply Concerns Ease

2010-10-11T16:49:00.002-04:00

Bloomberg / BusinessWeek

Wheat prices fell the most in a week as U.S. supply concerns eased after futures soared the most allowed by the Chicago Board of Trade in the previous session.

The U.S. may produce 2.224 billion bushels in the year ending May 31, up 0.3 percent from last year, the government said Oct. 8. Futures surged 9.1 percent on that date after the Department of Agriculture slashed its estimate for U.S. corn production and said global wheat inventories were shrinking.

The USDA report “for wheat wasn’t nearly as bullish as it was for corn,” said William Bayer, a partner at PTI Securities in Chicago. Among corn, soybeans and wheat, the “fundamentals are probably the weakest” for wheat, he said.

Wheat futures for December delivery dropped 10 cents, or 1.4 percent, to settle at $7.0925 a bushel at 1:15 p.m. on the CBOT. That marked the biggest drop since Oct. 1. The most-active contract has soared 48 percent since the end of June after drought hurt crops in Russia and Eastern Europe.

On Oct. 8, wheat futures jumped 60 cents, then the exchange limit, after the USDA said global stockpiles will total 174.66 million metric tons on May 31, down 1.8 percent from the agency’s forecast last month. The department said the U.S. corn crop may be 3.4 percent smaller than last year.

Rain in the Plains

Rain in some winter-wheat growing areas in the U.S. Great Plains may boost soil moisture for crops being planted.

“Southwest Nebraska had very good rain over the weekend,” said Louise Gartner, the owner of Spectrum Commodities in Beavercreek, Ohio. Hard-red winter-wheat areas of Kansas and Oklahoma still need rain, along with soft-red regions in Ohio and Indiana, she said.

Parts of Oklahoma and Kansas, the largest winter-wheat producing state, got as much as 0.4 inch (1 centimeter) of rain in the past week, “not enough to end dry conditions,” Mike Tannura, the president of T-Storm Weather LLC in Chicago, said in a report. As much as 30 percent of the U.S. winter-wheat belt is experiencing “abnormally dry conditions,” he said.

Soft-red winter wheat is used to make cookies and cakes. Hard red-winter varieties are used in bread.

Wheat is the fourth-biggest U.S. crop, valued at $10.6 billion in 2009, behind corn, soybeans and hay, government data show.

Move Over, Bedbugs: Stink Bugs Have Landed

2010-10-03T18:45:00.002-04:00

NY Times

When they retreated from the Battle of Gettysburg, Confederate troops passed by the area that is now Richard Masser’s orchards. If only the latest enemy — the brown marmorated stink bug — would follow suit.

Damage to fruit and vegetable crops from stink bugs in Middle Atlantic states has reached critical levels, according to a government report. That is in addition to the headaches the bugs are giving homeowners who cannot keep them out of their living rooms — especially the people who unwittingly step on them. When stink bugs are crushed or become irritated, they emit a pungent odor that is sometimes described as skunklike.

Suddenly, the bedbug has competition for pest of the year.

Farmers in Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and other states are battling a pest whose appetite has left dry boreholes in everything from apples and grapes to tomatoes and soybeans. Stink bugs have made their mark on 20 percent of the apple crop at Mr. Masser’s Scenic View Orchards here. Other farmers report far worse damage.

“They’re taking money out of your pocket, just like a thief,” said Mr. Masser, flicking stink bugs off his shirt and baseball cap as he overlooked his 325 acres, a few miles south of the Pennsylvania border. “We need to stop them.”

No one seems to know how. Government and university researchers say they need more time to study the bug, which has been in the United States since about 1998. Native to Asia, it was first found in Allentown, Pa., and has no natural enemies here.

Some people noticed an increase in the stink bug population last year, but all agreed that this year’s swarm was out of control. Researchers say the bugs reproduced at a faster rate this year, but they are unsure why.

“These are the hot spots right now, but they’re spreading everywhere,” Mr. Masser said. “They even found them out in Oregon.”

Populations of the brown marmorated stink bug — different from the green stink bugs that are kept in check by natural predators here — have been found in 15 states, and specimens in 14 other states, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

The bug travels well, especially as it seeks warm homes before the onset of cold weather.

“It’s an incredible hitchhiker,” said Tracy Leskey, an entomologist with the Agriculture Department’s Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville, W.Va. “The adults are moving and looking for places to spend the winter.”

The research station is among three laboratories looking for a solution. Government and university researchers also formed a working group this summer. But Kevin Hackett, national program leader for invasive insects for the Agriculture Department’s research arm, said no immediate solution was in sight.

“We need to do considerable more research to solve the problem,” he said. “We don’t even have a way to monitor the pests. I’m confident that we have excellent researchers. I’m not confident we’re going to find a solution immediately.”

The department is spending $800,000 this fiscal year on stink bug research, double last year’s budget, Mr. Hackett said. But he estimated that seven more full-time researchers were needed, at a cost of about $3.5 million a year for salaries and research expenses.

In Asia, a parasitic wasp helps control stink bug populations by attacking their eggs. Unleashing those wasps here, however, is at least several years away because they would first need to be quarantined and studied.

There has been limited success using black pyramid traps in orchards, Ms. Leskey said. The traps contain scents that trigger sexual arousal. The nymphs, or young bugs, respond seasonlong, Ms. Leskey wrote in a recent report, but adults respond only late in the season, in late August.

Representative Roscoe G. Bartlett, Republican of Maryland, convened a meeting last week of officials from the Agriculture Department and the Environmental Protection Agency. He is pushing to have the stink bug reclassified, which would allow farmers to use stronger pesticides, and is advocating that the Agriculture Department reallocate $3 million of its budget for research.

A problem that can arise when more pesticides are used, experts and farmers say, is that many years’ worth of effective “integrated pest management” can be ruined in the process. Farmers kill some pests but allow others to live because they prey on yet other pests. Wasps, for example, eat worms that otherwise would kill crops.

“It is a way to use nature’s own defenses against pests in orchards,” said Steve Jacobs, an urban entomologist at Pennsylvania State University. “That’s been finely tuned and works well. This brown marmorated stink bug blows all that out the window. You kill them today, new ones come tomorrow. So this is a serious problem.”

Meanwhile, homeowners in the region are coping with this latest nuisance.

Vicky Angell of Thurmont, Md., said she first noticed the stink bugs last year, but “not in flocks” like this summer. She kills about six a day and suspects that they get inside her home when she leaves the door open to let the dog out.

Ms. Angell said she flushes them down the toilet after catching them in a napkin. Other people use their vacuum. And many have turned to exterminators.

Stink bugs, whose backs resemble knights’ shields, do not bite humans and pose no known health hazards — even the fruit they have gotten to is edible, once the hardened parts are cut out. They leave small craters on the surface of an apple or pear, and the inside can get brown and corklike. Females can grow to nearly the size of a quarter. “Marmorated” refers to their marbled or streaked appearance.

Still, sometimes they are just too close for comfort. Ms. Angell said she got a surprise when she put on her pants Friday morning, having washed them and left them to dry in her laundry room.

She felt something in the right rear pocket.

“I thought I left a piece of paper in them when I washed them,” she said.

But it was not paper.

“Pulled it out. He was alive. Stink bug. Flushed him down the toilet,” she said. “I thought, I’m glad I didn’t sit on that.”

Kelli Wilson of Burkittsville, Md., said her home had been overrun by the bugs, especially in the past week. In the afternoon sun, the north-facing exterior of the house “is black with stink bugs,” she said. “It looks like the wall is crawling.”

Mrs. Wilson’s husband, Raymond, skipped services on Sunday at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Burkittsville to remove stink bugs from the house. Mrs. Wilson discovered a little hitchhiker as she and her children arrived at the church. “I just pulled into the parking lot and there’s one on my purse,” she said. “They travel with me now.”

Mr. Jacobs, the urban entomologist, said the response to stink bugs so far is not an overreaction. “I’m standing here in my living room watching some of them crawl up my walls,” he said. “The best thing to do is make your house as tight as possible. Use masking tape to seal around sliding glass doors, air-conditioners.”

Mr. Masser, the Sabillasville farmer, said that he had not yet raised his prices to offset losses, but added that it was a possibility next year if a solution to the stink bug invasion was not found.

“Stink bugs are going to destroy a lot of food — it’s just starting,” he said. “When Joe Blow starts hollering because he can’t find the food he wants, they’ll respond then.”

Rush Enterprises sells Deere dealerships for $26M

2010-09-28T18:26:00.000-04:00

BusinessWeek

Truck dealership operator Rush Enterprises Inc. said Friday that it has completed the sale of its John Deere construction equipment dealerships to Doggett Heavy Machinery Services LLC for $26.2 million.

Rush, the New Braunfels-based truck and commercial vehicle dealerships owner, announced the sale in June, saying its construction-equipment division was growing at a slower pace than desired. The sales prices listed in the June announcement was about $37 million.

W.M. “Rusty” Rush, president and CEO of Rush, said the closing provides resources that Rush can invest in its current businesses while and also use to evaluate new acquisitions. Those acquisitions could include construction equipment dealerships in areas of the country outside of those it served before the sale, he said.

The company has truck dealerships in 14 states.

Exelon Plans Debt Sale to Buy Deere Wind-Power Unit

2010-09-27T19:29:00.000-04:00

Bloomberg

Exelon Corp., the largest U.S. producer of nuclear power, plans to sell $900 million of 10- and 31-year debt to fund its purchase of a Deere & Co. wind-power unit.

The bonds may be issued as soon as today through Exelon Generation Co. according to a person familiar with the transaction. John Deere Renewables LLC will cost $860 million with an additional $40 million if Deere starts constructing three projects in Michigan, Exelon said today in a regulatory filing that didn’t specify the debt offering’s size or timing.

Exelon’s acquisition marks the Chicago-based company’s first foray into owning and operating wind projects, it said in an Aug. 31 statement. The 735 megawatts of wind capacity, enough to power as many as 220,000 homes in eight U.S. states, will add to 2012 profit and advances Exelon’s 2008 promise to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions, according to the statement.

“We took this deal to the rating agencies well in advance of doing it,” Bill Von Hoene, Exelon’s executive vice president for finance and legal, said at a conference on Sept. 15. “They concluded, as did we, that it was credit neutral.”

The notes may be rated A3 by Moody’s Investors Service and BBB by Standard & Poor’s, said the person, who declined to be identified because terms aren’t set.

The acquisition will make Exelon the 13th-biggest wind generator in the U.S., Von Hoene said in the call.

Ace Buys Rain and Hail for $1.1 Billion to Add Crop Insurance Coverage

2010-09-16T13:57:00.000-04:00

Bloomberg

Ace Ltd., the Zurich-based insurer with operations in more than 50 countries, agreed to pay $1.1 billion in cash to buy a majority stake in Rain & Hail Insurance Service Inc. and expand coverage of crops in the U.S.

The price values the insurer at about 1.59 times its projected yearend book value of $840 million, Ace said in a presentation today on its website. Ace said the deal will add about 22 cents to earnings per share next year. Ace already holds about 20 percent of the common stock in the Johnston, Iowa-based insurer, which is majority-owned by employees.

Ace, led by Chief Executive Officer Evan Greenberg, is adding to the business of protecting U.S. farmers against losses after the government this year reduced subsidies for the policies. The company said in July that the changes could work in favor of the largest insurers in the business against regional competitors.

“It’s a good example of Evan Greenberg’s strategy of growing through all phases of the property-and-casualty pricing cycle,” said Daniel Theriault, an analyst at New York-based Portales Partners LLC who advises investors to buy Ace shares. “They are already a big player in the agricultural crop business so it’s a relatively low risk acquisition. It’s a pretty good feat in this current environment.”

Ace, which shuns shareholder buybacks, is expanding after remaining profitable through the credit crisis by sidestepping subprime mortgage-related securities. Greenberg said late yesterday that Ace would buy Jerneh Insurance Bhd. for about $210 million to expand in Malaysia.

‘Pretty Robust’

“Pipelines of opportunity are pretty robust right now” for acquisitions, Greenberg said in a conference call in July.

Ace advanced 68 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $57.36 at 4:01 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The company has climbed about 14 percent this year, beating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, which is little changed.

Ace competes with market leader Wells Fargo & Co., Australia’s QBE Insurance Group Ltd. and American Financial Group Inc. selling protection to farmers. Rain & Hail, with a market share of about 21 percent, ranks second to a Wells Fargo business, according to data released by Ace in the presentation.

Rain & Hail posted net income last year of $199 million, according to Ace. The company has about 400 full-time employees and sells coverage through a network of more than 11,000 agents.

“This is a business we know well,” Greenberg said in the statement. “We project a return on capital in excess of our 15 percent hurdle rate.”

John Deere, Common Ground Alliance and US DOT join for Safe Digging

2010-09-02T19:34:00.000-04:00

Quad Cities Online

Representatives from John Deere Construction & Forestry, the Common Ground Alliance (CGA) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) rang the ceremonial closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, August 20, to promote awareness of underground utilities through the use of the national 811 call-before-you-dig phone number. Though awareness and use of 811 has significantly decreased the number of underground utility strikes in the U.S., the fact that there are still fatalities and damages from hitting gas and utility lines underscores the need for a continued safety campaign.

"It's not enough that the number of strikes has decreased in each of the last five years, because even one strike is too many," said Bob Kipp, president of the CGA.

In 2004, it was estimated that there were 450,000 instances of damage from striking underground lines. However, as a result of the work of CGA and its many supporters, that number has decreased by over 60 percent to 170,000 damages in 2009.

"Through our support of CGA and 811, we strengthen our commitment to our customers. Our customers are our first focus and this initiative saves lives," said Michael Mack, worldwide president, John Deere Construction & Forestry.

"Beyond personal safety concerns, the potential property damage, inconvenient service outages and the hefty fines to equipment operators resulting from digging accidents makes the 811 service incredibly valuable."

To further encourage safe digging, John Deere is also sharing portions of safety videos on YouTube beginning next month. The first video, featuring excavators, will be posted at http://www.YouTube.com/JohnDeere.

The FCC-designated 811 number was launched in 2007 by the CGA to eliminate the confusion of multiple call-before-you-dig numbers that were being used across the country. As a result, homeowners, farmers and contractors can call one easy-to-remember number to have crews mark a requested site for underground lines prior to any excavation.

Deere helped spread the word when the 811 number was first established in 2007 and has also been a driving force behind National 811 Day (each August 11) and the "Safe Digging Month" awareness campaign that occurs each spring. In addition to including information about 811 on its website, the company has featured the 811 logo prominently in its advertising and as part of its booth display during some of the construction industry's most prominent trade shows.

The DOT's Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration Administrator, Cynthia Quarterman, was also on hand at the bell-ringing event to lend support.

About John Deere

John Deere is a world leader in providing advanced products and services for agriculture, forestry, construction, lawn and turf care, landscaping and irrigation. John Deere also provides financial services worldwide and manufactures and markets engines used in heavy equipment.

Since it was founded in 1837, the company has extended its heritage of integrity, quality, commitment and innovation around the globe. John Deere Construction equipment & Forestry produces more than 120 machine models and distributes its construction, forestry and worksite products through a network of more than 1,300 dealer locations worldwide. For more information, visit www.JohnDeere.com.

About CGA

The Common Ground Alliance is a national association created to prevent damage to underground utility infrastructure and ensure public safety and environmental protection. It has designated each April as "National Safe Digging Month."

Opposing Views on Cattle Rules Rounded up at CSU Meeting

2010-08-28T09:54:00.000-04:00

Denver Post

FORT COLLINS — Save us. No, spare us your meddling.

Agricultural leaders heard two polar-opposite yet equally fiery pleas Friday at Colorado State University, where more than 2,000 ranchers, farmers and rural Americans rallied to urge either government action or inaction.

The meeting, hosted by Attorney General Eric Holder and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, was the fourth of five workshops around the country in the past six months addressing agricultural issues.

About half the audience supported sweeping change in how the government regulates the ailing cattle industry. They voiced adamant support for new rules that would harness the four major companies that dominate the industry.

The other half bemoaned the possibility of more regulation they fear will clog the industry with lawsuits and curtail cattlemen's ability to harvest top dollar for their herds.

At the center of the arguments are new rules floated by the Obama administration that would make the powerful meatpacking companies — Tyson Foods, JBS, National Beef and Cargill — provide evidence supporting the prices paid for contracted cattle and give small ranchers more opportunities to contest that pricing.

Contracted sales with the big meatpackers have grown from 20 percent of all cattle sales a decade ago to almost half in 2010. While some ranchers say those sales have benefited them, letting them get top dollar for their high-quality beef, others say it unfairly harms ranchers without the clout to negotiate those prices.

"Say there was a terrorist organization that wanted to do irreparable harm to our industry," said Paul Engler, the 81-year-old founder of a 500,000-head feedlot in Amarillo, Texas. "All they would have to do is follow through with the plan that this rule is calling for."

A chorus of boos met Engler's critique, mirroring the jeers that met Kenny Fox's support for the rule change.

"We need this protection. We need to keep our people on the land," said Fox, president of the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association.

While the two ideologies clashed, there was agreement on many issues, including the trouble facing the nation's cattle industry. The number of American cattle farms has dropped from 1.6 million in 1980 to 950,000 today. In 1980, cattlemen earned 62 cents for each dollar spent on their beef. Today, they get 42 cents.

And most troubling, the declines make ranching unattractive to young people.

Luring youth back to the family farm was a much-discussed topic Friday, with panelists and politicians agreeing that returning profitability to ranching would help.

But when discussion turned toward how to restore profitability to America's small ranchers, the discord grew.

"To get an open, robust market, you've got to get rid of concentration," said Taylor Haynes, a Cheyenne rancher and doctor who raises organic beef.

The new regulations could quash a meatpacker's willingness to pay premium prices for certain cattle, potentially installing flat-rate prices to avoid lawsuits from ranchers who didn't get the premium amount and question the pricing.

"I resent the implication that I need to justify a premium paid for my superior product," said Montana rancher Don Herzog.

Instead of fighting over American consumers, cattlemen should be courting international beef eaters, said Jerry Bohm, general manager of Kansas feedyard operator Pratt Feeders.

That's already happening, said ag chief Vilsack, noting the country's agricultural exports reached $105 billion in fiscal 2010, more than double the exports of 2000.

Celebrate the good news and recognize that everyone in the cattle industry is dedicated to offering the greatest product, said Robbie LeValley, a Hotchkiss rancher and president of the Colorado Cattlemen's Association, cajoling her peers to work toward solutions.

"We should not be circling the wagons and shooting inward," she said.

Deere set for Crop Prices Boost

2010-08-26T10:11:00.000-04:00

Financial Times

Farmers will benefit into next year from the rise in commodity prices prompted by severe drought in eastern Europe, John Deere, the world’s biggest tractor-maker, said on Wednesday.

“There’s no question that the recent run in commodity prices, driven by the events in ... eastern Europe, has supported the prospect for crop-farmer income,” said Marie Ziegler, Deere’s head of investor relations. “Overall, for the farm sector it would appear to be very positive as you look into 2011.”

The manufacturer raised its crop price estimates for next year: to $3.90 a bushel for corn from its previous forecast of $3.60; $5.25 for a bushel of wheat from $4.75; and $9.25 for a bushel of soyabeans from its prior prediction of $8.75.

Ms Ziegler noted, however, that rising crop prices had increased feed costs for livestock farmers, who she said accounted for about half the European farm economy. Coupled with the uncertain economic recovery, that could act as a drag on growth in the agricultural sector next year.

She made her comments as Deere reported quarterly profits well ahead of Wall Street’s expectations, citing strengthening demand for big farm machinery in the Americas.

The company said its net profit was $617m, or $1.44 per share, in its fiscal third quarter to the end of July, up from $420m, or 99 cents per share, in the same period last year, beating analysts’ average forecasts of $1.22 per share. Net equipment sales were $6.2bn in the quarter, up from $5.3bn last year.

Deere struck a bullish note on the farm economy in the Americas, saying it expected growth of 5-10 per cent in North America for its full fiscal year and 25-30 per cent in Brazil and Argentina. The company expects equipment sales to rise 32 per cent in the current quarter compared with the same period last year.

Demand for farm equipment is partly driven by a rush by farmers to avoid what they expect to be higher prices for new tractors from next year, when the US government will raise carbon emission standards on such vehicles.

However, a main source of US agricultural equipment demand is expected to be increased farm receipts as a result of soaring prices for wheat and other crops, resulting from supply shortages around the world. Wheat has spiked because of severe drought in Russia, which Deere said would hit its sales in eastern Europe.

Overall, the company said farm equipment sales in Europe could fall in the current quarter by as much as one-fifth from last year because of weakness in livestock and dairy farming.

Trouble Mounts for Iowa Firm as Egg Recall Expands

2010-08-19T20:37:00.000-04:00

USA Today

The Iowa livestock industry giant that's being blamed for a multistate salmonella outbreak linked to its eggs has a long history of environmental, immigration and labor violations.

An egg recall first announced last week was expanded Wednesday to 380 million eggs — the equivalent of nearly 32 million dozen-egg cartons. Hundreds of people have been sickened in a salmonella outbreak linked to eggs in three states and possibly more.

Wright County Egg in Galt, part of the DeCoster family agribusiness operations, had shipped the eggs over a three-month period to wholesalers, distribution centers and food service companies in California, Illinois, Missouri, Colorado, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa. The companies distribute eggs nationwide.

Wright County Egg is being sued for allegedly causing the salmonella poisoning of a Wisconsin woman, and a dozen more lawsuits linked to the outbreak are in the works, said Bill Marler, a Seattle lawyer who specializes in food poisonings.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week that it had seen a fourfold increase in the usual number of cases of salmonella enteritidis, a strain associated with eggs. The CDC said it received reports of about 200 enteritidis cases every week during late June and early July. More than 260 illnesses in California have been linked to the outbreak. Minnesota has tied at least seven salmonella illnesses to the eggs.

No deaths have been reported, said Christopher Braden, a CDC epidemiologist.

The DeCoster operations have had several violations:

• The founder, Austin Jackson DeCoster, pleaded guilty to federal immigration charges in 2003 and paid a record $2.1 million in penalties.

• In 2002, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission imposed a $1.5 million penalty for mistreatment of female workers, including charges of rape, sexual harassment and other abuse.

• In 2001, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that DeCoster, a repeat violator of state environmental laws, could finance, but not build, hog confinement operations for his son, Peter DeCoster, who is now closely involved with the Wright County egg operations.

• Earlier this year, the elder DeCoster paid a fine to settle state animal cruelty charges against his egg operations in Maine.

Federal authorities have been on the DeCoster farms since last week investigating its henhouses and testing eggs to determine the source of the contamination, said Howard Magwire, an attorney for the United Egg Producers, a trade group that includes the DeCoster operations in its membership.

"The company itself is testing many thousands of eggs from the farms to see if they can find anything," he said.

He said the company had "erred on the side of safety" by making the recall as large as it is.

A woman who answered the phone at a number in Galt listed for both Wright County Egg and DeCoster Farms of Iowa referred a reporter to the government media representatives. They did not return phone calls.

A phone message for Peter DeCoster also was not returned.

The lawsuit filed in a state court in Kenosha County, Wis., alleges that Tanja Dzinovic was sickened in June after eating a cobb salad that included hard-boiled eggs. Tests showed she had been infected with salmonella enteritidis, according to the lawsuit. She was released from the hospital but continues to suffer from gastrointestinal symptoms, the lawsuit said.

State and local officials also are investigating salmonella cases that could be linked to the DeCoster eggs in Arizona, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Texas.

Eggs were a major source of salmonella illnesses in the 1990s, but outbreaks had declined significantly over the past decade as farms took a number of biosecurity measures and other steps to prevent contamination. Last month, the Food and Drug Administration imposed mandatory safety regulations, including egg testing requirements, that many farms had already been following, according to industry experts.

"This outbreak really comes as a surprise, and it really seems to be going against the overall trend," said Caroline Smith DeWaal of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group.

Kevin Vinchattle, executive director of the Iowa Egg Council, a producer trade group, said other egg farms were watching the latest case. The DeCoster operation is not a member of the group.

"Whatever is happening with this particular investigation, we're concerned about understanding what has happened so things like this don't happen in the future," he said.

Eggs can become contaminated via rodents or unsanitary conditions in henhouses. The Food and Drug Administration last month imposed new regulations on egg farms to prevent salmonella contamination. The rules include regular testing.

The recalled eggs were packaged under a variety of names, including Lucerne and Albertsons, brands of supermarket giants Safeway and Albertsons, respectively.

Dutch Farms of Chicago said Wednesday that Wright County Eggs "used unauthorized egg cartons to package and sell eggs under the Dutch Farms name without Dutch Farms' knowledge." The eggs were distributed to Walgreens stores in Iowa and six other states.

Hy-Vee Inc. said on its website that it did not sell the eggs.

Federal Ethanol subsidies will affect Industry, West Michigan Corn Growers

2010-08-17T17:41:00.000-04:00

MLive

As an electronic sign by the road flashed messages last week about “America’s Clean Fuel” and “America’s Peace Fuel,” trucks lined the driveway into the Carbon Green BioEnergy ethanol plant on M-66 near the Barry-Eaton-Ionia county borders.

There were haulers from Vermontville and Clarksville, Portland and Woodland, Stanton and Sunfield, all delivering the source of the patriotic fuel touted for environmental and national security benefits: corn.

And the $60 million plant where a work force of 40 churns out 50 million gallons of ethanol annually is good for business in this rural area halfway between Grand Rapids and Lansing.

“We’re businessmen,” said Brian Haskin, whose Haskin Farms in Ionia County sends the plant 400,000 bushels per year from a distribution hub two miles down the road.
A scoop works in a corn product storage barn at the Carbon Green facility.

“We (farmers) are going to plant what makes us money. If they make it profitable, we’ll find a way to produce it.

“(Corn-based ethanol) is a boost to the local economy.”

No wonder Haskin hopes Congress extends the federal ethanol subsidies set to expire at the end of the year. The plant’s demand not only pushes up the price of corn, it creates a close-to-home market that reduces freight costs. Most of the plant’s 50,000 bushels of daily corn supply come from within 80 miles.

But the impact of the subsidies — a 45-cents-per-gallon tax credit for “blenders” who add ethanol to gasoline and a 54-cents-per-gallon import tariff — extends much further, to motorists and taxpayers.

The well-being of the world is at stake — at least, that’s the message the sign in front of the plant attempts to convey.

“No wars have been fought over ethanol,” the sign read.

Except, of course, the political battle under way.

“If this credit doesn’t go through, there’s a significant chance we’re going to lose some ethanol plants,” said Loren Koeman, a Grand Rapids agriculture consultant who farms about 3,000 acres near Holland and is secretary of the Lansing-based Michigan Corn Growers Association board.

“As it becomes more and more efficient, we need to keep supporting the industry. It’s not like we’re not spending money on the oil industry. We fight wars to protect oil. It’s naive to think there’s no government cost associated with oil.”

And those benefits come at a cost: $1.78 per gallon of gas replaced by a gallon of corn-based ethanol, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

U.S. Rep. Vern Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids, called the subsidies “a gift to the ethanol-producing industry” that need not be re-given.

“Obviously, it’s good for people to have jobs,” he said.

“It’s good for farmers to make money,” Ehlers said. “But is that an economically sound way to do it? It doesn’t generally pay off to give people make-work jobs.”

Besides, Ehlers added: “Should we really be using food to generate fuel in light of the food crisis in many parts of the world?”

A multiyear extension of the subsidies is key to short-term stability and long-term viability of the industry, Koeman said. The 4-year-old Woodbury plant in Eaton County is already on its fourth owner and closed for eight months before reopening in June 2009. This fall, the facility plans to add more than 1 million bushels of corn storage to its pair of 135-foot silos. Each holds 200,000 bushels.

Through the credit, the country’s investment in ethanol will continue to add cleaner-burning fuel into the energy supply and foster less dependence on foreign oil while retaining a productive agriculture base that enhances local economies, Koeman said.

Debate over food supply costs

There is another side to just about every aspect of the corn ethanol debate.

Sam Hines, executive vice president of the Michigan Pork Producers Association in Holt, said ethanol subsidies jack up the cost of feed for hogs, which, in turn, increases prices at the grocery store.

“It’s no secret that pork production, in particular, in recent years has taken a real hit primarily as a result of a diversion of a lot of corn into ethanol,” Hines said. “Now, we’re starting to see that reflected in higher prices in the store. We’re not necessarily averse to bio-fuels, but we need to be careful with how we play around with that. The ethanol industry has matured to where it should be able to stand on its own.”

Walking into a large storehouse with mounds of dried distillers grain, or DDG, Woodbury plant manager Edward Thomas downplayed the food-supply criticism of corn-based ethanol.

The plant generates more than 400 tons of DDG daily as a byproduct of the corn’s 60-hour journey from kernel to “corn beer,” including a lengthy bath in a 730,000-gallon fermenting tank. The “co-product” is sold for animal feed within a 200-mile radius, Thomas said.

“The misnomer is we take (the corn) and it’s gone,” he said. “It’s not.”

As for ethanol standing on its own, Carbon Green supports an idea to phase out subsidies in exchange for investments in infrastructure that would make the fuel more available to consumers.

Walker-based Meijer, for example, has E-85 pumps that contain fuel with 85 percent ethanol at more than 70 of its gas stations, including in Cedar Springs, Knapp’s Corner in Grand Rapids, Holland and Wyoming. Wyoming-based J&H Oil Co. has E-85 pumps at five of its 35 stations.

But with fuel sales down overall, there is little market incentive for gas stations to spend money installing more E-85 pumps, said Mark Griffin, president of the Michigan Petroleum Association/Michigan Association of Convenience Stores.

And, even with publicly funded incentives for pumps or flex-fuel vehicles capable of burning E-85, “where’s the customer going to come from?” he asked.

“The customer is not buying that type of product right now,” Griffin said. “The economies just aren’t there.

“We seem to be in a rush to always turn petroleum into the villain, and we forget that petroleum is here, it’s easy to process and it’s easy to use and it will be for a very long time.”

And there’s the crux: Even though “no beaches have been closed due to ethanol spills,” as the sign at the Carbon Green plant stated last week, will consumers en masse ever respond to that sales pitch?

Changing plans
Congress let biodiesel subsidies expire at the end of 2009 and, as it stands, that soy-based fuel cannot stand on its own.

Nowadays, Michigan Biodiesel does just about everything at its $8.8 million, 4-year-old plant in Bangor except produce the fuel for which it is named.

The plant, down to seven employees, is using its equipment to turn things such as cooking oil and mayonnaise into livestock feed.

It has not produced biodiesel in 18 months.

“The marketplace, I do not believe, has stepped up to make the tax credit so it is not necessary,” CEO John Oakley said. “I’m concerned for the ethanol people. That’s the reason you have subsidies, to take up that slack in the marketplace if you truly are concerned about the environment, air quality and all those good things.”

As a fuel distributor, Crystal Flash Energy, which invested in the biodiesel plant, will transport and sell whatever types of fuel are cost-effective for its customers, said Tom Fehsenfeld, company president.

But there is intangible value in renewable fuels such as ethanol, he said.

Hence, a tax incentive is needed to overcome what Fehsenfeld calls the “hidden subsidies” of conventional fuels — the environmental, health and security costs of burning foreign oil.

“If we charged all of these hidden costs against conventional fuels in the form of taxes, we would probably not need subsidies on alternative fuels,” he said. “We all have to be concerned about the type of world we are passing on to our children and grandchildren.

“It has become clear that some types of fuels are better for the environment and
for national security than others.”

And, surely, some types of fuel are better for Haskin Farms and other corn growers who unload their heaping stores of grain at the Carbon Green plant.

Whether it pays to put ethanol in your tank remains less clear.

“I wish (ethanol) could be self-sustaining but, at this point, it obviously isn’t,” Haskin said. “I’m sure if they do not extend the (subsidy) program, it’s going to be devastating for a lot of farms.”

The arguments

Federal ethanol subsidies are scheduled to expire at the end of the year, and Congress is debating an extension. Here are some of the issues:

    * Ethanol can be made from domestic farm products such as corn and may have environmental and national security benefits.

“It’s a very positive thing for the whole country, not just farmers. It’s a win-win situation.”
— Brian Haskin, Ionia County farmer

    * An existing tax credit spurs demand by giving incentive to blend ethanol into gasoline, while an import tariff shields domestic producers from lower-cost sugarcane ethanol in Brazil. Removing the subsidies could hamper the viability of U.S. ethanol.

“The failure of Congress to maintain ethanol and biodiesel subsidies at consistent levels is severely undercutting those (alternative energy) goals.”
— Tom Fehsenfeld, Crystal Flash Energy president

    * Maintaining the subsidies inflates the price of corn and the cost of meat production, for example.

“If you have to pay 10 percent more for your steak, I guess we feel that trade-off is worth all the benefits.”
— Loren Koeman,Agriculture consultant and Holland-area farmer

    * Dried distillers grain, a byproduct of the ethanol-making process, is billed by the industry as suitable livestock feed.

“We have found that, if you use above a certain level (of DDG), it has an impact both in productivity of the hogs and on meat quality.”
— Sam Hines, Executive vice president of the Michigan Pork Producers Association

    * Eliminating the subsidies could cause an 8 percent drop in corn prices.

“We’re just afraid the bottom would fall out from under us. We’d see a lot of American jobs lost.”
— Jamie Cook, Michigan Corn Growers Association’s ethanol and new use coordinator

    * One proposal from a pro-ethanol network would phase out subsidies in favor of government investment in infrastructure to make the fuel more available to consumers.

“Let’s get it so that all cars can burn a higher blend of ethanol so we can get more of this into the stream.”
— Koeman

    * Can the subsidies spark enough demand for ethanol to stand on its own? And is it worth the cost to U.S. taxpayers of $1.78 per gallon of fuel that is replaced by ethanol?

“No one quite knows what to do with it. It’s hard to know when they’re competitive. It’s pretty hard to say when you won’t need the subsidy anymore.”
— U.S. Rep. Vern Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids

Antique Tractors, Farm Machinery takes Admirers Back

2010-08-09T19:44:00.000-04:00

NJ.com

PILESGROVE TWP. — The collecting of antique machinery is a hobby for many locals in this area, but behind the glimmering paint of a freshly restored John Deere tractor is a sense of nostalgia that brings residents of Salem County back to a simpler time.

Not unlike other years at the Salem County Fair, the machinery display was a big hit with the crowds of thousands that visited the fairgrounds last week. Both young and old took in the different styles, sizes and makes of equipment on display.

John Deere ag equipment had a big showing as two collectors brought some very rare pieces from their collection to this year’s fair.

Other makes of tractors at the fair included Minneapolis Moline, Ford, Oliver, Silver King, and McCormick.

“It’s just really a hobby for me,” said Don Marshall of Vineland about his collection of John Deere tractors. “I brought only half of what I actually own.”

Two of Marshall’s tractors from his extensive collection were a 1936 John Deere D and a 1949 John Deere A. Both were restored to their original condition with the familiar grass green and banana yellow paint shining in the sun.

Freeholder Julie Acton holds a special place in her heart for antique tractors. The displays at the fair brought back memories from when her children were young.

“We would come here and they would sit up on these tractors all day,” said Acton. “They loved it.”

Another tractor collector exhibiting at the fair was Deerfield resident Neil Lang who had two very unique displays. His 1937 and 1938 John Deere LS’s were put side by side with one in its original state and the other was fully restored. Often, the challenge can be finding a good John Deere parts store.

Lang also had on display the first tractor he ever brought which was a 1951 John Deere M. He bought it used in 1961 for $450.

“I still use that one today,” Lang said.

The 1956 John Deere 420 S on display was one Lang bought locally from Kathleen Camp in Elmer.

“This exact tractor was used at Palatine Park,” said Lang.

If there was a prize for bringing the most equipment it would have gone to Bridgeton resident Peter Shestakoff.

Among the numerous pieces brought by Shestakoff one of the big show stoppers was a 1913 International eight horsepower engine. The belt style engine was hooked up to a New Holland Rock Crusher.

He also had on display an old-time laundry machine run by crank and a number of old engines, one which was used on an oyster boat to pull in nets.

Logan Maurer, 3, of Deepwater took an interest especially in the antique corn plate mill and the bur mill grinder. Mauer used the crank on the plate mill to strip the corn and then the bur mill to grind it into cornmeal.

“Kids like these pieces of equipment because they are hands-on,” said Shestakoff. “But if they had to do this all day it would be another story.”

Shestakoff said he enjoys bringing his equipment to the fair because of its traditional agricultural roots. He also said the reason behind the large fair display is the joy he gets when children take an interest in the antique equipment.

“It’s not easy getting all this stuff down here. It takes me about two days to haul everything,” said Shestakoff. “But people love to see how things work and that’s why I bring as much as I do so people can come and visit.”

The Best Tractor - is it Green or Red?

2010-08-05T16:18:00.000-04:00

Sioux City Journal

H. Ferguson, Massey, Minneapolis-Moline, Oliver, Ford, Field Marshall and Dexter.

All were once familiar brand names on American farms. But, much like the auto industry, agricultural equipment manufacturers have folded under national and international competition or consolidated to better compete in the world market. For example, McCormick became International Harvester and, more recently, Case IH. Massey Ferguson and Allis-Chalmers are still available at some U.S. ag equipment dealers, along with names newer to the U.S., such as Krone and Kubota.

But at the Woodbury County Fair, which opened Wednesday at the fairgrounds in Moville, just two brand names dominate the large farm machinery on display: John Deere and Case IH.

Farmers looking over the equipment Wednesday morning had all kinds of reasons for favoring one brand over another. Most said they either "bled red" for Case IH or were "all green" fans of John Deere.

It may be a sad state of affairs for farmers who remember when there was more variety in the brands of tractors they could buy than in the brands of beer at their local grocery. For them, the fair offers 110 antique tractors.

For the others, well, there's mostly Case IH and John Deere to argue over.

A few farmers said it wasn't the brand, per se, that fuels their loyalty but the ease of getting service and parts when they need them. Unlike country crooner Kenny Chesney, not a single one of them mentioned that it matters whether their girlfriend thinks their tractor's sexy ... just as long as it's green. Or red.

Here is a sampling of opinions from the fair:

John Deere

Bryce Sohn, Danbury, Iowa -- "I'm definitely green. I just think you get the parts quicker. There are a lot of dealerships, good service."

Tom Handke, Mapleton, Iowa -- "The resale is the best. It costs more, but you get more out of it and fewer problems. It's whatever a person thinks; you're either Deere or Case."

Eldon Cuthrell, Early, Iowa -- "I have two balers, a John Deere and a Vermeer. The John Deere was giving us trouble; I bought a Vermeer `cause it's supposed to be better for bailing corn stalks." He said the Vermeer can be run in reverse to unclog a jam, but a jam in a Deere must be dug out. "You go with whatever works. I don't wear John Deere shorts or Vermeer shorts. But some guys do."

Case IH

Dennis Uhl, Sloan, Iowa -- "I had it beat into me," Uhl said of his father's own loyalty to Farmall, and then to Case IH. "I was brainwashed."

Paul Nelson, 12, Moville, Iowa -- "I drive an International Harvester 1026 Farmall. I like red tractors. When the green ones break down, it's kind of hard to fix `em up. You have to take the GPS off and stuff."

Marlin Groth, Moville, Iowa -- Groth is president of the Tri-State Antique Club; 10 of the 110 antique tractors on display at the fair belong to him, all are International Harvester or another forerunner of Case IH, including one bought new on July 11, 1935 by his great-grandfather. It was last owned by a neighbor of Groth, who told him years ago that he'd have to wait until he died to buy it. Sure enough, the man left a note about the tractor in his will. The neighbor's heirs recently came to Groth and offered him the right of first refusal to buy the tractor. They worked out a deal and Groth bought the tractor from the estate. "I rescued it about a month ago," he said.

Brand doesn't matter

Leo Groth, Moville, Iowa -- "If you get a good dealer, if you're satisfied with the dealer, stick by it."

Ray and Kathy Haafke, Bronson, Iowa -- "We kind of gravitate to orphans and oddballs," Kathy said of the couple's diverse collection of antique tractors. Now retired from farming, they brought six tractors to the fair, including a Minneapolis-Moline and a 1938 Graham-Bradley. They used both International Harvester and John Deere tractors on their farm, Ray said.

In California, Bankruptcy of Giant Farming Co-op Holds a Lesson

2010-07-22T01:17:00.000-04:00

Modesto Bee

The bankruptcy of Tri Valley Growers, a huge grower- owned cooperative, cast a pall over tomato and peach growers just as the 2000 canning season got rolling.

Ten years after its demise, the outlook is brighter in the sun-soaked fields near Westley where former Tri Valley member Bill Cox still grows tomatoes.

He sells his crop to two other food processors now, though the 2010 price might not be as high as the past three years. He sees continuing demand from fans of ketchup, pasta sauce and salsa.

But the collapse of Tri Valley, which cost the 500-plus grower- members about $145 million in equity, still is felt. Cox said his share of that was "a couple hundred thousand dollars," money that could have helped him diversify.

"We lost a bunch of money," he said. "We could have developed a couple hundred acres of orchards, or at least 100."

The bankruptcy of the 11,000-employee company, with plants up and down the valley, also contributed to the decline in the region's cannery work force. While primarily seasonal work, the mostly unionized jobs pay fairly good hourly wages compared with other valley occupations.

"There are nowhere near the employees there were back when they were going strong," said Wayne Zipser, who grew peaches for Tri Valley and now is

executive manager of the Stanislaus County Farm Bureau.

As for the growers, he said, "it hurt them. They were counting on those investments to grow the company. And it hurt the local economy."

A giant before the fall

Tri Valley, founded in 1932, grew to be the biggest player in the state's canning industry. At its peak in the 1980s, it ran 1.3 million tons of produce a year through 10 plants in California and one in New Jersey, selling under labels such as S&W and Libby.

Modesto was at the heart of it all, with one plant for tomatoes and two for peaches, apricots and other fruit.

The cooperative made a profit every year from 1988 to 1997, then lost $165 million over the next two years. It was bleeding yet more cash when it filed for bankruptcy July 10, 2000.

"It was a momentous event and a horrific event because growers lost millions and millions of dollars in equity," said Richard Sexton, an agricultural economist at the University of California at Davis.

He co-wrote a 2004 paper that cited several reasons for the collapse. They include overpayment for the raw crops, inefficient plants, a heavy debt load, poor financial oversight and weak brands in the tomato market.

Tri Valley stumbled through the 2000 harvest, then vanished as its assets were sold off to pay creditors. The Modesto presence has been reduced to one fruit plant, a Finch Road operation now owned by Seneca Foods Corp.

Processing has survived

The bankruptcy came as demand for canned fruit was slipping, another factor in the shrinkage of the industry.

Yet food processing has survived. At the peak of production last year, about 9,000 people worked at nine fruit and tomato plants in Stanislaus, Merced and San Joaquin counties.

"It puts money in people's pockets, whether to pay a bill or pay the mortgage," said Michael Tapia, who used to drove a forklift at a ConAgra Foods tomato warehouse in south Modesto.

He was seeking similar work this summer at the Del Monte Foods fruit cannery on Yosemite Boulevard. The job pays $16.94 to $18.37 an hour, not bad in a county where the jobless rate was 17.3 percent in May and many working people have taken pay cuts.

"It's tough out there right now for anybody," Tapia said. "People are losing homes. People are losing the things they have worked hard for in life."

Times were not so bad for the overall economy when Tri Valley faltered, so the impact was softened. The dairy, wine and nut industries were expanding, though not without some rough patches, and they employed mostly year-round workers.

Despite the troubles for tomato and peach growers, total gross income to Stanislaus County farmers nearly doubled from 2000 to 2009, to an estimated $2.31 billion.

On top of that, a housing boom brought plenty of work in construction and related fields, though it would come crashing down in the second half of the decade.

In 2000, it was tomatoes rather than the more lucrative fruit that dragged Tri Valley down. Today, the situation is reversed for the canning industry, with tomato demand stronger and fruit lagging.

One reason for that is the steady demand for paste, sauce and other tomato products. Industry representatives say consumers find them convenient, tasty and nutritious.

"The canning tomato market doesn't compete much with the fresh tomato market," Sexton said. "They go to different uses."

The Central Valley remains an ideal place to farm tomatoes thanks to its long stretches of sunny days. Mechanical harvesting has greatly reduced the need for field workers. Irrigation supplies are a long-term concern, especially on the West Side, but the easing of the drought this year has helped.

"I think it should be stable," Cox said of the processing tomato market. "I don't know about any international competition that's going to be accelerating."

Tough market for fruit

Not so for growers of peaches and other canning fruits. They contend with cheap imports and with the high cost of hand labor during the harvest.

Then there's the consumer, who can get fresh fruit from somewhere in the world all year.

The canned fruit industry has gone on the offensive, arguing that its process seals in flavor and nutrition. It also has offered new packaging, such as 4-ounce plastic cups, and new ingredient mixes, such as fruit packed in juice.

"It suffers from this notion of being not in fashion, but it's still a good product," said peach grower Paul Van Konynenburg of Modesto. "You put it in front of any 4-year-old and they will tell you how great it is. It's not your grandfather's heavy- syrup peaches."

Van Konynenburg was a Tri Valley member and served on its board of directors. He said the cooperative was done in by a number of factors that added up, including the conflicting needs of tomato growers, who have an annual crop, and fruit growers, who have long-lived trees.

Van Konynenburg now sells his peaches to Seneca, which he said has a good system for keeping the inventory moving.

Gary Darpinian, an Escalon-area grower who chairs the California Canning Peach Association, also praised Seneca.

"They've been a good addition to the peach industry," said Darpinian, who sells to Del Monte and was not a Tri Valley member. "The growers I know have been very pleased with their operation."

A spokesman at Seneca headquarters in Marion, N.Y., did not respond to a request for comment on how the old Tri Valley plant is faring.

Rethinking co-ops

Tri Valley's troubles got industry people thinking about the value of farming cooperatives. Growers have formed them to get fair prices for their crops, but they have to be wary of producing surpluses or pricing out the buyers of the finished products.

Darpinian said cooperatives need to have communication among the growers, board members and executives.

"Having good, accurate information about the financial condition of the company is very important," he said.

Sexton, in his 2004 post-mortem on Tri Valley, said the cooperative structure contributed to crop overpayments and "cumbersome" decision making, but the company also faced larger trends in the fruit and tomato markets.

Ten years after the Tri Valley debacle, the canning tomato industry is growing, although prices waver as processors try to match supply with demand.

The fruit industry is clearly struggling, but if it can stabilize, Modesto could be the hub of what remains. Seneca has started up the old Tri Valley plant for yet another season, and Del Monte has invested heavily in its own Modesto operation.

"It's a smaller total piece of the pie than it was in, say, 1964, but it's still a big piece," Van Konynenburg said.

He noted another advantage of supplying canned food to the world:

"Because those are outside dollars coming into our community, that is how our economy builds its wealth."

How Financial Overhaul can Hurt Farmers

2010-07-14T19:35:00.000-04:00

The Wall Street Journal

GILTNER, Neb.—Farmer Jim Kreutz uses derivatives to soften the blow should the price of feed corn drop before harvest. His brother-in-law, feedlot owner Jon Reeson, turns to them to hedge the price of his steer. The local farmers' co-op uses derivatives to finance fixed-price diesel for truckers who carry cattle to slaughter. And the packing plant employs derivatives to stabilize costs from natural gas to foreign currencies.

Far from Wall Street, President Barack Obama's financial regulatory overhaul, which may pass Congress as early as Thursday, will leave tracks across the wide-open landscape of American industry.

Designed to fix problems that helped cause the financial crisis, the bill will touch storefront check cashiers, city governments, small manufacturers, home buyers and credit bureaus, attesting to the sweeping nature of the legislation, the broadest revamp of finance rules since the 1930s.

Here in Nebraska farm country, those in the business of bringing beef from hoof to mouth are anxious, specifically about the bill's provisions that tighten rules governing derivatives. Some worry the coming curbs will make it riskier and pricier to do business. Others hope the changes bring competition that will redound to their benefit.

"Out here we like to cuss the large banking institutions because of the mortgage mess, but we also know that without them some of these markets don't work," says Mike Hoelscher, energy program manager for AgWest Commodities LLC, a Holdrege, Neb., brokerage that provides derivatives services to the farming industry.

Derivatives are financial instruments whose value "derives" from something else, such as interest rates or heating-oil prices. The first derivatives were crop futures, which appeared in the U.S. at the end of the Civil War and became a standard facet of business for companies across America.

During the financial crisis, they became notorious as American International Group Inc. and others were gutted by bad bets on derivatives linked to bad mortgages.

President Obama and other proponents say the financial overhaul will prevent the kind of reckless lending and borrowing that sank the financial system and left taxpayers with the check. They say non-financial companies are worrying unduly about the derivatives portion of the legislation. The Senate is expected to approve the financial regulatory overhaul on Thursday, sending it to the president.

The full impact won't be known for years, but in Nebraska nerves are already on edge.

Executives at Five Points Bank in Hastings think the new rules on mortgage lending will make the home-loan business less profitable. "When they create a new regulator, it really scares us," says Nate Gengenbach, vice president of commercial and agricultural lending.

Advance America Cash Advance Centers Inc. thinks the new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection will take aim at the payday-loan business, though it's not clear what steps the agency will take. Advance America's storefront at the Skagway Mall in Grand Island charges an effective 460.08% annualized interest rate on a two-week $425 loan.

But it's the derivatives portion—the part of the bill aimed directly at Wall Street—that might end up touching most lives in rural America.

The new law requires most derivatives transactions be standardized, traded on exchanges, just like corporate stocks, and funneled through clearinghouses to protect against default.

Faced with intense lobbying, Congress partially exempted businesses that use derivatives for commercial purposes. So, farmers and co-ops probably won't face new collateral requirements, for instance—although there remains a dispute over that section of the bill. Those that trade derivatives on regulated exchanges, such as the Chicago Board of Trade, are less likely to see immediate impacts than those conducting private over-the-counter deals, which will face federal regulation for the first time. The goal is to make such deals transparent.

The question for these farmers is whether such rules will make hedging more expensive. Some say new requirements on big players will create higher costs for small players, including the cash dealers will have to put aside to enter into private derivatives transactions. Some brokers think restrictions on big-money banks and investors will drain the amount of money available to the everyday deals farmers favor.

Others predict the opposite effect, pushing money from the private market to the exchanges and creating more competition that will benefit farmers.

Uncertainty reigns in Giltner, a town of 400 residents 80 miles west of Lincoln. At first glimpse, Giltner's landscape seems featureless, a fading horizon of corn and soybeans. But its details are more subtle, including wildflowers and shaded creeks. Everywhere galvanized-steel sprinkler systems crawl across farm fields like giant stick insects.

Mr. Kreutz, an outgoing 36-year-old with a sandy crewcut and sunburned neck, gave up a career in finance and took over the 2,800-acre family farm after his father's death. As he works his fields, he checks the crop futures prices on his smart phone.

Here's how Mr. Kreutz does it: Say in early summer he sees that the price for a Chicago Board of Trade futures contract on corn for delivery later in the year is $3.56 a bushel. If he likes the price, and wants to lock it in, he calls AgWest and sells a futures contract for 5,000 bushels. The futures contract is a derivative in which the price for corn is set now for exchange in the future, though no kernels will change hands. Instead, when the contract nears expiration, Mr. Kreutz and the buyer of his contract will settle—in effect—by check.

By fall, when Mr. Kreutz is ready to deliver his crop to the local co-op, the market price might have fallen by 50 cents. He'll sell his actual corn for that lower amount. But he'll make up the difference through his financial hedge. (Mr. Kreutz buys a new futures contract at the lower price to make good on his earlier promise, making up the 50 cents.) In all, he'll have hit the price target he locked in earlier in the year, minus brokerage fees.

If the price rises during the summer, as it did during the food crisis two years ago, Mr. Kreutz has to pony up extra cash for his broker—a margin call—to maintain his positions. He recoups that by selling his actual corn at a higher price, but has to take a loss to meet the futures contract he signed earlier in the year, missing out on a windfall but ultimately meeting his target price.

Mr. Kreutz does this type of operation dozens of times a year, hedging about 70% of his 345,000-bushel corn harvest.

Such deals ripple through the local economy. When Mr. Kreutz gets a margin call from his broker, he turns to his banker, Mr. Gengenbach, for a loan to cover it. Mr. Gengenbach estimates that one quarter of his farm clients use derivatives.

"Somebody like Jim has a lot of money in his crop out here," says the 37-year-old Mr. Gengenbach. "If he can't protect that, it's not good for us."

Mr. Kreutz's brokerage, AgWest, thinks the new finance law will hurt both firm and farm. If big investors and dealers have to keep more cash on hand, there will be less liquidity in the market and therefore the cost of derivatives will increase, Mr. Hoelscher, the broker said.

A few minutes from the Kreutz family farm are the corrals of Jon Reeson's feedlot. Mr. Reeson, 43, is married to Mr. Kreutz's sister Jane. His feedlot holds as many as 1,500 steer, mostly Black Angus, which grow from 600-lb. calves into 1,300 pounders ready for slaughter.

Mr. Reeson uses derivatives to hedge both the price he pays for feed and the price he gets for selling his steer.

The fattening takes about 7,000 pounds of food for each animal. Mr. Reeson can't count on a favorable price from his brother-in-law's farm, in which he has a stake, so when he sees a feed price he likes, he seals it with a futures contract.

In April, he called AgWest and locked in a price with a futures contract for $95 per hundredweight of cattle. Since then the market price has dropped to $90. If the price stays there until October, he'll have made the right call, earning a higher price than if he'd relied on the market alone. If the price spikes higher, though, he'll miss out on potential gains.

Mr. Reeson is willing to live with that possibility in exchange for locking in a profit or a narrowed loss. Derivatives hedging helped him survive the recession of 2008-2009, when cash-strapped diners avoided steak and the price of beef plunged.

He's watching the new legislation warily and can't yet tell if it will hurt or help.

When his cattle have reached full weight, Mr. Reeson puts them on Roger and Barb Wilson's trucks for the trip to the slaughterhouse. The Wilsons have seven semi tractors and 16 trailers, and one of their biggest costs is diesel fuel to keep the fleet on the road.

In 2004, Cooperative Producers Inc., his local co-op, offered Mr. Wilson a price-protection plan for 10,000 gallons of diesel at about $2.50 a gallon, with 90 days to use it.

CPI had a choice. It could take its chances and hope the price of fuel would drop before Mr. Wilson took delivery on his full order, a windfall for the co-op. If diesel prices jumped, though, the coop would take a bath. "That falls under speculation," says Gary Brandt, CPI's vice president of energy. "But that's not what cooperatives do. That's what Goldman Sachs does."

Instead, CPI hedged on the New York Mercantile Exchange, buying a futures contract on heating oil, a close market substitute for diesel fuel. The co-op goes a step further and hedges also the difference between the prices of fuel traded in New York and delivered in Nebraska.

For the 57-year-old Mr. Wilson, the pricing plan proved a mixed blessing. The first year, the pump price shot up by another 20 to 25 cents, meaning he was getting a good deal. The following year the pump price dropped about a quarter a gallon, but Mr. Wilson was obliged to pay the higher price. "It hurt to have to pay for that fuel," he recalls sourly. He quit the program after that.

The finance law's imminence has prompted CPI's Mr. Brandt to warn his sales team and customers that the co-op may have to end its maximum-price fuel contracts. He's worried too that CPI might have to cut its fuel supplies if it can't hedge against price drops.

"We have to start making a game plan if they take away the ability for us to hedge that inventory," Mr. Brandt says.

The Wilsons deliver Mr. Reeson's steer to a low, cement-gray complex on the edge of Grand Island, Neb., where trucks arrive loaded with cattle, and others leave loaded with meat. Over the past year, Mr. Reeson has sold 1,125 steer to the packing plant, which is owned by JBS USA, a Greeley, Colo., unit of Brazilian-owned JBS SA.

JBS buys livestock two ways. Sometimes it pays cash for the following week's kill. Sometimes it buys further forward, agreeing in July, for instance, to a fixed price for steer delivered in December. JBS hedges on the derivatives market to make sure live cattle prices don't drop before it takes delivery.

The company also sells beef cuts forward to restaurant chains, promising delivery at set prices months ahead of time. JBS expects to have enough meat to fulfill the agreements. But if it runs short, it doesn't want to risk having to pay higher prices to buy meat to supply those restaurants.

So, it uses the derivatives market to play it safe. To do so, the company has to find a way to hedge different cuts of beef: Tenderloins might represent 1.5% of the total value of a steer. Strip loins might make up 3%. In a sense, JBS protects itself by reconstructing the steer through a derivatives trade on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. "We try to put the carcass back together financially," says company spokesman Chandler Keys.

The company hedges electricity for its refrigerators and natural gas for its boilers. It hedges currencies to stabilize its income from overseas. It hedges fuel for its fleet of thousands of trucks.

Even executives at a big firm such as JBS haven't been able to nail down the precise impact of the legislation on their business, introducing an unaccustomed level of uncertainty into their operations. They aren't changing the way they use derivatives, yet, hoping instead that exemptions for commercial users will insulate them.

"To get food, particularly highly perishable food like meat and poultry, through to the consumer, you have to manage your risk," says Mr. Keys.

Indiana Couple Use 10-Acre Farm to Grow Local Produce

2010-07-14T15:00:00.000-04:00

Chicago Tribune

GOSHEN, Ind. — What began as Karen Wellington's personal quest for honest information about where food comes from has evolved into a local family farm that is reaping more than just healthier food -- it's producing a crop of friends.

Offers for free eggs from Karen and Jim Wellington's 10-acre farm, located within Goshen's city limits on Waverly Avenue, between the canal and the river, have appeared on Facebook. Karen drops off 10 to 12 dozen eggs a week at her husband Jim's downtown Goshen eye care office for community members to pick up. There's never any charge, she said.

Wellington was inspired to begin farming after reading books such as "Fast Food Nation" and "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and watching documentaries along the lines of "Food, Inc." which investigate genetically modified, corporate mass-production food systems and the complex politics and health concerns wrapped around the average American diet. Wellington reached a point in her research where she could no longer feed her family with meat from grocery store shelves.

"A neighbor raised a cow for us that we butchered and when the cow was gone I said, 'that's it.' We didn't eat any meat after that for two years," she said.

In mid-July, Karen is offering local people a chance to raise their own White Mountain chickens, from day-old chicks through to slaughter. The chickens are pesticide and antibiotic-free and are raised in a free-range pasture. Participants will divide the cost of the chicks and locally-milled feed, and will share a rotational schedule of caring for the chicks. They will participate in the slaughter together. All needed equipment will be free of charge.

For Janet Gulec, who follows her friend's farming adventures and who wants to eat more locally produced food, it's an opportunity for her kids to learn an appreciation for where food comes from. Janet is hoping to raise 15 pasture-raised hens. She loves the taste of Wellington's chicken and has time to invest in the experience. Gulec is buying a freezer and also plans to buy a quarter share of a cow from Wellington.

"Karen's a great person to be offering her resources to help people in the community to try this. Goshen, for a small city, is very special in so many ways, and this is just one more great thing that adds to the flavor of our community," Gulec said.

For an amateur almost-city farmer, there have been sad times and difficulties, as Karen learns "by trial and error," she said.

"Last summer a gentleman came to me and asked if he could do work for me in exchange for putting his horses up at my pasture. Since I wanted to raise my own beef, we spent some money beefing up my fence and he did the labor. I paid for all the materials, starting with 16 calves."

Wellington learned -- a little too late -- that calves need several weeks of mother's milk before feeding on grass alone, she said.

"I think it stunted their growth a little bit. They're probably not as big as they should be."

Last summer she lost two calves. One became sickly and died shortly after transport. Another succumbed to pneumonia.

And then there was Buttercup.

"We bought a dairy cow and milked her for two or three months but she got mastitis and she didn't get better. We butchered Buttercup into hamburger because she was an older cow. She really was an outreach to the community because we'd invite people to come out and milk her, and take the milk home for free, because you're not allowed to sell raw milk in Indiana," she said.

Overall, it's been an easier go with the chickens. "Chickens can eat anything -- corn, grain, grass, bugs. What I've learned is that chickens and cows have a very interesting, symbiotic relationship. A cow poops and it's infested with flies and maggots, and chickens love that. The chickens sanitize the pasture and the manure keeps the grass growing to feed the cows. When chickens are separated from cows on a farm, the benefits of this natural relationship are lost, she said.

"If you look at nature, I'm convinced those things are all meant to work together," she said.

Karen enlisted help to build some 8-foot by 8-foot "chicken tractors" which hold about 20 chickens per tractor. The tractors transport the hens around the pasture, ensuring they move to new grass daily to fertilize the land and to eat insects.

"Broilers are pretty lazy. They sit around waiting for you to bring them food."

The Wellingtons' hens produce far more eggs than Karen, Jim and their three children can eat. They love to give the rest away.

"It's fun. Yesterday I passed a woman who was collecting grass clippings after mowing. I needed the clippings for my vegetable garden, so I traded eggs for them and the woman was thrilled."

Karen plans to give the woman a dozen eggs every weekend from now on, she said.

"You try to find ways to brighten someone's day. We get three or four blue eggs a day. That's pretty cool. It still gives me a tiny thrill when I collect the eggs and I try to put a blue one in almost every dozen."

Karen's co-op of new chicken farmers will buy all the one-day old chicks on July 13th and will raise them up for eight to ten weeks before taking part in a butchering day together.

"For me, I have the land, I have the means, and in my circle of friends there are so many who, if they had the land, would do this, because they care about what they put into their bodies. Why wouldn't I want to share? Part of it is selfish, because I don't want to do all the work myself," she said.

Deere to Expand Dealership Network in India

2010-07-12T13:16:00.000-04:00

Business Standard

US-based agriculture farm equipment and tractor manufacturer John Deere today said it was looking to expand its dealership network in the country, from the existing 380 to over 400 within a year.

"We are looking to expand our dealership network in the country and shall add up, say, close to 50 dealers within a span of one year, taking the tally of total dealers from the existing 380 to between 420-430", Deputy General Manager Marketing Services John Deere, Mahesh Boolchandani said here.

"The company sold 25,000 tractors in the country last year, and exported around 13,000 units from India to around 68 countries including US and South America", he said.

The company with 7.34 per cent domestic market share, also launched two new tractor models here, 5036C and 5041C- of 35 horse power(hp) and 41 hp respectively.

Quoting Tractor Manufacturing Association of India figures,Director Sales and Marketing, John Deere, Ravi Menon said, "4.14 lakh tractors are sold annually in the country, of which 31 to 40 hp models account for highest sales in the segment."

"With the launch of these two new models we are targetting a larger domestic market share", he added.

The company, which manufactures eleven models of tractors at its facility in Pune has installed annual capacity of 60,000 units.

John Deere also forayed into manufacturing of micro irrigation systems recently, for which it has set up a facility at Vadodara in Gujarat.

"We have set up a micro irrigation systems manufacturing facility at Vadodara on a 5 acre plot, and presently are selling our range of products only in Gujarat," Boolchandani said.

"We have a total business volume of $2 million at the Vadodara facility," he said. The company intends to start selling it's micro-irrigation range of products in Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu soon.

Ohio Farmers Laud Livestock Care Accord

2010-07-09T16:54:00.000-04:00

The Norwalk Reflector

As the saying goes, there are two things people don't like to watch being made: laws and sausage.

Ohio voters will be spared both this year, as a national animal rights group and the Ohio Farm Bureau reached an agreement Wednesday that will avoid a face-off and keep a ballot issue on livestock care off the November ballot.

For Ohio farmers like Jeff Schwab, whose three farms in Butler County breed and sell more than 17,000 hogs a year, this means they'll have years to change their practices instead of potentially only months if the threatened initiative passed.

"Instead of basing it totally on emotion, we'll be basing it on science," Schwab said.

Wednesday's deal follows last year's constitutional amendment creating the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board, which farm groups lobbied hard for. It was an open attempt to prevent the Humane Society of the United States from pushing a tougher measure this year that farmers feared would drive them out of business.

HSUS officials say they have the half-million signatures needed for that effort, which would prohibit confining farm animals so they can't turn around, lie down, stand up or fully extend their limbs. Similar measures have succeeded in states such as California, Michigan and Florida.

Both sides are claiming victory in the compromise.

"One of animal agriculture's most vocal critics has agreed that the Livestock Care Standards Board is the proper authority to handle difficult questions about farm animal care," said Jack Fisher, Farm Bureau executive vice president.

Wednesday's agreement, shepherded by Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, included a number of recommendations for the livestock board.

They include a ban on veal crates by 2017; a ban on new pig gestation crates and a 15-year deadline to do away with such existing practices; a moratorium on permits for new battery cages for egg-laying hens; and a ban on the transport of downer cows.

Other agreements include the enactment of legislation toughening penalties on cockfighting and so-called puppy mills, and a ban on exotic animals.

"This agreement moves us forward on all of the components of the proposed ballot measure as well as other important advances for animals, too," said Wayne Pacelle, HSUS president and CEO.

"We were confident in our ability to prevail, but not certain, and I think the Farm Bureau had the same take," he said.

Farm Bureau officials said the deal will leave the livestock industry "less vulnerable to emotional video used to sway public opinion on farm animal care. Farmers, their organizations and allies will not be forced into a multi-million dollar media battle."

Food Safety a Top Issue for Agriculture Candidates

2010-07-07T11:37:00.002-04:00

Atlanta Journal Constitution

Gary Black and Darwin Carter have a rough row to hoe: explaining to Republicans in metro Atlanta not only why they should vote for them but why they should care.

Black and Carter are battling to be the GOP nominee for agriculture commissioner on the November ballot against J.B. Powell, the sole Democrat vying for the spot. When the office was created in 1874, most residents of the Peach State knew it was an important job, but now with about the half the GOP primary voters in suburban Atlanta, fewer and fewer interested parties know why they should be interested, the men said.

One reason is pure economics. Agriculture and its related industries and businesses -- much of which are regulated by the commissioner -- have a $65 billion impact on the state's $786 billion economy, according to the University of Georgia's Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development.

The other is that the commissioner regulates a lot more things than agriculture: He or she is responsible for calibrating gasoline pumps, regulating pest control companies and, most importantly, inspecting food processing plants.

"It really is the Georgia Department of Agriculture and consumer affairs," said Carter of Jesup in South Georgia. "Many people do not understand that. Many people think it is just agriculture and it has nothing to do with me."

Last year, more than 700 people around the nation were sickened from salmonella after the department's inspectors overlooked sanitation violations at a peanut butter plant in Blakely in southwest Georgia. (A Texas plant belonging to the same company also was investigated in the outbreak.) Nine deaths were linked to the salmonella outbreak. Peanut Corp. of America declared bankruptcy after the outbreak.

"It's an important job," said Tony Carbo, a lobbyist for the nonprofit Food and Water Watch. "At the plant in Georgia, they obviously missed several key indicators such as dead vermin. ... Georgians and the rest of the consumers in the country are relying on the Georgia Department of Agriculture to do effective inspections."

Whoever ends up as the next commissioner will be replacing a Georgia political legend, Tommy Irvin, who has ruled the Agriculture Department since 1969. The department, which both regulates and promotes agricultural interests, will touch most Georgians in one way or another.

Both Black and Carter say they will focus on food safety if elected commissioner.

"If we don't have safe foods, we won't have strong farms," said Black of Commerce in northeast Georgia, who headed the Georgia Agribusiness Council -- a kind of chamber of commerce for agriculture -- for 21 years. He resigned to qualify for the commissioner race. "Folks in agriculture are champions of food safety because when the system is compromised, the public loses confidence in the market."

Black said that he would push for improvements in training for inspectors -- although Carbo said that the Georgia department actually had a good overall safety record -- and improve accountability up the chain of command. Carter said food safety would be his highest priority.

They also both emphasized expanding Georgia's agricultural market internationally would be the second pillar of their administration. The state has three ports -- including the barge port at Bainbridge, which connects to the Gulf of Mexico via the Apalachicola River -- and Colonel's Island at Brunswick is a major hub for agricultural exports. A recent article in the Atlantic magazine contended agriculture would eventually replace oil as the top commodity because arable land is becoming scarcer worldwide.

Carter said he worked eight years in the Reagan administration heading up international affairs for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He said he still maintains many of the international contacts he made in that job and later as a consultant in Africa. "That gave me, a South Georgia farmer, an international perspective and made me a household name in the United Nations for years," he said. "I want to see those Georgia seaports active with our agriculture products going out rather than Chinese, Chilean or Guatemalan products coming in."

Black said he hoped that he would be able to work with the next governor to be a part of international trade missions. "I want agriculture to be represented wherever Georgia goes on a trade mission because it is such an important component of what we do," he said.

He noted that the state's name had not only ties to King George but even longer ones to those who work the earth. George comes from the ancient Greek, Georgios.

"It means, ‘A farmer,' " Black said.

Deere to Build 500-Job Center in Olathe

2010-07-06T12:47:00.000-04:00

Kansas City Star

John Deere today announced it has given the green light to build a marketing and sales center in northwest Olathe that will house up to 500 employees.

No new jobs are immediately expected to be created since the project essentially involves shifting workers from a Lenexa location.

The 126,150-square-foot building will be constructed in the Corporate Ridge Office Park, near K10 and Ridgeview Road.

The employees will provide support and service to Deere sales branches and dealerships in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The company, which currently has operations in Lenexa, proposed building this facility several years ago.

The economic downturn prompted Deere to push the construction plan to the backburner. Now, construction is scheduled to begin in June, with completed pegged for August 2011.

John Deere's Gator 825i can Really Gallop

2010-07-04T11:21:00.000-04:00

Orlando Sentinel

For years, the unofficial work vehicle of Central Florida has been the John Deere Gator, given our heavy concentration of golf courses, nurseries, ball fields and other labor-intensive outdoor facilities.

You've seen them, but perhaps overlooked them, given their industrial nature. Being a Deere, they are, of course, usually green and yellow, but a lot of them I notice are pretty much brown. Dirt, dust and rust is how they often look after decades on duty.

For 2011, though, Deere wants to change that. Oh, sure, this next generation of Gators will still be the draft horses they always have been, especially the models powered by the three-cylinder Yanmar diesel engine, or the three-cylinder Kawasaki.

But there's a new model, the 825i, that Deere hopes to establish as the playboy of industrial utility vehicles. It's powered by a 50-horsepower, three-cylinder automobile engine, manufactured by Chery, the Chinese automaker that, for years, has been trying to find a way to bring its own vehicles to the U.S. market. Former Orlando resident Malcolm Bricklin, the serial entrepreneur who imported the Yugo, struck a deal to import Chery cars, but it ended in tears and lawsuits. Another deal with Chrysler to bring Chery to America fell through. But here Chery is, under the hood of a Gator.

I got a chance to test a Gator 825i, and while this little Chery engine might not be much fun in their Chinese microcars, in the Gator, it flies. The CVT (continuously variable transmission) works like an automatic, so punch the throttle and you go – right up to a top speed of 44 mph. Which might not sound like much, but 44 mph on tight, twisting trails through the woods is fast – and thanks to the Gator's independent suspension, it rides so smoothly that you'll probably try to test that 44 mph top speed.

"Press the gas, and make monotony eat dust!" says Deere in its hyperbolic press materials. But it's true – as a legitimate cross between a Jeep Wrangler and a conventional ATV, this would be my absolute, ultimate choice for blasting through the trails in the Ocala National Forest.

Still, with this power and top speed, Deere expects the Gator 825i will be its best seller even among industrial customers. And, oddly, a company spokesman says they have, as yet, no way to govern that top speed down to, say, 25 mph. As a site foreman, I'd be a little nervous tossing the keys to an 825i to an 18-year-old day worker – this thing is quick. The Gator with the 25-horsepower Yanmar diesel may not be fun, but it won't get you in trouble.

Deere dealers should have the new Gator 825i in stock shortly. For residents of The Villages, here are the answers to the two questions you have: Price starts at around $12,000, and no, I don't know if the Gator 825i is legal for all those golf cart-only roads you have in that retirement community. But if you want to one-up your neighbor's new electric, this is the hot ticket.

And then there was one

Speaking of electric power, on Thursday the city of Orlando unveiled the first public electric charging station to be installed as part of the ChargePoint America program. It is one out of nine cities that have been chosen to be a part a $37 million program that will install 300 charging stations for electric vehicles.

This first station was installed at City Hall, right by the "media parking" area, presumably since someone figures news-media members are so forward-thinking that we'll all be driving electric cars any day now. Good luck with that. The other eight cities that are part of the program: Austin, Texas, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, Sacramento, the San Jose/San Francisco Bay Area, Bellevue/Redmond, Wash.; and Washington, D.C.

For reasons I can't quite explain, Orlando is at the forefront of alternative power initiatives, be it electricity, hydrogen or ethanol. Good for us, I think.

Iowa Plant gets $100 Million Deere Investment

2010-06-27T15:12:00.000-04:00

Bloomberg / Business Week

MOLINE, Ill.

Deere & Co. has announced it will invest about $100 million to modernize the John Deere Foundry in Waterloo, Iowa.

According to Deere, the modernization work will take place over the next 4 to 5 years. The project will allow the heavy equipment maker to improve manufacturing capacity and flexibility.

According to Deere executive David Everitt, the integrated approach in the design and manufacturing of large row crop and four-wheeled-drive tractors gives the company a competitive advantage.

Wednesday's announcement by Moline, Ill.-based Deere was made in conjunction with the Iowa Department of Economic Development. The department agreed to provide tax incentives to Deere to retain the Waterloo Foundry jobs in Iowa.

Deere is the world's largest maker of agricultural equipment. It also makes construction, forestry and landscaping equipment, such as backhoes, excavators, riding mowers and leaf blowers.

Tax Breaks Save 300 Deere Jobs

2010-06-22T20:17:00.001-04:00

WCF Courier

DES MOINES --- The state of Iowa saved nearly 300 John Deere jobs in Waterloo last week when it granted state tax credits for a massive company reinvestment in its Waterloo Foundry, according to documents Deere filed with the Iowa Department of Economic Development.

Deere filed the documents in application for the tax credits, approved by the Iowa Department of Economic Development board.

Deere will get $15 million in tax credits and indirect financing from the state of Iowa, as it invests $90 million in modernizing its Waterloo Works Foundry over the next four years. A company press release issued last week placed the investment at $100 million.

In the process, 60 salaried positions and 235 hourly positions in Waterloo were retained. Jobs performed by those employees would have been outsourced, had an agreement not been reached, according to the documents.

Deere also noted in its application for tax credits with IDED that the Waterloo Works Foundry buys more than $82 million in material, supplies and services from Iowa suppliers.

"If the Foundry's operations were outsourced, most, if not all, of these materials, supplies and services would not be purchased in Iowa," the company wrote in its application.

In going forward with the update project in Waterloo, Deere will get a $9 million investment tax credit and a $6 million Doubled Research Activities Credit.

The project's time line is as follows: A new mold line and core processes is scheduled for completion in 2012; new blast and auto grinding processes, completed in 2013; and infrastructure and office renovation, completed in 2014.

Modernizing the Waterloo Foundry, which was built in 1972, was necessary, as "many of the processes are nearing obsolescence," Deere noted in its filing with the state.

According to the documents, the company was not considering moving its foundry operations outside of Iowa if it did not secure the tax credits.

"The objective of the project is to decide whether John Deere should manufacture the casting internally in Waterloo or outsource the production to third-party suppliers," the company said in its application. "If the casting business is outsourced, the vast majority of casting volume will go to suppliers outside the U.S.

"The company is not considering internal manufacturing of these castings in any other state. This project is simply a make vs. buy decision."

According to documents Deere supplied to IDED, at the end of 2009, Deere listed 12,718 workers in Iowa, including 5,664 workers at its Waterloo Works. Other Deere manufacturing plants in the state are in Davenport, 1,070 employees; Dubuque 1,778; Des Moines Works in Ankeny, 1,480; and Ottumwa, 1,026. The company also has John Deere Credit in Johnston, 1,072 workers, and Intelligent Solutions Group in Urbandale, 272, as well as 356 other employees located across the state.

Corn Rises on Pickup in Demand

2010-06-11T12:15:00.000-04:00

Associated Press

Corn prices rose Thursday after a monthly Department of Agriculture report showed demand for the crop continued to grow while supplies dwindled.

Corn for July delivery is up 5 cents at $3.4325 a bushel.

John Sanow, an analyst with Telvent DTN in Omaha, Neb., said the USDA's report is proof that demand is strong for corn, particularly from ethanol producers.

The USDA raised its projection for ethanol use based on continued record pace of production of the fuel. While demand for corn rose, supplies fell. The USDA reduced its estimate for ending stocks from the 2009-2010 season.

However, the jump in corn prices could be temporary.

"We still have issues working against us," Sanow said, including what appears to be a sizable crop currently growing. When corn that was planted this spring is harvested in the fall and winter, it could significantly bolster supply and weaken prices.

It would likely take a major weather event destroying corn plants to drive prices to the $4 a bushel level, Sanow said. Corn hasn't traded above $4 a bushel since early January.

Deere Plant Finishes 500,000th Combine

2010-06-03T12:31:00.000-04:00

WCF Courier

EAST MOLINE, Ill. - More than 80 years after introducing its first combine, John Deere Harvester Works has rolled its half-millionth self-propelled combine off the assembly line in East Moline.

The machine - a 9870 model - will be on display all summer at the John Deere Pavilion in downtown Moline. It also will make an appearance at the Farm Progress Show, Aug. 31-Sept. 2 in Boone.

"Reaching 500,000 self-propelled combines is a significant milestone for us," said Dennis Muszalski, Harvester Works' factory manager.

Muszalski added that the milestone "celebrates generations of dedicated employees who have been part of Harvester Works and part of the greater Quad-Cities community."

On May 19, the combine was presented to its new owner, Greg Briggs of Cisco, Ill., as part of the John Deere Gold Key program. The program provides customers with an exclusive tour of the factory and the opportunity to be the first to start their own machine on the line. Briggs will take ownership of the combine this fall after Deere displays it. Gold Key owners receive special plaques.

The factory first began producing binders in 1910, just two years before Deere broke ground on the current John Deere Harvester Works. The factory initially manufactured horse-drawn grain binders, mowers, rakes and corn binders.

In 1927, Deere introduced its first combine - uniting harvesting and threshing in one operation. Twenty years later, John Deere manufactured the company's first self-propelled combine.

The East Moline facility manufactures four combine models as well as a complete line of front end equipment. It employs about 2,400 people - including employees at the John Deere Product Development Center in Silvis, Ill.

Ag Highlighted in New Cancer Report

2010-05-17T04:43:00.000-04:00

Journal Star

On Thursday, May 6, the President's Cancer Panel released the results of its two- year investigation into "the impact of environmental factors on cancer risk." The 240-page report did not mince words: "The Nation still has much work to identify... and eliminate carcinogens... from our workplaces, schools, and homes."

The examination focused on key areas such as "...industrial, occupational, and agricultural exposures as well as exposures related to medical practice, military activities, modern lifestyles and natural causes."

The panel, appointed by President George W. Bush in 2008, offered its overarching point in one hammer blow: "[T]he true burden of environmentally induced cancer has been grossly underestimated." A sampling of facts gleaned from the report (http://deainfo.nci.nih.gov/advisory/pcp/pcp.htm) show:

-Although cancer incidence and deaths are falling, 41 out of every 100 Americans "will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives, and about 21 percent will die from cancers."

-Some cancers, "including some most common among children," continue to increase "for unexplained reasons."

-"The entire U.S. population is exposed on a daily basis to numerous agricultural chemicals. Many of these chemicals are known or suspected of having either carcinogenic or endocrine-disrupting properties."

-"Chemical exposure levels of agricultural families (and in some cases, other rural residents) tend to be higher than the general population... [T]hese substances often are introduced into the home on shoes and clothing, and when work clothes are washed with other family laundry."

-"Pesticide levels in carpet dust in the homes of agricultural workers and non-farming families can be 10- to 200-fold higher than levels in the air outside the same home, increasing exposure risk to children who... crawl and play directly on the carpet."

-The Agriculture Health Study that now tracks 89,000 men, women and children in the "agricultural population shows that "Farmers and pesticide applicators have significantly higher prostate cancer risk, and female spouses have a significantly higher incidence of melanoma."

-"Nearly 1,400 pesticides have been registered by the Environmental Protection Agency. Approximately 40 chemicals classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as known, probable, or possible human carcinogens, are used in EPA-registered pesticides now on the market."

-"An average of 18 new pesticides are introduced every year. In the aggregate, the registered pesticides contain nearly 900 active ingredients, many of which are toxic. Many of the inert ingredients in pesticides also are toxic, but are not required to be tested."

None of these facts, the report makes clear, are meant to condemn our chemical-dependent lifestyles. Instead, it "urges" the President to "use the power of your office to remove the carcinogens and other toxins from our food, water, and air..."

At the same time, "[I]ndividual small actions can drastically reduce the number and levels of environmental contaminants," the panel notes. It suggests simple, mostly cheap actions like filtering tap water, storing and microwaving food in glass containers, removing shoes before entering the home and washing "work clothes separately from other family laundry."

And, it recommends, "...choosing, to the extent possible, food grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers and washing conventionally grown produce to remove residues. Similarly... eating free-range meat raised without medications if it is available."

Want to debate those latter panel suggestions? Great, get the facts and get going because cancer doesn't care if you're a farmer or a factory worker, a man or a woman, a Republican or Democrat. Nor should we.

We should, however, agree that we can- as the panel urges-"strongly support environmental cancer research and measures that will reduce or remove from the environment toxins that are known or suspected carcinogens or endocrine-disrupting chemicals."

John Deere Opens Russian Plant

2010-04-28T10:35:00.000-04:00

Reuters

DOMODEDOVO, Russia, April 27 (Reuters) - Deere & Co (DE.N), the world's largest farm equipment maker, opened a manufacturing and parts distribution plant near Moscow on Tuesday, saying it was prepared to increase investment in the country.

The plant -- Deere's single largest investment in Russia -- will make farm equipment including large tractors and combine harvesters as well as other equipment for use in construction and forestry.

"We are prepared to significantly expand our investment and operations here consistent with economic and market conditions," Deere Chairman and Chief Executive Samuel Allen said at the opening ceremony.

Deere said last July it had planned to invest over $500 million in new Russia projects.

"Most of the world's available arable land is already being farmed, clean water is becoming increasingly scarce and infrastructure is needed in many parts of the world to bring crops and forestry materials to market," Allen said.

"Russia has great advantages in all these areas and the potential to become one of the world's major food-producing areas, or bread baskets."

Russia has nearly 9 percent of the world's arable land, 20 percent of forestry and 8 percent of fresh water, Allen said.

The new plant will supply customers in Russia, the CIS and other nearby markets.

"Our plans are to work closely with our Russian customers and dealers and with the Russian government to help your country realise its aspirations to greater food security and food exports," Allen said.

Deere made its first major sale in Russia 100 years ago, supplying 900 ploughs to the Pacific city of Vladivostok.

Deere Attacked by Right for Supporting Climate Bill

2010-04-08T00:00:00.001-04:00

DesMoines Register / Philip Brasher

Deere & Co. is coming under pressure to drop its support for legislation aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Two groups, FreedomWorks and the National Center for Public Policy Research announced today that they’re running ads in two cities with major Deere operations – Waterloo, Ia., and Moline, Ill. – aimed at generating complaints to company executives from their employees.

Deere is part of a coalition called the Climate Action Partnership – DuPont, parent company of Pioneer Hi-Bred is another one – that has been backing climate legislation.

The ads claim that a cap-and-trade system that the legislation would create to raise the cost of fossil fuels would eliminate many jobs. Viewers are urged to call John Deere’s compliance hotline.

“Cap-and-trade will raise the cost of energy, which will drive high-paying manufacturing jobs overseas. As energy prices soar, Deere can shift its manufacturing to overseas plants in China, Brazil or India leaving its U.S.-based employees out in the cold. It’s time for Deere’s employees to voice opposition against a company policy that endangers their jobs,” said Matt Kibbe, president and CEO of FreedomWorks said in a press release.

The ads will run on CNN, Fox News, Headline News and the History channel.

The campaign against Deere comes as Democrats and the Obama administration are gearing up for a last-ditch, campaign-year push to get a climate bill through the Senate.

Cab Suspensions Becoming the Norm

2010-03-31T08:38:00.000-04:00

Farmers Weekly Interactive

Cab suspension is fast becoming a must-have option when farmers buy a new tractor, reports Andy Collings

Tractor work will never be the smoothest of tasks – the terrain they are asked to work in is rarely the stuff billiards are played on.

But, increasingly, there is recognition that improved operator comfort means greater output. Where there is choice, operators will consciously or otherwise limit their tractor speed to one which allows an acceptable degree of comfort. Introduce cab suspension, front axle suspension and sprung seats and speed increases along with output - by as much as 12%, say tractor manufacturers.

Efforts to increase the comfort of tractor drivers through the use of suspension have also been driven by legal pressure to reduce whole-body vibration which has the potential to cause health problems when tractors are operated for long periods of time. The good news is that most tractor manufacturers are now able to offer customers the option of cab suspension.

Tractor drivers are subject to forces in three planes - up and down, side to side, and back and forwards. Suspension designers try to limit these movements so they have the least effect on a human body.

In an ideal world such movements would be reduced to zero. But an operator completely deprived of sensory input as to how his tractor was performing would be liable to over-confidence and probably soon turn the tractor over.

So a degree of cab movement is required - but how much or little should this be? Some cab designers have got this wrong in the past, with tractor drivers complaining of motion sickness.

Also, tractor cabs are built to provide protection for the operator and it is important that suspension systems do not compromise this essential safety aspect.

So how have manufacturers set about providing cab suspension? There are basically three ways of controlling the movement required to dampen out the forces imposed on the cab - spring, air and hydraulic (via a gas accumulator).

In the UK, where on-board air compressors are still relatively rare, air suspension is not normally offered though, with greater use of trailer air braking systems, this situation could change.

More common is the use of springs and shock absorbers or hydraulic/gas accumulator systems.

An example of a hydraulic cab suspension system is John Deere's HCS option. As with most systems, it is only the rear of the cab which has the suspension units - the front is connected to the chassis using pivot-type bearings on each corner which allow a small amount of lateral and longitudinal movement.

At the two rear corners, connection is made using two interconnected brackets which, while being secure, allow the rear of the cab to move up and down.

This movement is controlled by two hydraulic rams/shock absorbers feeding oil into two nitrogen-filled accumulators - the compressibility of the gas provides the suspension element for a movement of 50mm up and 50mm down.

To ensure the ride height remains in a central position - irrespective of the weight of the operator - a position sensor increases or decreases the amount of oil in the shock absorber rams.

Most other tractor manufacturers take the spring/shock absorber route. Claas, with its Renault heritage, probably has more experience than most - the Renault TZ suspended cab was introduced in the 1980s.

Unlike the Deere system, the Claas Arion cab has suspension spring and shock absorbers at all four corners of the cab - rather than just the two rear ones. It is an arrangement designed to reduce not only vertical movement but also side-to-side and forward-and-backward movement.

Left to its own devices, the system would cause rolling and pitching so roll bars run across the cab from front to rear. There's also an integral three-position adjustment system that allows either a firmer or softer ride to be set.

Cab suspension is increasingly available for smaller tractors. Massey Ferguson, for example, recently announced cab suspension for its 85-145hp MF5400 Series tractors and Deutz-Fahr has been offering suspension on its 90-120hp Agrotron K Series tractors since their launch in 2005.

What does the future hold? New Holland's Richard Hollins thinks big improvements in cab suspension will only come when manufacturers introduce new cabs which can be designed to accommodate suspension units.

"Many manufacturers still use cabs that have had to be adapted to have suspension units fitted," he says. "This inevitably leads to a degree of compromise and gives little choice in the positioning of the springs and dampers."

Mr Hollins suggests that, as with the later New Holland tractors where a new cab frame has been introduced, the suspension unit can be positioned further under the cab where a greater degree of control is available.

"This helps to provide a more complete suspension system but it is still not perhaps the absolute solution," he insists. "The interaction between the operator, the seat, the cab and the rest of the tractor is a complex one, with cab suspension being just one part of it."

John Deere

John Deere's cab suspension is based on a hydro-pneumatic system. Note the position sensor which keeps the system at mid-height - irrespective of the weight it in the cab.

Class system by Renault

Claas uses the system developed by Renault and is the only tractor manufacturer to mount spring and shock absorbers on four corners of the cab, rather than the more usual two.

John Deere HCS system

Schematic view of the John Deere HCS system. Main components comprise hydraulic ram and gas accumulator along with the position sensor. The yellow strut is known as the Panhard rod which prevents excessive lateral movement.

Class four-spring system

A look at the Claas four-spring system and the struts which maintain the stability of the cab.

Class and Renault

Claas inherited Renault's cab experience when it took over the French maker.

MF 5400 tractor series

Massey Ferguson now offers cab suspension for its 85-145hp MF 5400 Series tractors.

John Deere in the Headlights

2010-03-27T20:37:00.000-04:00

FOX News

Why is the company lobbying for Cap-and-Trade?

Big business support of President Obama’s health care and energy policy has put CEOs on the front lines of the nation’s biggest political battles. Big PhRMA – the drug industry trade group – is credited with bringing Obama’s health care plan to the precipice of passage and the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) – a coalition of business and environmental special interest groups – played a key role in passing the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill in the House of Representatives last year.

Clearly, CEOs see big bucks in big government.

Beyond dreams of fortune, chief executives also proved to be a national risk when their mismanagement drove our nation into greater debt through taxpayer-funded bailouts.

While liberty-minded citizens can seek to elect politicians that support limited government, big government CEOs (or, perhaps, progressive CEOs) remain largely beyond our reach.

Because CEOs can represent as much of a risk to liberty as elected officials, limited government advocates need a voice in the boardroom.

For this reason, my wife Deneen and I are attending the John Deere annual shareholder meeting today in Moline, Illinois on behalf of the National Center for Public Policy Research, a free-market think-tank that owns shares in John Deere.

Our goal is to press management to justify why John Deere remains a member of USCAP and why these executives believe a cap-and-trade scheme is in the company’s best interest. These questions are especially timely, as BP, Caterpillar and ConocoPhillips made national news this month, after they abandoned USCAP.

These companies followed Marsh and Xerox, which quietly exited the coalition last year.
As it is a major supplier of agricultural equipment, Deere’s USCAP membership is especially puzzling because an abundance of evidence shows carbon emissions restrictions would harm its business.

Economic studies consistently report that cap-and-trade results in higher energy prices, lower economic growth and job losses.

The Heritage Foundation’s analysis of the Waxman-Markey bill found “the GDP loss in 2020 was $161 billion (in 2009 dollars).”

Additional analysis by Heritage on the impact of cap-and-trade on the farming industry “found that farm income (or the amount left over after paying all expenses) is expected to drop $8 billion in 2012, $25 billion in 2024, and over $50 billion in 2035. These are decreases of 28 percent, 60 percent, and 94 percent, respectively. The average net income lost over the 2010-2035 timeline is $23 billion -- a 57 percent decrease from the baseline.”

Obviously, such a decline in farmers’ income would have a significant negative impact on Deere’s business.

What’s even more baffling is Deere’s description of its business risks, which the company provides via its 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Deere states that demand for its products could be negatively impacted by “an economic environment characterized by higher unemployment, lower consumer spending, lower corporate earnings and lower business investment.”

Deere is pursuing legislation that will bring about the business risk that it warns its shareholders about.

There is a disconnect between the economic consequences of cap-and-trade and Deere’s business interest. But maybe Deere has a good answer for this paradox.

Maybe Deere has a different economic analysis that shows cap-and-trade is good for business?
Perhaps the company took to heart the conclusion of Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth” documentary and the company is willing to sacrifice its business for the sake of the planet?
Of course, it’s possible that Deere jumped on the fossil fuel crusade to curry favor with progressive politicians and their environmental special interest allies.

Whatever its rationale, Deere should provide its shareholders with information that will allow investors to judge the quality of its management decisions.

Thanks to a new guidance from the SEC on climate change disclosures, the shroud of mystery surrounding companies’ support of global warming regulations should be removed.

The SEC is now encouraging companies to tell shareholders about the business risk of global warming, including the risk of regulations such as cap-and-trade on its business.

If it follows the intent of the SEC guidance, Deere will disclose the economic impact of capping emissions on its business.

Being honest with shareholders would be a refreshing change from corporate America.

In the meantime, we will take advantage of the access to management that the shareholder meeting offers investors to determine if the company has a real global warming business strategy or if Deere is sacrificing its business interests, and risking the economic well-being of the American public, simply to curry favor with liberal politicians.

Tom Borelli is director of the National Center for Public Policy Research's Free Enterprise Project.

Antique Tractors Take Residents Down Memory Lane

2010-03-25T11:35:00.000-04:00

The Villages Daily Sun

THE VILLAGES — A small fleet of shiny red, green and yellow, old-fashioned tractors gleamed in their parking spaces along Lake Sumter Landing Market Square on Saturday afternoon.

Residents at the square were able to get up close and personal with the antique tractors on display, which were brought in from owners around Central Florida, as well as reminisce about their own backgrounds and memories of farm life.

Bob and Pam Hanscome, who spend a few months of the year in the Village of Virginia Trace and the rest of the year in Maine, were admiring the farm equipment at the show.

“I like tractors because I have three of my own,” Bob said.

The couple own a Christmas Tree farm in Maine, and because of his farming experience, he said he could see the work the tractor owners put into keeping the tractors new-looking.

While he enjoyed looking at the different makes and models, ranging from John Deere tractors to Farmall, with a few Fergusons, he did notice one missing brand.

“I’m a Ford man,” he said. “But these are the major manufacturers.”

Pam said she too was enjoying the show.

“I’m interested in it. I think it’s fascinating,” she said. “I don’t know much about tractors, but it’s interesting.”

“It’s a piece of history, what they used back then and what’s available today,” Bob added.

Another show attendee was John Marks of Leesburg.

“I love to come to these tractor displays because I was raised on a farm. It’s good to see them restored,” said Marks, who lives in the Highland Lakes retirement community.

Of all the tractors on display, he connected most with one type.

“We had Fergusons on our farm, so I related to that,” said Marks, who grew up in Ohio.

Bill Olson of the Village of Santo Domingo was perusing the tractors with his wife Linda. Olson comes from Wisconsin, and said he remembers the different types of tractors he grew up learning about.

“I grew up on a farm, and we had John Deeres, Internationals and Allis Chalmers,” Olson said.

He also said the historical aspect was interesting to him. He noticed that many of the models were from the 1950s and 1960s.

“It’s remnants of the past,” Olson said. “Some people have really put a lot of money into refinishing and refurbishing them.”

John Deere Supplier Unloading Ohio Branches

2010-03-22T19:45:00.000-04:00

Columbus (Ohio) Business First

A John Deere construction equipment supplier has struck a deal to sell all its Ohio branches to Murphy Tractor & Equipment Co. of Kansas.

Wichita-based Murphy on Tuesday said it will buy Tampa, Fla.-based Nortrax Equipment’s eight Ohio branches, which include an operation on Walcutt Road in west Columbus. The other branches are in Brunswick, Canton, Cincinnati, Lima, Painesville, Youngstown and Vandalia, near Dayton.

Nortrax, the largest retail group of the John Deere commercial work division, has about 40 U.S. locations. The Ohio deal, financial terms of which weren’t disclosed, will bring Murphy to 24 locations in Ohio, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska.

Murphy President Tom Udland said in a release that the deal for the Deere & Co. subsidiary’s Ohio footprint fits well within the company’s growth plan.

“The anticipated national economic recovery and the resultant infrastructure rebuilding bode well for our industry,” Udland said. “... It is our intent to significantly increase the size of the business in Ohio, including increased employment.”

Town Celebrates Community, Trucks

2010-03-16T02:33:00.000-04:00

News Chief

LAKE ALFRED - Connor Way was amazed by the size of the trucks that lined Pomelo Street during the second annual Community Day and Touch-A-Truck event, which was held in Lake Alfred on Saturday.

Way, 3, from Lake Alfred, was one of several children who got to climb aboard a Tampa Electric Company work truck and a military-style dump truck. Pomelo Street was shut down from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for the event.

Way's mother, Valerie, was full of laughter as she watched her son climb onto a CAT bull dozer, but then get scared and scream to get off.

"This is great to see him having a bunch of fun on these trucks," Valerie said. "It's a great time for him."

Some other trucks on display included a garbage truck, brush truck and a Lake Alfred Fire Department fire truck. However, the fire truck was missing from the event for some time after leaving to answer an emergency call.

Local businesses set up booths and tents in the Centerstate Bank parking lot for residents to stop by and learn more about them. Lockhart Realty, Metro PCS and the Lake Alfred Community Food Pantry were just a few businesses that participated in the event.

Missy Joyce, president of the Lake Alfred Chamber of Commerce, roamed around the parking lot, conversing with residents and helping out with refreshments. Joyce said she was happy to see everyone at the event.

"I think the turnout for the event has been awesome and it turned out to be a great day," Joyce said. "It's also good to see the community coming out and having some fun."

Joyce said it's good for businesses to build relationships with the residents and serve the community's needs.

"That just makes us a stronger city and group," Joyce said.

Parks and Recreation Supervisor Jeff Tillman said all the hard work to get the event ready was paying off.

"Everything went pretty smooth setting up the event," Tillman said. "This is a good turnout for us and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves."

A choir from First Presbyterian and a band from First Baptist performed at the event along with Joey Foley and the Strawberry Express Cloggers.

Some are Worrying about the Push for Smaller Farm Sizes

2010-03-08T13:21:00.000-05:00

DesMoines Register

Angela Jackson is not a typical Iowa farmer and certainly isn't the typical recipient of farm subsidies.

She grows vegetables for local supermarkets, not grain for biofuels or livestock feed.

But she's the kind of farmer the Obama administration wants more of, and that raises alarms among some colleagues in conventional agriculture. They worry they'll be harmed by the Agriculture Department's new focus on small farms and encouragement local production of fruits and vegetables.

"USDA shifted on me," said Tim Burrack, a farmer near Arlington in northeast Iowa who is chairman of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board. He said the Obama administration's local-foods initiative, dubbed "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food," to promote small-scale agriculture, will drive up food costs because large farms are more efficient.

Jim McFerson, who manages the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission, said there isn't enough consumer demand for fresh produce to accommodate all the new farms the USDA wants.

"How does this magic wand happen ... so there's room for these small- and medium-size farmers to produce apples in Kansas and artichokes in Maine?" McFerson asked at a recent USDA conference.

Jackson, a former college professor who farms near Sioux City, welcomed the change at the USDA. She recently applied for a $4,000 grant to buy a second portable-type greenhouse, an open-ended, plastic-covered structure made by FarmTek in Dyersville and known as a "high tunnel." The structures allows her to plant tomatoes in April and harvest spinach into December.

She expects to triple her production to fill demand from six area Hy-Vee stores, including two each in Sioux City and Sioux Falls, S.D. She'll use her profits to expand even more.

"The consumer is driving this," she said.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a former Iowa governor, said that helping farmers like Jackson will keep people on the land, generate income for rural economies and improve Americans' health by eating more fresh produce. But he said conventional growers, known collectively in agribusiness circles as "production agriculture," stand to benefit, too, because the administration's campaign will improve the image that urban dwellers have of farmers and farm programs.

"The shrinking number of farmers and shrinking number of rural legislators mean we need to create alliances and create partnerships to make sure people understand what production agriculture does and make sure it has continuing support," Vilsack said.

Conventional grain and cotton farms such as Burrack's still dominate the USDA's farm programs.

Rules for who gets what and how much are set by Congress in the farm bills. Burrack and his family operation received more than $1.5 million in crop subsidies from 1995 through 2006, according to the Environmental Working Group. In 2007, Iowa farmers and landowners collectively received $775 million in USDA payments.

The Obama administration's campaign for locally grown foods tries to lead by example, which meant digging up part of the White House grounds for a garden; using the bully pulpit; and directing some conservation spending, loan guarantees and other assistance toward bolstering small-scale farming.

Last month, the USDA's annual agricultural outlook conference, a widely attended affair that draws agribusiness representatives and academics from around the country, was headlined, "Sustainable Agriculture: The key to health and prosperity." It featured speakers who uncharacteristically criticized conventional agriculture. One food service executive said his company is reducing its use of beef and buying meat produced without antibiotics.

The USDA deputy secretary, Kathleen Merrigan, is a long-time advocate of organic food and small-scale farming. Under her direction, the department is using programs and legal authority provided by Congress in the 2008 farm bill to steer some grants and loans to farmers as well as new processors and distribution networks needed by small-scale farms. The department awarded $650,000 to Prairieland Foods, to process milk in the Lincoln, Neb., area.

Jackson is among 18 Iowa farmers who have applied for money earmarked in a conservation program to subsidize the high-tunnel houses. Jackson qualifies for an especially large grant because she's a woman and a beginning farmer.

The department is working on a manual on food-safety regulations for small meat processors and mobile slaughter units.

Burrack and McFerson spoke at the outlook conference. Burrack said Midwest farmers weren't ready for what the administration was doing. Afterward, at least one agribusiness lobbyist complimented Burrack's remarks, and the farmer got into an impromptu debate with attendees who were questioning conventional farming practices.

Vilsack also gets heat from critics on the other side, especially for his support of genetically engineered crops and associations with the biotech industry.

Groups such as the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition accused the administration of reneging on a campaign pledge to tighten subsidy eligibility rules for large farms. Some appointees set off alarms, including the USDA's new research chief, Roger Beachy, a leading biotech crop scientist. The White House's nominee as agricultural trade negotiator, Islam Siddiqui, is a former pesticide industry lobbyist.

"I must be doing something right," Vilsack said. "What folks on both sides of this debate want the USDA to do is pick sides, and I think that's the last thing USDA should do."

Some advocates of small-scale farming say his critics need to be more patient.

Considering GPS

2010-03-02T10:22:00.000-05:00

AgWeb

You’ve watched from the sidelines as the perceptions of other farmers about GPS technology evolved from “It’ll never work” to “I wouldn’t farm without it.” You’ve observed your neighbors, studied their fields and done your homework. It’s time to write some checks and bring GPS technology to your farm.

There will be challenges. There will be times when you’ll want to pitch all the displays, wiring harnesses and owner’s manuals out of the cab and go back to “just farming.”

But there will also be a moment when you push a button and the tractor, combine or sprayer starts laying out precise, straight swaths and you’ll want to stand on top of the cab and shout, “I’m king of the world!”

It’s a big jump from sitting on the technological sidelines to that moment of triumph. To help take the plunge into this technology, here are 12 things you need to know before you buy a GPS system:

1. The basic concept of GPS technology
The Global Positioning System (GPS) uses a network of satellites to calculate the precise location of a vehicle, piece of farm equipment or hand-held receiver on the face of the Earth.

2. Systems have multiple uses on modern farms.
There are many ways farmers can use GPS technology on the farm:
Yield mapping blends on-the-go yield data with GPS information to create maps that show how yields vary across your fields.

GPS-based guidance systems help direct machines through fields, eliminating the need to follow rows or use mechanical or foam markers.

GPS-guided automated planter and spray boom section controls track a machine’s field location and turn on or off planter row units or boom sections as it overlaps previously planted/sprayed areas or passes through no-spray/no-plant areas.

“Growers see savings [with row shutoffs and spray shutoffs],” says Laura Robson of John Deere Ag Management Solutions. “Reducing overplanting and overspraying can reduce input costs.”

3. Pick your precision.
GPS-aided manual guidance is as simple as it gets: The operator pushes a button to establish “Point A,” then drives for a distance and pushes the button again to establish “Point B.” The computer uses GPS technology to create an imaginary, invisible straight line, called an “A–B line,” between the points. It also creates a series of imaginary lines parallel to the A–B line. On subsequent passes, the operator watches a lightbar or visual display and manually steers to follow those electronic “marks.”

GPS-guided auto-steer systems actually steer machines through the field. Once an A–B line is established and the operator pushes a button to engage auto-steer, the system takes over and steers the machine.

System manufacturers offer alternatives to straight A–B lines for circle-irrigated fields, contoured fields and fields where rows can’t run straight.

4. GPS offers varying degrees of precision.
Precision is defined in two ways: accuracy and repeatability.

Accuracy refers to how much an A–B line can vary. If a system advertises 4" to 6" accuracy, it means the A–B line could waver as much as 4" to 6" sideways across the field.

Repeatability is the stability of the A–B line over time. The reasons are complex, but an A–B line established at 8 a.m. can “move” and be offset several yards by sunset due to satellite positions. Repeatability becomes an issue if a farmer wants to precisely follow the same tracks throughout a growing year or strip-till fertilizer in November and then plant precisely into the fertilized strips in May.

5. Know your goals.
“Before you even think about buying [GPS] technology, consider what you want to do on your farm,” says Sid Siefken of Trimble. “Do you want to plant straighter rows? Apply fertilizer more accurately and efficiently? Maybe you just want to be less tired at the end of the day. A good dealer will listen to your needs and help you select the right levels of GPS technology.”

6. Avoid getting stuck in a technological dead end.
Even if you don’t want to go whole hog with your first GPS system, be sure that system can expand as your needs expand.

“The cheapest option is not always the best value,” Siefken says. “Ask your dealer what each system offers and how it can be upgraded. Can you start out using it as a lightbar [guidance system] and then upgrade to automated steering later? Future-proof your technology by starting with equipment that is highly functional now and has built-in capabilities for upgrades later.”

7. Make sure you have a modern mindset.
If you don’t have a home computer, if you don’t have a cell phone, or if you despise “pushing buttons,” then GPS technology may be a challenge. Modern GPS systems are extremely user-friendly but assume users have basic computer skills.

“There’s a definite learning curve that you need to be prepared for,” says Shannon Bryan, a Dawson, Iowa, farmer. “I can’t say I’m adept at computers, but I’ve had one in the house since the ’80s and am comfortable entering information and moving around the system. I started yield mapping 12 years ago and use computerized spray controllers, so it really wasn’t a big problem to learn how to set up and use [GPS-guided] auto-steer.

“One advantage I have is my age,” chuckles the 50-something Bryan. “I’m old enough to have a son who isn’t afraid of computers. If there’s something I can’t figure out, I give him the owner’s manual and he tells me which buttons to push.”

8. Back up critical settings.
An operator cannot damage or destroy a system by pushing a wrong button. “Poke and learn” is actually a valid way to answer the question, “What happens if I do this?” But it is possible to lose information—the width of the machine, type of machine, type of operation, field number, farm number, etc.—if you accidentally push the wrong button.

This information can be re-entered, but it takes time. Savvy operators keep hard copies of critical settings so they can re-enter data if necessary.

9. Keep your system updated.
Operators must be prepared to spend a half-hour to several hours updating and programming GPS systems each year. They must also be prepared to spend a few minutes updating or inputting data when they switch fields and farms. If you don’t take time to freshen data when necessary, your GPS system may not work correctly.

10. The steering wheel still works.
If circumstances prevent an operator from making data inputs, or if a GPS component fails, in most situations the system can be turned off and the planter, combine, sprayer or other machine can be operated manually. Remember: The steering wheel works even if the GPS system doesn’t.

11. Capture the savings.
Exact numbers vary from user to user, but industry experts say farmers can expect GPS systems to offer 3% to 7% time savings during tillage, planting and other field operations by reducing overlaps. Depending on the operation, minimizing overlap can reduce fuel use by 5% to 15%. Operators using high-accuracy GPS guidance can reduce fertilizer and chemical costs by 5% to 15%, simply because they aren’t double-applying inputs. Planters with row shutoffs and variable-rate seeding systems have been documented to reduce seed costs by another 5% to 7%.

12. Intangible benefits.
“Now that I’ve used [GPS-guided] auto-steer, the stress reduction is bigger than I ever anticipated,” says Bryan, the Iowa farmer. “It’s hard to put a dollar amount on how much less tired I am at the end of a day. One example is my shoulders and neck don’t ache after a day running the planter like they used to. Intangibles like less stress are bonuses that sealed the deal for me.”

Group Seeks to Change Georgia's State Bird to the Chicken

2010-03-01T08:54:00.000-05:00

The Gainesville Times

If an Augusta group gets its way, we might salute the trucks that head down local streets taking our state bird to its final destination.

But a push to change Georgia’s official bird from the brown thrasher to the chicken hasn’t yet taken flight in the Poultry Capital of the World. It likely won’t ruffle legislators’ feathers, either, as this year, the state’s butchered budget takes priority.

Still, the attention the Flip the Birds Campaign brings to Georgia’s big agribusiness — and Hall County’s biggest industry — is nice, said Mike Giles, president of the Georgia Poultry Foundation.

A video on the campaign’s Web site says that "if it wasn’t for the chicken, Georgia’s economy would be in the tank." The Web site asks visitors to sign a petition in favor of the change and urges them to write their legislators.

If nothing else, the campaign seeks to give the chicken a little respect.

"So why would you want to have the brown thrasher for the state bird, who hasn’t done anything for the state other than just fly around and look good?" said a man in a video on the Web site. "And the chicken does what it does: brings all the money, employs all these people, provides jobs ..."

Giles said the campaign makes some "great points" about the importance of poultry to Georgia. And while he said he appreciates the positive attention the campaign turns on the poultry industry, Giles said he doubts the campaign will make a scratch at the Capitol.

"I’m not sure that a proposal to change the state bird from the brown thrasher would fly down here," Giles said. "... It’s a tradition, and people recognize it as the state bird. I’m just not sure that the legislature is going to spend a lot of time on an issue like that."

Two of the legislators who represent Hall County at the statehouse, Republican Reps. Doug Collins and James Mills, say no one has contacted them with a request to change the state bird. Even if they had, both say they are too concerned with the state’s budget crisis to even consider state symbols this session.

State Rep. Carl Rogers, also of Gainesville, didn’t return a call seeking comment on the issue Friday. All three representatives are on the House Appropriations Committee, which will be hunkered down for the second full week carving $1 billion from next year’s state spending plan.

"With the economy like it is, we can’t afford to let our priorities go a-fowl," Mills said. "We have to stay focused on the budget."

And though the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce has spent years praising Hall County’s poultry industry, Chamber President Kit Dunlap says there are more important things going on right now, like transportation, water and the proposed hospital "bed tax."

"Those are the important things right now," Dunlap said. "I doubt if we take on the bird."

The chamber is famous for the "chicken" boxes it sends to legislators each year, and a pin depicting a chicken rowing was highly sought after during the 1996 Olympic games, Dunlap said.

"We do tend to take off on our chickens," she said.

But even if the state’s bird did change to the chicken, it may not do much for Gainesville’s tourism. No one likely plans trips to Georgia based on the state symbols, said Stacey Dickson, president of the Lake Lanier Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"They’re not like, ‘I’m going to come from Ohio just to see a live oak tree and a brown thrasher,’" Dickson said.

The change, if it ever happened, would only mean something locally, she said.

"I would say for Gainesville and Hall County that certainly would be a feather in our cap, so to speak, to have the state bird changed to that," Dickson said. "... If that’s what got decided, we certainly would be able to capitalize on it in our area."

Grassroots: Jasper County Adviser Wins Iowa Crop Award

2010-03-01T08:46:00.000-05:00

Des Moines Register

Mike Gannon was named the Iowa certified crop adviser of the year by his peers at the Conference and Showcase of the Agribusiness Association of Iowa on Feb. 9.

Gannon focuses his efforts on 25,000 acres of cropland in Jasper County. He works with producers in generating large and healthy crops of corn, soybeans, alfalfa, pasture and sorghum.

Gannon has more than 21 years as a crop adviser and was one of the first to be certified when the program was adopted. He was cited for his professionalism and good advice to growers, who may be as small as a garden or as large as 9,500 acres.

The award recognizes a member of the industry who exemplified members in providing professional and effective "good advice" to clients.

A client of Gannon's and Heartland Cooperative said: "What sets Mike apart is his understanding of seed, crop protection products, soil fertility and precision technologies and his ability to bring all that together for his customers."

Deere Dealership Celebrating 40 Years in the Business

2010-02-23T22:06:00.000-05:00

Farmers Guardian

HERTFORDSHIRE and Bedfordshire-based John Deere dealers J.E.Buckle Engineers will reach its 40th birthday come April. The business relies on strong family ties to ensure it continues to grow, with no fewer than four Buckle family members running the company on a day-to-day basis.

Formed by the late Jim Buckle and his wife Ann in 1970, the business has bloomed from a one man and service van outfit to become one of the leading and most respected machinery dealers in the UK.

A turnover of just under £10 million in 2009 is testament to the company, which employs 32 staff in total across two depots at Cromer, near Stevenage, and at a new site at Maulden in Bedfordshire.

Buckles originally took on the John Deere agricultural equipment franchise at Cromer in 1988, with the dealership opening its second branch at Millbrook in Bedfordshire in 2000, starting with just three staff before transferring to Maulden in December 2009.

“We have effectively doubled turnover and staff numbers across the whole business since 2002,” says managing director Gary Buckle, who continues the family tradition alongside mother Ann, brother Paul and sister Julie Murr.

The new premises have a showroom, fully-equipped workshop and parts stock room, as well as meeting areas for staff and visitors. Buckles also offers products from manufacturers such as Kuhn, Manitou, Gregoire Besson, Spearhead, Kockerling and Bailey Trailers.

“We are looking forward to welcoming visitors to our Maulden branch open days from March 30th to April 1st, which will include two days of working equipment demonstrations,” Gary adds.

After-sales care is as a key to Buckles’ service, and two of the company’s technicians recently gained LTA4 Master Technician status. Dan Massey and Kevin Drage at Cromer were presented with their certificates and registration cards in recognition of this achievement at Lamma in January.

Other technicians are on their LTA3 level award too. The company also employs AMS specialists and is a certified John Deere sprayer dealer, recognising the expertise needed to ensure good advice is offered to customers.

Ashok Leyland to Enter Construction Equipment Business with John Deere

2010-02-20T02:20:00.000-05:00

India Times

CHENNAI: Ashok Leyland, India’s second-biggest commercial vehicle maker by sales, is all set to make a foray this year into the booming construction equipment segment dominated by players such as Telcon of Tata Motors, JB, Escorts, L&T, Caterpillar and Komatsu.

Ashok Leyland CFO K Sridharan told ET on Wednesday that the joint venture with John Deere to manufacture construction equipment will take off in December this year. The company is setting up a facility near Gummidipoondi and has started testing products in the market. ALL floated the 50:50 joint venture in September 2008.

“The facility is being set up with an initial investment of less than Rs 300 crore and will roll out the products by year end. It will produce John Deere construction equipment like backhoes and four wheel drive loaders. We will start with a market share of 15%. We have examined some of the inherent disadvantages faced by existing players and corrected them in our venture.”

Mr Sridharan expectes the venture to do a business of Rs 300-Rs 400 crore in the first full year of operation. It will leverage on the technology muscle of JD and ALL’s manufacturing strength, engineering skills and distribution network. It will adopt a co-branding strategy using the names of both the partners.

Mr Sridharan said ALL’s plant in Uttrakhand will go on stream in the first week of March. It will be the only plant to start producing vehicles ahead of March 31 when the excise duty exemption will come to an end. It has been set up with an investment of Rs 1,100 crore with a capacity of 50,000 vehicles. In the first year, it will produce 25,000 vehicles.

“We expect the next year to be a landmark one for the company in terms of production. We will no longer be plagued by capacity constraints. We will go aggressive in pushing sales. While our internal target is to sell 90,000 vehicles, we hope to sell about 80,000 to 85,000 vehicles, including exports of 7,500 vehicles.”

The CFO noted that this will be a big jump over the expected sales of 65,000 vehicles in 2009-10 and beat the previous peak of 83,307 vehicles sold in 2007-08. “Our game plan will be to maximise production at the existing plants as well as to get additional production from the Uttrakhand plant taking advantage of the 8% excise duty relief or Rs 50,000 saving per vehicle.”

Hoping to get RBI approval soon for the new NBFC (Hinduja Leyland Finance), Mr Sridharan said as such finance is not an issue. It has tied up with 12 banks and the PSU banks have increased their share from 4% to 12% based on the government’s policy to support SME sector.

Mr Sridharan said on top of the capex of Rs 950 crore this year, it plans to spend Rs 1,200 crore in the next two years. It will be required to
raise only Rs 400-Rs 500 crore per year. He clarified that the proposed 15% price increase in vehicles is meant for the change in emission standards from Euro III to IV or from Bharat Stage III to IV. That depends on when the government wanted to make the change.

As such, the company took price action in January based on the commodity based increase in cost. It will act further based on cost-push factors such as steel and rubber prices.

He said the 15% price increase will happen predominantly in buses which are operated in the cities and when they moved to Bharat Stage IV. In the truck segment, the increase will be a maximum of Rs 50,000 or 5% when they moved from Bharat stage II to III emission norms.

While expecting no radical change in the stimulus package and complete withdrawal of excise-duty cut, he said at the most a 2-4% increase is expected. This will be passed on to the consumer and therefore the company hopes to maintain its margin. He also expected Budget to step up allocation for road building under NHAI and Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission

Farm Toys Draw Young and Old Alike in Cassopolis

2010-02-15T10:22:00.001-05:00

South Bend Tribune

Farming has always been in Jerry Zahner's blood — for better or worse.

He followed in the footsteps of his grandfather and father, and passed along his trade to his two grown sons.

"I wish my father would have been a doctor," Zahner, 62, of Wakarusa, said with a laugh. "Then I might have been a doctor, too. It's a hard job."

But kidding aside, Zahner wouldn't do it if he didn't have the passion and pedigree for working the earth.

One of those passions that came from farming over the decades has been collecting miniature farm toys. In all, he said he likely has thousands of them.

"It's been something that's kept me busy," he said.

Hundreds of farm toys were on display Saturday at the second annual Farm Toy Show at Brookside Learning Center on Dailey Road west of Cassopolis. In total, there were 47 tables divided between about 15 venders, up from last year's total of 25 tables, organizer Tim Wallace said.

Thousands of such toys, mostly tractors and combines, were shown off — from green tractors to yellow and red combines. Like Zahner, many venders have been traveling — sometimes great lengths — to farm toy shows for decades and have formed tight bonds with those around them.

Jane Demske, 62, of Pierceton, Ind., has been coming to such shows with her family for 40 years. Her husband, Jim, who died from cancer last August, packed the family up two weekends a month for decades. Demske, who was attending a show for the first time since her husband passed, had hundreds of cars, tractors and other farm equipment miniatures displayed on her table.

She'll eventually hold an auction at her home at the end of the year to sell off most of her husband's toys — except for one dresser of her husband's favorites, which will be kept.

"The kids grew up on these," she said. "We would pack the whole family up and go to these all over; it would be our vacation. It's been a big part of our family. The kids made so many great friends."

Demske's daughter, Kary Gentry, said her son learned to walk at a show, and that she slept in boxes on the tables when she was a kid.

Bruce Hart, 72, of Niles, and his wife, Jean, said they have been collecting for at least 15 years and have an estimated $20,000 worth of farm toys.

"We've met so many wonderful people," she said. "But it's a lot of work. There's so much packing and re-opening."

Zahner said it took him three or four hours early Saturday morning to unpack his items and display them on the tables.

But it's worth it if he comes away with a little money, especially since last year was tough on farmers.

"I don't do it for my health," he said with a smile.

Asked just how many he has in total, Zahner said he couldn't even guess.

"This," he said looking at the table in front of him, "is just a drop in the bucket."

He's had miniature tractors and combines of all sizes and makes — from John Deere toys, the most common, to McCormick-Deering Farmall and Minneapolis Moline. Some of his rare items include grain combines — about the size of a toy car — that actually run when you turn them on. The grain head moves, the doors open and the steering wheel shifts.

"It runs better than a regular run," Zahner said.

And costs more when you figure in its size. One of them can go for $2,300 at such shows, he said.

Some people, many of whom are farmers, showed up just to browse. That was the case for Mike Bradley, of Cassopolis, and his 12-year-old son, Jacob.

"It's grown threefold this year," Bradley said. "Some of the displays are pretty neat."

Jacob, meanwhile, is well on his way to becoming a collector, having 40 to 50 toys already. He said he, too, could get to 1,000 someday like so many of the collectors on hand.

And his dad just laughed at the thought of having such a large collection.

Clearing Up Misconceptions About Antibiotic Use in Animal Agriculture

2010-02-12T09:20:00.000-05:00

The Farmer

Media reports are associating the use of antibiotics in livestock production with antibiotic resistance in humans. Iowa State University veterinary professor Dr. Scott Hurd, who is a former USDA Deputy Undersecretary for Food Safety, says this concern is not based in science. Hurd emphasizes that pork producers adopt withdrawal periods for antibiotics, which protects the meat supply. The main issue is actually resistant organisms so Hurd says it is a much bigger, more difficult topic.

In 2000, Denmark implemented a blanket ban on preventative antibiotics. That ban has been repeatedly highlighted in media reports about antibiotic resistance. Hurd, who spent some time in Denmark as the ban was moving forward, is able to offer some perspective on the Danish ban.

"Immediately after that ban, in swine the number of pigs that had to be treated for illness actually doubled and that trend continued for many years after the ban," Hurd said. "The World Health Organization did a study in 2002 and they said very clearly they could find no evidence that human health has actually improved or that risk has actually been reduced."

The media has unfairly portrayed this as a food safety story. Hurd says an antibiotic ban would actually decrease the health of meat animals entering the food supply.

"Antibiotics and other treatments and management are used in livestock in order to produce healthy animals, which result in healthy food," Hurd said. "As the deputy undersecretary I was in charge of all food and meat inspection in the United States. Our first concern is to make sure that no unhealthy animal enters the food chain, so obviously healthy animals are an important part of that, antibiotics are an important part of making animals healthy and getting those into the food chain."

Seeds Could be in Short Supply

2010-02-07T10:05:00.000-05:00

San Francisco Chronicle

Dreaming of biting into a garden-fresh cucumber sandwich this summer? Better order your seeds now.

A poor growing season last year and increased orders from Europe could make it difficult for home gardeners to get seeds for the most popular cucumber variety and some vegetables this spring. Farmers, who usually grow different varieties than home gardeners, aren't likely to be affected.

Seeds for what's known as open-pollinated cucumbers seem to be most scarce, but carrots, snap peas and onions also could be in short supply.

"I suspect there will be some seeds you just won't be able to buy if you wait too long on it," said Bill Hart, the wholesale manager in charge of seed purchasing at Chas. C. Hart Seed Co. in Wethersfield, Conn. "The sugar snap peas we're not able to get at all, and other companies that have it will sell out pretty quickly."

The problem is primarily because of soggy weather last year that resulted in a disappointing seed crop. European seed growers also had a bad year, leading to a big increase in orders for American seeds.

Demand for seeds in the United States soared last year, as the poor economy and worries about chemical use and bacteria contamination prompted many people to establish gardens. Homegrown food seemed safer and more affordable. But some wonder if the wet weather that ruined gardens in many areas last summer will discourage first-time gardeners from planting again.

"A lot of people are getting into it, but it was a disastrous year for gardens last year because it was so cold and wet," said wholesale seed distributor Mel Brekke, who owns Brekke's Town and Country near Ames, Iowa.

Kathy Gocke of Bondurant, Iowa, said she orders seeds early for herself and her county's master gardener's program and advises others to do the same.

"If you do it before the first of January, they have a pretty good stock," Gocke said.

Burpee Seeds in Warminster, Pa., bills itself as the largest provider of home garden seeds, and Chief Executive Officer George Ball said the company's huge reserves mean it will have plenty of seeds. But Ball said he understands why others might have limited supplies after a big spike in demand in the past two years.

"It was unlike anything I've seen in the past 30 years," he said.

Barbara Melera, owner of D. Landreth Seeds of New Freedom, Pa., expects carrot seeds to be especially hard to find because of big orders from Europe, which had a poor crop last year. Also, fewer farmers are opting to grow seeds, she said. Many now have switched to growing corn for the biofuels industry.

"In this country, farmers who grow things for seed are becoming an endangered species," Melera said. "The farms producing things for seeds is reduced significantly, and in the past two to three years they can get more money for growing corn for ethanol plants than carrots for seeds."

Jennifer Nothwehr, seed coordinator for Earl May, a seed and nursery business in Shenandoah, Iowa, said she hasn't run into shortages, but her company typically orders its seeds from wholesalers a year in advance. They received and packaged the seeds they'll sell this year last fall, and because they set prices last spring, any shortage won't affect them.

Nothwehr also said that while popular varieties, like one known as the straight eight cucumber, may be hard to find, others are available.

"One of the most popular carrots we can't get, but we have four other varieties we can get if a customer wants to try something different," she said.

Hart said his family business has a small retail operation, and he's noticed people coming in earlier than usual this year, possibly because of worries over a shortage of seeds.

"I don't know if they're hoping for spring or just hoping to get going," he said.

A Fresh Look at Food

2010-02-03T11:37:00.000-05:00

Salisbury Post

A new way of thinking about food.

That's what the documentary "Fresh," screened last Thursday in Salisbury, was designed to promote.

The screening at Catawba College's Center for the Environment was co-sponsored by the center, Bread Riot and Wild Turkey Farms.

A panel discussion followed, featuring Dr. Chris Magryta of Salisbury Pediatrics, Maggie Blackwell of the Salisbury City Council and Bread Riot, Lee Menius of Wild Turkey Farms and Libby Post, director of child nutrition for Rowan-Salisbury Schools.

The innovative way "Fresh" is being distributed around the country seems to fit its subject matter. Rather than screening in theatres, it's been released to small groups — who often discuss its content afterward — in order to create a shift in consciousness from a grassroots level.

The goal, according to the "Fresh" Web site, has been to "create a ripple effect" and help "reach a tipping point where sustainable food is no longer a niche market but mainstream."

With 200 people attending locally, there is clearly strong interest locally.

The movie explains different farming approaches and ultimately expresses optimism that we can evolve beyond our current industrialized farming paradigm to smaller, more sustainable — and still profitable — models.

The movie begins with a poultry farm that packs huge numbers of chickens into small spaces, giving them antibiotic-laced feed to prevent the illness that often accompanies such stressful conditions.

Such a "monoculture," with large numbers of a single species grown together, is not healthy or sustainable in the long term, the film argues, whether it's chickens or cottons or soybeans being exclusively grown.

For example, in the cattle feedlot model, with no field crops, vast lagoons of waste are produced, creating serious environmental issues.

And when only crops are grown, with no animals to produce the manure that keeps fields healthy, huge amounts of chemical fertilizer must be used, since planting the same crop year in, year out, depletes the soil.

In the ideal system, diversity promotes health and efficiency. Animal waste goes back into the soil, so plant crops don't need chemical fertilizers.

The film questions factory farming without demonizing those who practice it, since many farmers have simply done what "experts" have recommended in recent years.

Joel Salatin is one farmer, from Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, who practices sustainable farming. Salatin, who is featured prominently in Michael Pollan's book "The Omnivore's Dilemma," explains that cows are herbivores and points out that in our quest for cheap food and more "efficient" farming methods, some farming operations are feeding animal protein — "dead cows" — to cows.

Salatin said that when his father acquired the farm many years ago, he rejected the prevailing wisdom and chose to follow a more natural template.

Following in his father's footsteps, Salatin is an outspoken and charismatic advocate of grass feeding. After the cows have grazed one area, it's the chickens' turn to follow behind, pecking through the waste, eating what's useful for them, including undigested grain and bugs.

His chickens are allowed, Salatin says, "to fully express their chicken-ness."

(It's an approach that is quite similar to what Lee and Domisty Menius are doing at Wild Turkey Farms near China Grove.)

Hog farmer Russ Kremer explained that when he went to college, increased production was the main goal for the modern farmer.

"I got hung up on efficiency," he says. He finally came to the realization that his "efficient" operation was anything but. His hogs were constantly sick, he says, and he spent much of his time injecting them with medication.

He had an epiphany after one of his boar hogs stabbed him in the kneecap.

The resulting strep infection, he believes, was a particularly virulent "monster" strain because of the overuse of antibiotics — common practice in the industry.

Deciding he'd gone down the wrong path, he exterminated his whole herd and started over, with a radically different approach.

As a result, the diseases disappeared, and Kremer says he hasn't used an antibiotic on his hogs in 14 years. His vet bills have all but disappeared.

He now raises 300 hogs — fewer than before, but enough for him to earn a living. Raising fewer animals will mean

that farmers will need to make more on each one, but the writer of "Omnivore's Dilemma" Michael Pollan points out that local and organic food, while more expensive, is a higher value product.

Cheap food is an illusion, he says, when the bill is ultimately charged to the environment or to our health.

Farm subsidies, he points out, tend to go to crops like soybeans and corn, which are main ingredients of unhealthy processed food.

The movie also highlights Will Allen, an urban farmer and activist who farms on three acres in Milwaukee. More importantly, perhaps, Allen teaches what he knows and spreads the gospel of healthy food production.

The film also looks at David Ball, owner of a chain of independent supermarkets dedicated to supporting local sustainable agriculture.

Discussion Thursday night after the film focused on shopping locally, from local producers. Many questions concerned how consumers could support local producers.

City Council member and Bread Riot member Maggie Blackwell emphasized the importance of people supporting local businesses and building relationships with the farmers who grow our food. Exposing your children to those relationships makes them feel like part of a community, she said.

She mentioned several farmer's markets available seasonally in Salisbury — the Salisbury Farmer's Market and one at the hospital. She also mentioned the Bread Riot, a community group that has formed buying relationships with local producers to support local production.

Dr. Chris Magryta spoke on the relationship of food and disease, and how making positive changes in the way we eat can forestall or prevent the onset of many diseases.

He pointed out that grass-fed beef, which contains healthy omega-3 fatty acids, is preferable to grain-fed beef, which contains the kind of fat that can cause an inflammatory response in our bodies.

Lee Menius, owner of Wild Turkey Farms, spoke of promoting a different way to farm, and of the need to help farmers transition from the old way of doing things to a more sustainable model. "Markets need to be in place," he said. He also spoke of the loss of the infrastructure to support sustainable farming — for example, he has to drive miles in order to find a plant that will process his meat.

Libby Post, who is head of cafeteria services in the local schools, talked about changes being made in the schools, including more fresh vegetables offered, with an emphasis on locally and regionally produced produce when feasible.

Dr. John Wear, executive director of the Center for the Environment, pointed out that the center will be offering spring and summer workshops on creating community gardens, as well as planning, planting, harvesting and preserving food.

A reception at the event included food provided by Bame Farms, Poplin Farms, Laughing Owl Farm, Goat Lady Dairy, New Moon Organics, Fisher Farm and the Bread Basket.

Enrollment in U.S. Agriculture Schools Growing

2010-02-01T08:15:00.000-05:00

The Modesto Bee

Tristesse Jones probably never will drive a tractor or guide a combine through rows of soybeans at harvest time.

There isn't a farm within miles of where she grew up on Chicago's west side, but she's set to graduate with a bachelor's degree in crop sciences from the University of Illinois' agricultural school next spring.

"People ask me what is my major, and they say 'What is that? So you want to grow plants?' " Jones said.

She is one of a growing number of students drawn to U.S. agricultural schools not by ties to a farm but by science, the job prospects for those who are good at it, and interest in the environment.

Enrollment in bachelor's degree programs in agriculture across the country grew 21.8 percent from 2005 to 2008, from about 58,300 students to nearly 71,000, according to surveys conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And the numbers are likely higher -- not all schools respond to the surveys.

National enrollment figures for 2009 aren't available, but numbers from major schools make clear that the trend continues: The University of California at Davis has more than 5,490 students enrolled in agricultural majors -- a jump of 210 from a year earlier. Purdue University has 2,575 ag students this fall, up 40 from last year.

Yet the number of farms nationwide has been dropping for decades.

There were about 2.4 million farms in the United States in 1978, and 2.2 million last year, the USDA claims.

Educators say many students are choosing to major in agriculture after finding out that much of what they'll learn is science -- biology, chemistry and a long list of specialized skills that can land jobs at companies that produce seeds and chemicals for farms, or in nascent industries such as biofuels.

Almost a quarter of the University of Wisconsin's incoming freshmen want to do "something in biology," said Bob Ray, associate dean for undergraduate programs and services.

Agricultural schools are doing their best to reach out to these students.

Texas A&M University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has several full-time recruiters on the road talking to high school students. It also uses its Web site, YouTube and social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to reach prospective students. A lot of the messages focus on job prospects.

"Every one of our poultry science graduates, they average about five job offers per graduate," college spokesman Bill Gibbs said.

Demand for science graduates, agriculture industry officials say, outstrips supply.

Monsanto, the St. Louis agribusiness giant that makes seeds, pesticides and an array of other farm products, can't hire enough.

"We find it really hard to find people in science, in particular, because they tend to get snatched up by medical and health care-related things," Monsanto spokesman Darren Wallis said, adding that it has openings for 100 researchers in St. Louis.

UC Davis' College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences is one of the country's biggest ag schools and still has many students studying in traditional areas, said Diane Ullman, the college's associate dean for undergraduate academic programs.

But more than 3,200 of UC Davis' ag students -- almost 60 percent -- are studying so-called human sciences such as nutrition, or environmental sciences such as environmental policy and landscape architecture.

"I think that young people are recognizing all of the issues that surround our society that have to do with food, and I think there's a real interest in new ways of doing things and solving some of these problems," Ullman said.

Customers Help Shape D-Series Loaders

2010-01-30T09:12:00.000-05:00

Construction Equipment

New skid steer and compact track loaders feature a host of improvements stemming from end-user input

Upon visiting John Deere Construction’s Web site, you’ll be entertained by a virtual skid steer sitting inside a suggestion box, complete with interactive notes to click on and see what customers asked for in the way of improvements for Deere’s D Series skid steers and CTLs. The company says the product launch results from years of research and partnering with skid-steer owners and operators from around the world.

“We’ve listened to what customers told us they wanted in skid steer and compact track loaders, and we’ve responded with nine new models that incorporate their suggestions,” says Gregg Zupancic, Deere product marketing manager for the products.

New skid steers include models 318D, 320D, 326D, 328D and 332D, with net-horsepower ratings of 58 to 89; rated operating loads from 1,800 to 3,200 pounds; and tipping loads from 3,600 to 6,400 pounds. The new 319D, 323D, 329D and 333D compact track loaders have a horsepower range of 58 to 89 and rated operating capacity of 1,900 to 3,300 pounds. Tipping loads range from 5,600 to 9,425 pounds.

According to Deere, one of the most dramatic differences in the D-Series is the cab. Customers asked for larger, more comfortable cabs, and Deere answered with 24 percent more room overall and 6 more inches of headroom than predecessor machines. The cabs also offer a 50-percent noise reduction inside and out resulting not only from improved sound absorption, but also a hydraulic fan drive, auto-idle feature, and new electronically controlled Tier 3/interim Tier 4 PowerTechE diesel engines. Deere claims best-in-class visibility as well, with 100-percent more front glass and 50-percent larger top window and lower side windows. In addition, HVAC directs 50 percent more air flow and 30 percent more heat for improved operator comfort.

Three choices of controls are available on all D-Series machines. Foot controls come standard. Operators can also choose hands-only levers or electro hydraulic joysticks for steering, forward/reverse, and boom/bucket functions. Optional EH (electro hydraulic) Performance Package includes switchable controls from ISO to H pattern; creeper mode, allowing the operator to set wheel/track speed in 10-percent increments of top speed; and boom and bucket metering, with three settings.

Other options include reversing hydraulic fan, which works with a computer program that monitors engine and hydraulic fluid temperatures to increase or decrease fan speed as necessary. The V-Plenum cooling system sports aluminum coolers that are larger, taller and positioned side by side. They are protected from air-blown debris damage because the fan is rearward of coolers, Deere says.

Despite all the changes, D-Series units have retained many of the productivity features of the 300 Series such as planetary gear drives on the CTLs, “industry-leading” bucket roll-back and dump angles, and ease of maintenance.

Retail prices for the line of John Deere construction equipment range from $20,000 to $60,000.

New Top Deere Technicians in UK

2010-01-24T15:11:00.001-05:00

Stackyard

The first six John Deere service technicians in the UK to achieve LTA4 Master Technician accreditation were presented with their certificates and registration cards on the John Deere stand at the LAMMA 2010 show at Newark in January.

ntroduced as the top tier of the industry’s Landbased Technician Accreditation (LTA) scheme, the Master Technician designation recognises individuals as having a proven and professionally assessed track record as the very best technicians, with the highest level of diagnostic skills and specialist product knowledge. The six John Deere service technicians are (five of the six are pictured at LAMMA, as listed left to right):

Robert Watson – RBM Agricultural, Market Weighton, Yorkshire
Andrew Walker – RBM Agricultural, Retford, Nottinghamshire
Robert Griffiths – Agricultural Machinery (Nantwich), Cheshire
Dan Massey – J E Buckle Engineers, Cromer, Hertfordshire
Tom Cooper – Ben Burgess, Norwich, Norfolk (not in photo)
Kevin Drage – J E Buckle Engineers, Cromer, Hertfordshire

“By employing an LTA accredited technician, or choosing a dealer with LTA registered technicians, customers can be secure in the knowledge that their equipment is being serviced by the best in the industry,” says Christopher Whetnall, chief executive of IAgrE. “With the ever increasing complexity and sophistication of agricultural machinery, it is vital to know that your equipment will be maintained by highly skilled professionals.”

To achieve the full Master Technician qualification after being accredited at LTA3 level, individuals have to undergo additional training and assessment of their abilities in advanced diagnostic testing and product knowledge, as well as their customer and technical mentoring skills.

Technicians who reach LTA3 status are already registered with the Engineering Council as an engineering technician (EngTech), with the ability to display the technician’s full qualifications on service vehicles. Currently John Deere’s agricultural and turf dealers in the UK and Ireland have over 900 staff registered with the LTA scheme, including 454 at LTA2 level, 25 at LTA3 and six at LTA4.

“The LTA scheme is designed to raise the profile of dealership technicians and underline their value to the industry,” says John Deere’s manager, customer support Peter Leech. “By reaching the Master Technician level, these six John Deere dealer technicians have proved that they are at the top of their profession, and expertly qualified to provide the highest possible level of after-sales support to customers.”

Deere CEO Part of White House Management Forum

2010-01-19T15:57:00.000-05:00

The Wall Street Journal

Not everyone in the business community has been wooed—administration officials said there was little political downside to calling out "fat cat" bankers, as Mr. Obama has done three times in the past week alone. And some CEOs said the administration's antibusiness rhetoric has chilled relations with the broader business community.

That's something top advisers to Mr. Obama want to fix, because pushes on climate change, job growth and further stimulus initiatives aren't likely to fly without broad business support.

Office of Management and Budget spokesman Kenneth Baer said the invitees came from a list of CEOs who had used technology well in their companies—as opposed to the government, which processes patent applications manually and takes three years to approve one.

Liz Claiborne CEO Bill McComb said he believed he was invited in part because his company is a well-known American manufacturer with a diverse work force. "We're not attached to a lot of big scary issues like health care, big tobacco or anything controversial," he said.

To dig into specific topics, the CEOs broke up into small groupsin the Eisenhower Executive Office building. One was convened in a wood-paneled conference room with a mantelpiece painting of George Washington that was obscured by a chart on an easel.. Deputy Veterans' Affairs Secretary Scott Gould and three deputy cabinet secretaries guided the discussion on "streamlining operations." Mr. Gould said the group would talk about inspiring top performance from government employees. Then he explained that this inspiration would have to be done without much in the way of financial bonuses, threats of firing or promotions that leapfrogged the normal civil-service rules.

Cabinet Affairs Secretary Chris Lu pointed out that government managers worry that if they slash costs, "next year your appropriations go down."

The CEOs gave it a shot. Jeff Fettig of Whirlpool Corp. said, "It's about better customer benefit for a lower cost, faster."

Government needs to do what John Deere did, said Sam Allen, its CEO. "Get 32 handoffs down to one handoff."

Ms. Nooyi, the PepsiCo chief, said the government needs "a Project Manhattan type mentality to stop and say we're going to do it and we're going to go all the way."

Department of Energy Secretary Dan Poneman picked up on that. "Do we have a Manhattan Project? Actually we were the Manhattan Project. That was us." Everyone but Mr. Poneman laughed.

After the session wrapped up, Mr. Gould said the findings and ideas from the forum would be live-streamed on the White House Web site so the public could follow along.

The ultimate result, he said: a report.

But that would take 30 days.

Fed Steps Up Antitrust Investigation Against Monsanto

2010-01-16T02:23:00.002-05:00

Business Week

The Justice Department has intensified its antitrust investigation into Monsanto Co., demanding internal documents that outline marketing tactics of the world's biggest seed company.

The demand, disclosed Thursday by Monsanto, formalizes a months long investigation into possible antitrust violations at the company, which has gained unprecedented power in the multibillion market for biotech seeds. It has already provided millions of pages of documents to the department and is cooperating with the agency's civil probe, spokesman Lee Quarles said Thursday.

The government asked this week for information on Monsanto's biotech soybean business, Quarles said. Monsanto's patented genes are inserted into roughly 95 percent of all soybeans and 80 percent of all corn grown in the U.S.

The government is examining whether farmers and seed companies will have access to Monsanto's popular Roundup Ready soybeans after the seeds' patent expires in 2014. The company is trying to shift customers to the next generation of patented soybeans, but said in a statement it will grant full access to the current variety even after the patent expires.

Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Talamona would not comment on the matter, but confirmed for the first time the department is "investigating the possibility of anticompetitive practices in the seed industry."

Last month, an Associated Press investigation uncovered contracts showing that Monsanto's business practices squeeze competitors, control smaller seed companies and protect its dominance over the genetically altered crops market.

One contract clause, for example, bans independent companies from breeding plants that contain both Monsanto's genes and the genes of any of its competitors, unless Monsanto gives prior written permission. That could let Monsanto effectively lock out competitors from inserting their patented traits into the vast share of U.S. crops that already contain Monsanto's genes.

Scott Partridge, Monsanto's deputy general counsel, said the company has done nothing wrong.

"Monsanto continues to cooperate with the U.S. Department of Justice inquiries, just as we have over the last several months," Partridge said in a statement Thursday. "We respect the thorough regulatory process. We believe our business practices are fair, pro-competitive and in compliance with the law."

Monsanto shares fell $1.22, or 1.5 percent, to $82.73 in afternoon trading Thursday.

Morgan Stanley analyst Vincent Andrews said antitrust troubles would likely fade with time and not have a significant impact on Monsanto's business. Because the department asked about access to Roundup Ready products after the patent expired, it is likely not interested in other issues around Monsanto's practices, Andrews said in a report Thursday.

"We expect this to be the sole focus of the Department of Justice's inquiry into Monsanto, and that a formal lawsuit will not be filed," Andrews said in the report.

Monsanto, which is based near St. Louis, introduced its first commercial strain of genetically engineered soybeans in 1996. The Roundup Ready plants were resistant to the herbicide, allowing farmers to spray Roundup whenever they wanted rather than wait until the soybeans had grown enough to withstand the chemical.

The company gained broad market reach over the last decade by letting competitors and independent seed companies sign licensing agreements allowing them to insert Monsanto's patented genes into their own strains of corn, soybeans and other crops.

Monsanto has the right to control how its genes are used because they are patented. Competitors worry that Monsanto could prolong its dominance for years if customers aren't allowed to use Roundup Ready seeds after the patent expires in 2014.

Monsanto said in a Dec. 15 letter to the American Soybean Association that seed companies and farmers will have access to the Roundup ready trait after its patent expires.

The company's business practices also are at the center of civil antitrust suits filed against Monsanto by its competitors, including a 2004 suit filed by Syngenta AG, that was settled with an agreement, and ongoing litigation filed this summer by DuPont in response to a Monsanto lawsuit.

John Deere House Sold At Auction

2010-01-10T03:27:00.003-05:00

Chicago Tribune

A major piece of Quad Cities history drew only one bid when it went on the auction block at the Rock Island County Sheriff's Department.

In Tuesday's auction, the John Deere House in Moline was sold to SaukValley Bank in Sterling for $167,000. The bank, which recently foreclosed a mortgage on the house, offered the only bid on the property.

John Deere purchased the house from grocer William Dawson in 1875, and spent the next five years more than doubling its size.

It was purchased by the City of Moline in 1993.

Roger Colmark bought the Deere house from the city for $100 in 1996 and planned to restore the home to how it looked when John Deere lived there, but the restoration was never completed. Foreclosure proceedings began last year.

Let's Talk About The Weather

2010-01-10T02:41:00.000-05:00

Business Week

The eastern half of the U.S. faces a cold, windy day with record-breaking temperatures in the Rocky Mountains and northern Plains. Florida orange growers likely escaped crop damage last night.

The National Weather Service issued hard freeze warnings for this morning and tonight into tomorrow morning for southern Alabama and Georgia and the northern part of Florida, including the panhandle. Such warnings alert growers of temperatures that may fall below 32 degrees Fahrenheit (zero Celsius) for more than three consecutive hours.

A southern dip of the jet stream, which normally keeps the coldest air north of the Hudson Bay in Canada, prompted record low temperatures in North Dakota and Minnesota, said Dave Samuhel, a meteorologist for AccuWeather.com Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania.

“It has been really cold the past two nights in North Dakota and Minnesota, including 37 degrees below zero in International Falls,” Samuhel said in a telephone interview.

The temperature in that Minnesota town, typically the coldest spot in the nation, set a daily record, he said. The January record for International Falls is 46 degrees below zero, Samuhel said.

Jacksonville, Florida, fell to 26 degrees overnight, well below the typical temperature of 42 degrees, he said. A low of 20 degrees is forecast for tonight, which would break the existing record of 22 degrees, Samuhel said. Orlando may slip to 27 degrees tonight, shattering its record of 31 degrees, he said.

Florida likely escaped any crop damage since the main citrus-growing areas were above freezing last night, Samuhel said. “Tonight will be a little bit colder, but I don’t expect widespread damage.” Below-freezing temperatures wouldn’t last long enough to cause damage to the fruit, he said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture last month estimated Florida’s orange crop will be 0.7 percent smaller than earlier forecast because adverse weather reduced fruit size. The state is the world’s second biggest orange producer after Brazil.

The major cities along the U.S. East Coast are braced for single-digit wind chill temperatures today with winds gusting as high as 45 miles per hour from New York to Washington. The coldest overnight temperature was 16 degrees at Baltimore, Samuhel said.

“The biggest deal in all the major cities will be the wind,” he said.

Today's Implement Dealer Selling High-Tech

2010-01-04T06:57:00.000-05:00

TMC Net

"We're no longer just selling iron," said Paal Haug, general manager of Haug Implement with stores at Willmar and Litchfield. "Today we're selling precision farming products and that requires special training of both our personnel and our farm customers." The firm dates back to when his great-grandfather Gunder Haug started a machinery dealership in Pennock in 1918, when actual horses were the primary source of horsepower on farms.

Thanks to the advent of Global Positioning System farming, today this John Deere dealership of 52 employees has a classroom set up at their Litchfield store with specially trained personnel doing classroom training for farmers on all aspects of GPS technology. There's also "real time" on-farm instruction on how to operate each particular system.

GPS technology breakthrough Reflecting on the past 20 years of their implement business, Haug said it definitely was the introduction of GPS in 1994-95 that opened their dealership to the explosion of new technologies and the new machinery hitched to them.

"We could see this was generating an entirely new future for the farm equipment industry. That's when we hired our first full-time Precision Farming Specialist. Still in its infancy in those days, a GPS system that permitted yield mapping in our combines was the first development," said Haug, who credits his dad, Don, for having the vision to see GPS farming's exciting potential.

What a remarkable acceptance, especially in the last few years. Today, for example, virtually every new John Deere tractor and combine is factory-equipped with the wiring and electronic harness to permit plugging in to a variety of technology capabilities, be it auto steer, yield mapping, variable seeding rate, even row command on planters.

Haug said farmers today are well-versed on what they want when they come shopping for new equipment. "They tell us what they want to accomplish with certain products and then it's our challenge to fit these products to their needs," he said.

As you might expect, there are farmers who aren't up to speed on these new technologies, so education becomes a continual mission of Haug Implement employees. Younger farmers tend to have a stronger "itch" for what's new but Haug said it's the older farmers who better understand the value of a particular new technology.

How do you quantify the value GPS technology has brought to farming? Haug said identifying "savings" to the customer is the best-selling criteria. "With auto steer, for example, because there is no overlap you save fuel, use less input product, reduce hours on your equipment, save man hours and greatly relieve the stress of doing a particular field operation.

"One of the neatest new tools is Row Command, a system of clutches on the planter which automatically shuts off point rows thus eliminating double planting. GPS has already helped you set up your field but perfectly rectangular or square fields seldom exist which means points rows are a frequent occurrence." Precision farming with on-board yield monitoring information and yield mapping gives a farmer much better information for comparing tillage systems, variable planting rates, even comparisons of drainage systems within a field.

"You virtually become your own experiment station on your own farm," said Matt Rohlik, agricultural management consultant for Haug Implement. "And that's the most important information you can have. Being able to document information both at planting time and harvest gives a significant base for making right decisions." Pricey but tremendous capabilities These new technology features cost a few bucks. The John Deere Green Star system, for example, offers three choices of auto steer capability. The SF1 package, costing about $10,000, provides 10-inch accuracy. SF2 gets accuracy down to about 4 inches and costs about $16,000. Rapidly becoming the popular choice of row-crop farmers, especially sugar beet growers, is the $20,000 RTK system with repeatable accuracy of 1-inch or less.

"Repeatability was our primary reason for going the RTK route," said Joe Sullivan of Sullivan Farms in Renville County, which runs three RTK units on their various power units and combines plus two SF2 units on big tractors doing mostly tillage work.

"It takes only about three minutes to switch a unit from a tractor doing tillage work to a tractor doing the planting," Sullivan said. "So the RTK guidance system lets us pre-program each machine to travel virtually the same wheel tracks each pass through a particular field. It's like permanent row tracks regardless the particular task being done.

"Everything about production agriculture keeps getting more exact," he said. "We now have up to 10 years of yield data on some fields. That's enough history on those soils so we're looking at more variable-rate planting. And that leads us into variable-rate fertilizer programs applied precisely as suggested by our yield maps." Sullivan said they were up to 39,000 plants per acre on certain portions of certain fields. This year working with newer hybrids and another year of crop history, they pushed to 41,000 ppa. "Despite the dry growing season yield benefit showed more at 41,000 ppa than where we cut back population on soil types suggesting lighter planting rates. So as we get more history on each field we can start adjusting planting rates, fertility inputs, perhaps even spray programs." GPS technology is an upfront cost needing justification but, once equipped, adds to future resale value.

"You don't recapture all of that initial investment but remember you've enjoyed the 'stress-free' benefits plus enough savings in just one or two years to cover the extra cost," Rohlik said. He said that generally in the resale of two similar used tractors, the one equipped with GPS technology sells first -- and for more bucks.

Despite the complexity of these electronic packages, Sullivan said John Deere's Green Star system is user-friendly, "as long as you put it together correctly." For example, they have the row command technology on their planters plus a row sensor on their combine headers that automatically does the same shut-off of row units in point-row situations. They're down to 2 1/2 acre grid analyses on their fields so precise inputs are even more practical.

Haug cautioned that glitches do occur, hence the special training of GPS technicians "so we can handle these problems rapidly. Often the glitch can even be corrected over the phone. Most farmers carry cell phones so may not even leave their combine cab or tractor cab to correct a particular electronic issue." Going forward he sees even more of this specialized instruction to farmers about new and specialized electronic systems, all geared to making production agriculture safer, easier, more efficient and more profitable.

Not bigger, but better equipment Haug doesn't visualize farm equipment getting much bigger, simply because the footprint eventually gets too large for road movement, but he does see more power being designed into the engines of future John Deere tractors. Because of precision farming he sees future improvements centering around how to better manage farm equipment.

A good example: the continual improvements and engineering versatility of John Deere planters such as row command, which permits on-the-go, in-the-row adjustments of planting rates, and the "central commodity" system that gives growers tremendous improvements in the ease and efficiency of handling seed.

Regarding future auto-steer packages, Rohlik said the RTK system is hot. "It's becoming more popular every year, especially for the farmer looking for repeatability in everything he's doing in his cropping program. You could spray in the same exact row tracks; run your combine in the same exact row tracks. It's popular for guys getting into strip tillage." If/when carbon credits become an important "trading commodity" GPS farming could take on even further dimensions.

To make RTK accuracy work regardless of what fields you are doing, Haug Implement has developed their own RTK network -- a series of nine, 100-foot tall towers -- which permits overlapping GPS accuracy regardless of where your rig is running within the five-county area of their Willmar and Litchfield stores. Other implement dealers across Minnesota are doing similar RTK network building to better serve their GPS farming world.

Farmers pay into the system to get the benefits. Rohlik said it's a one-time upfront cost of $3,900 into their RTK network plus yearly fees of $200 per "rover unit" on your equipment. Each tower in the Haug RTK system provides electronic accuracy within a 25-mile radius.

Sullivan likely speaks for many farmers in GPS farming when he said, "perhaps the biggest benefit is simply less stress on the operator. We all know that during the planting and harvesting crunch time, 16- to 18-hour days can happen. With GPS and auto steer, we can now do that schedule and stay both more relaxed and alert." He also now has 10 years of yield data on selected fields and that's a world of useful information when they chart planting rates, fertility programs, spray issues, etc.

GPS might even make harvesting easier. Relating to the harvest challenges this fall, if a combine was working a field with down corn, Sullivan said the RTK system showed the operator exactly where the rows should be and guided the combine accordingly.

Sullivan, 28, and a real student of GPS technology, said further improvements will be coming such as multiple RTK units in the same field being able to "talk to each other." Right now with two planters working the same field only one of the RTK units is going to work citing that if one planter unit did the headlands, only the auto shut-off system on that particular planter will work. The same challenge occurs with two combines harvesting the same field -- automatic shut-off at rows end will be working only on one of the combines.

So stay tuned. As helpful as GPS systems already have become, they will get better.

Kevin Paap, Minnesota Farm Bureau president and a GPS farmer, said "it's saving fuel. It's making us more efficient on every acre. And it's certainly less stressful. I think if you would have told me even 10 years ago that I would be in the field with a tractor that's steering itself, and while that's happening I'm on my Blackberry twittering a message to some elected official, I would have said 'you're nuts'. But that's the amazing technology at our fingertips today."

Nebraska Man Donates Hundreds Of John Deere Christmas Toys

2009-12-22T12:36:00.000-05:00

KHAS TV

A Grand Island, Nebraska man is acting as Santa's helper this year buying all the toys on the shelves at Toner's Incorporated in Grand Island. He bought more than 300 toys.

They are worth more than $5,000.

And he is donating all these toys – model tractors, grinders and wagons – to the News 5 Present Patrol.

"Just because he can, that is what he said, just because I can and I want to give back and bless his heart for being able to wanna do this," said Parts Manager Jamie Sich.

Last year, the same man bought all the John Deere toys in The Conestoga Mall and all the toys at the John Deere Dealership.

A big thank you to him for helping make our 2009 Present Patrol Campaign a success.

Toy Tractors Match Big Farm Counterparts

2009-12-18T12:29:00.000-05:00

Aurora News-Register

The love that two Hamilton County ag producers felt for their lifelong careers extended beyond their work day and well into their spare time where they spent hours collecting and displaying hundreds of toy tractors and farm implements.

Those displays were made available to the public several years ago when the Plainsman Museum in Aurora devoted space inside the Wesley Huenefeld Agricultural Museum to the collection in a fitting setting, next to "real life" tractors used in the county many long years ago.

Along the north wall of the building rest two display cases featuring various tractors, cars, implements and other toys from the collection of Marian and Thelma Salmon and Willis and Doris Akerson.

In Salmon’s collection, there are 100 tractors, 99 implements and 18 other various pieces.

The Akerson collection features 201 toy tractors, model die-cast cars and John Deere lawn and garden equipment.

Megan Sharp, director of the Plainsman Museum, said having all of those toys and John Deere clothing together in one place is really neat.

"The kids really love this when they come here," she said. "But the adults really enjoy it too."

"It’s like they are automatically drawn to it," she added. "It’s neat for them to see things like miniature plows. It really draws the people in."

Sharp said the collection is significant because is showcases a person’s passion for something.

"It shows off something they really took a big interest in," she said. "And now that interest is shared with everyone and it’s really neat."

Nancy (Salmon) Lohrmeyer of Aurora was the youngest of seven children in the Marian Salmon family. She said it was very interesting to grow up with her father’s tractor collection.

"He would only buy John Deere models and toys," she said. "We lived on a farm and it’s what he farmed with."

"I thought it was kind of cool to have a dad interested in toys," she added.

Toys that were off limits except for once each year when the kids "sort of" got to play with them.

"Dad had them stored up on shelves all along the living room walls and once a year we would take them down to help clean them," she said. "We had to be very careful with them."

Lohrmeyer said her son, Alex, also got to experience the tractors first hand when he came to the museum for a Boy Scout community service project and he helped clean the toys and the exhibit.

She said her father always liked history.

"Our grandparents homesteaded land in Hamilton County near the Blue River," she said. "My father grew up during the 30s."

"Money was always tight," she added. "But it was fun watching him collect his tractors. I enjoyed watching him and I think we all did. It was the one thing he enjoyed spending money on. He really enjoyed buying his toys and it made him so happy."

She said her father never had a duplicate toy and always knew what he had in the collection.

When her parents moved into town in 1981, Lohrmeyer said they built shelves in the basement along the south, west and east walls to house the tractor collection.

"Those cases were covered on the inside with green felt, for John Deere of course," she said. "They were full of tractors and John Deere toys and it was a lot of fun to see."

She said she thinks it’s great the group of John Deere collectibles is now featured inside the Plainsman Museum.

"It’s a more manageable way for people to look at them," she said. "They can see them and be like, ‘I remember my dad had one of those.’"

"They can also see the progression of John Deere ag equipment," she added. "I think he wanted to contribute these for others to enjoy because of his love for history and it was something people could remember him by. There was a very brief discussion about each one of the kids keeping one piece of the collection, but we knew he would want the entire collection to stay together and we decided that was the best thing to do."

Classic Toys Go To Highest Bidders

2009-12-17T15:42:00.000-05:00

Globe Gazette

Denny Borchardt watched from the back row as farm toys from the collection of the late Chuck Behr were auctioned off Saturday at the North Iowa Fairgrounds.

Pencil in hand, he noted the prices toys were selling for and waited until the ones he had highlighted in yellow came up for bid.

“There’s always toys I’m looking for,” said Borchardt of Mason City. “Especially John Deere.”

One of about 250 Iowans who turned out for the auction in the Olson Building, Borchardt was watching for farm toys to add to his collection of about 700.

Like others who attended, he had come in the day before to survey the toys and make note of the ones he could use.

Arranged neatly in rows on long tables, many of them in the boxes in which they came, the farm toys were being sold by members of the Behr family.

Chuck Behr, a farmer and owner of Chuck Behr’s Trailer Farm in Algona, died at the age of 70 in 2006. He collected farm toys all his life, but particularly once he retired, his son, Joe Behr of Mason City, said.

Chuck Behr’s particular favorites were Model B and Model G John Deere tractors, the first tractors his family owned, said Joe.

The 400 items being auctioned off by Joe’s brother, Ed Behr, represented about half of their father’s collection.

Their mother Sue said selling the farm toys was difficult for her.

“I’ve bonded with every one of them,” she said, emotion building in her voice.

She made the decision when she moved to a smaller home and didn’t have room for all of them.

One of her favorites was a Model G, 1/12th-scale John Deere tractor that makes a noise when the electric motor runs, she said, walking over to the tractor and starting it up.

Among the early buyers Saturday was Darlene Linahon of Clear Lake, who paid $55 for an orange Case VAC tractor No. 632 she planned to give to her son for his birthday.

“This is the best-organized auction I’ve been to by far,” she said, scanning the room. “They don’t do anything half-way.”

Shelly Richardson of Clear Lake purchased two red McCormick pedal tractors for her children, ages 4 and 6. She paid a total $260.

“I spent a lot less than I thought I would,” she said, laughing.

“The kids will be ecstatic. They love to do tractor pulls at the fair.”

Rilla Arnold of Mason City purchased a Farmall MV tractor for her brother’s collection.

“It looked like a good buy,” said Arnold, who paid $75 for it.

“I’m also looking to get John Deere toys, which is what we used on the farm.”

Among the farm toys that brought in the highest bids were a Knudson Custom Long Creek trailer, which went for $275; and custom-built John Deere tractors that brought in more than $200 each.

The auction was expected to last six hours.

Deere Santa

2009-12-17T15:26:00.001-05:00

San Marcos Daily Record

The only elf in the room appeared to be six-year-old Sarah Gonzales, seated on a dais alongside Blue Santa Wednesday afternoon at the San Marcos Conference Center.

But just because the men and women swarming tables in the room about them didn't have green pointy shoes like she did, didn't mean they couldn't match Santa's helpers, toy by toy.

Employees of John Deere Landscapes attending a convention at the conference center and Embassy Suites Hotel assembled dozens of bikes, wagons, mini-tractors and the like in a span of only minutes.

The finished products were then donated to Blue Santa, the San Marcos Police Department program that this year will provide gifts for around 1,200 local children.

"That equals 300 families," said Daniel Arredondo, Brown Santa coordinator.

Arredondo said requests for Brown Santa are up this year, and as of Wednesday he was still compiling a final list.

While donations are down, he said those who are able to give in these touch economic times were "giving more."

The SMPD's Blue Santa program was founded in 1972, and gets assistance from community organizations and individuals.

Landscaping employees assembled the John Deere toys as part of a team-building exercise. Ninety employees attended the convention.

Deere Comes Out On Top In Ergonomics Competition

2009-12-16T23:39:00.000-05:00

Occupational Health & Safety

Humantech, an Ann Arbor, Michigan - based ergonomics firm, announced the winners of its third annual Find It - Fix It Challenge^TM, which recognizes and rewards simple and effective workplace solutions that result in increased productivity, improved worker morale, and fewer workplace injuries and illnesses. Organizations were encouraged to submit photos and videos of their best ergonomic improvements for judging by Humantech's board-certified professional ergonomists and staff.

This year's first place was awarded to John Deere Des Moines Works. The winning improvement focused on the company's 7760 Cotton Harvester's muffler assembly installation. Before the fix, the operation required two employees to lift the 30+ pound assembly above their heads and maintain awkward postures holding it in place while one additional operator fastened it to the machine. An internal team designed and fabricated a fixture to hold the assembly and mounted it to an electric lift to raise and lower it. The solution enables one operator to quickly and easily maneuver the muffler assembly into place and fasten it without additional assistance. According to Find It - Fix It judges, the customized lift cart has eliminated the overhead work and awkward postures while dramatically improving the productivity of the operation.

"We are proud to be recognized for developing an effective ergonomic solution that not only improves workplace safety but also improves the efficiency of the operation," says Dan Wisner, ergonomic engineer at John Deere Des Moines Works. "This fix, along with our two other improvements in the Challenges top 15 finalists, showcases our team's ingenuity and commitment to John Deere's continuous improvement process."

Deere To Invest In Israeli Manufacturing Company

2009-12-16T23:34:00.002-05:00

Zacks.com

Deere & Co. announced that it made a conditional offer to buy certain assets and customer relationships of Israel-based BHC Manufacturing. BHC manufactures cotton picker repair parts for all makes of equipment and supplies cotton picker row units for other equipment manufacturers.

This investment will expand Deere’s products and services in its already successful cotton picker business. Management said that by combining BHC’s assets with Deere’s existing manufacturing capacity, John Deere will have improved efficiency and better geographic reach to serve its customers.

Deere continues to focus on its global growth strategy. Earlier in the third quarter, the company announced its plans to expand its farm, forestry and construction operations in Russia. It is setting up a manufacturing and parts center near Moscow. Deere considers Russia an important growth market
for agriculture, forestry and construction equipment. The company said that it will make significant investments over the next five to seven years to expand its capacity for manufacturing and supporting all types of Deere equipment.

The company is currently facing tough market conditions. It saw a 19% drop in sales in fiscal 2009 as farmers and other customers cut their spending under recessionary conditions. Deere now projects a 1% drop in for fiscal 2010, including a 10% drop in the first quarter. We do not see any drivers for growth in farm spending and U.S. construction activity over the coming months.

We maintain a Neutral recommendation on the stock.

Vintage Deere Literature Yields Financial Harvest

2009-12-08T17:15:00.001-05:00

Yankton Press & Dakotan

Auctioneer Ken Girard was pleased with the results of a John Deere literature sale held at his Wakonda auction business this past Friday. The large collection came from British John Deere collector and author Don Macmillan

WAKONDA — Approximately 180 pounds of vintage John Deere literature, most of it provided by a buyer in England, was sold Friday at Girard Auction and Land Brokers, Inc. in Wakonda.

The highest-selling pieces included a John Deere 430-630-730 Hi Crop brochure that brought $1,400; a 1960s JD sales manual that sold for $800 and a JD 620 Orchard piece bid up to $500. A rare JD Lawn-Gard Fertilizer brought $395. The majority of brochures sold for $100 to $300 each.

The rare collection came to the auctioneering firm from a buyer in England who recently purchased the brochures and maintenance manuals at the estate sale of longtime John Deere history author Don Macmillan who resided in Devizes, Wiltshire, Great Britain. The English author was one of the world’s most respected authorities on Deere & Company. He bought his first John Deere tractor in 1943 and was appointed the first United Kingdom Deere dealer in 1958.

Macmillan went on to establish one of the world’s foremost collections of John Deere toys, tractors and memorabilia. In cooperation with Deere & Company, Macmillan authored “John Deere Tractors & Equipment,” Volumes 1 and 2 and “John Deere Tractors Worldwide,” all published by the American Society of Agricultural Engineers. He also authored “The Big Book of John Deere Tractors” and “The Field Guide to John Deere Tractors.” Macmillan was also a contributing author to “the Little Book of John Deere” and “This Old John Deere,” both published by Voyageur Press.

Macmillan used his John Deere literature collection as reference material for his books. The pieces range from single page brochures to maintenance manuals with more than 160 pages. Most have been well preserved and were in mint condition.

“We don’t usually see a collection that’s this well preserved,” auctioneer Ken Girard said. “A lot of times there are stains on covers and water or rodent damage. Every time you handle a piece of literature there’s some damage from creases, oils from your hands and that type of thing. For the most part, this collection is in very good condition.”

The collection was sold in the Midwestern United States because it’s likely to be where the strongest market exists. A few test pieces were sold earlier this year and netted substantial prices.

“There’s always the possibility that we can be surprised by sale results and that we don’t see the sales we expect,” Girard said. “What we sold earlier this year was tremendously successful. We notified the collectors we’re aware of in this region. That mailing list has about 4,000 names. This type of artifact is somewhat like a coin collection. People who like to have the literature don’t usually display it or do much with it. They just like to have it in their possession.”

One of the rarest pieces sold was a brochure outlining the benefits of JD Lawn-Gard Fertilizer. The four-panel foldout compared JD fertilizer with other companies. It’s a piece the auctioneers have never run across at any other sale.

Many of the brochures referred to tractors that were not popular in the United States but were well used in Europe. Orchard tractors are one model that was very popular there for a period of time. The John Deere 620 Orchard was only manufactured for a few years. It was designed with a wide front end and metal fenders that protected both the tractors tires and engine from tree branches as the tractor was used in fruit orchards.

“This tractor had several unique features, including a fuel cap cover that reduced damage to blossoms as workers drove through the orchard,” Girard said. “That brochure went for $500.”

The rarest piece of literature among these John Deere Collectables was the John Deere 430-630-730 Hi Crop tractor brochure in mint condition. Girard saw another one with water stains and rodent damage sell for $1,100. The tractors were mainly used in the southern and western United States in vegetable fields. His auction saw the brochure sell for $1,400.

“An actual John Deere High Crop tractor sold this year for $29,000 because the models are so rare,” Girard said. “The majority of them incurred a lot of rust damage because they were used in areas with a lot of humidity. They were also used to death. There’s been a real interest amongst collectors for that type of tractor. For years no one had much interest in them but for now they’re a hot item.”

A few of the brochures featured foreign languages, most likely German. John Deere bought out France’s Heinrich Lantz and the Lantz models were produced in that country. A few of the brochures feature tractors that were only made in Europe.

“The value of the literature covers a pretty wide range,” Girard said. “This was a very strong auction.”

John Deere Breaks Ground On 16-Megawatt Wind Farm

2009-12-08T17:10:00.000-05:00

It Only Makes Sense That John Deere Would 'Go Green'

Renewable Energy World

John Deere Renewables this week broke ground on a new wind energy project in Idaho. Located in Twin Falls County, the Tuana Springs Wind Farm will consist of eight 2-megawatt (MW) turbines. Idaho Power Company is purchasing energy from the project under a long-term power purchase agreement. Commercial operation of the wind farm is expected to begin as early as Spring 2010.

John Deere Renewables funded the Tuana Springs Wind Farm and will also serve as owner and operator of the project, which is the company’s fifth mid-sized wind farm development in Idaho. The Tuana Springs project creates new economic opportunities in Idaho including jobs and tax revenue for the state and local governments.

“From our Project 60 economic growth initiative to creating the Office of Energy Resources, making Idaho more energy independent by realizing the potential of alternative and renewable energy production in Idaho has been a cornerstone of my administration’s efforts,” said Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter. “The John Deere name brings with it a lot of public recognition and trust. I’m happy to have this exciting new business venture here in Idaho."

Little Kids And Big Kids At Farm Toy Show

2009-11-24T11:03:00.000-05:00

Washington Daily News

If the Beaufort County FFA Alumni Association’s 11th annual farm toy show is any indication, the future is bright for the agricultural association.

Farm-raised children were just as excited as their elders to display their miniature farm displays, including tractors, combines and big rigs, and to pick up new pieces.

Brian Edwards, of Chocowinity, joined his grandfather, Gordon, behind a display table at the show forhis sixth straight year. The elder Edwards, who’s been showcasing and selling his farm toys at the show for 10 years, said his grandson has a “nice collection at the house.”

The elder Edwards has been collecting farm toys since he was 8 years old, and passed on the hobby to his grandson.

Cousins Dawson and Garret Boyd of Pinetown showed off an impressive miniture replica of 3B Farms in Pinetown. The cousins said they worked about an hour each night for three weeks to put the display of their family’s farm together.

James McCollum’s stepson, Hunter Taylor, 5, of Washington, was awe struck by the model of 3B Farms.

McCollum said his stepson’s bedroom is lined with farm toys. Taylor is especially fond of John Deere memorabilia, McCollum said.

“He’s a John Deere man,” McCollum said in regards to his step-son. “Some are John Deere Toys, but some he doesn't play with because they are serious John Deere collectables.”

Local farm children weren’t the only ones satisfied with the show.

“All the vendors have been pretty happy,” said David Jackson, co-coordinator of the show.

He said about 350 enthusiasts attended the show, which was held from 4 to 9 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Red Men’s Lodge on Third Street.

“It went pretty good considering the economy,” Jackson said.

The show featured door prizes, a raffle and a Future Farmers of America-sponsored food stand. Admission was $2 for adults and free for children under 10, with proceeds from the show going towards scholarships for area agricultural students.

ActiveCommand Steering Wins German Award

2009-11-24T10:56:00.000-05:00

Irish Independent

John Deere's new ActiveCommand Steering concept has won a gold medal which was awarded at last week's Agritechnica in Germany.

The new concept is a steer-by-wire design, combining a gyroscope and sensors on a smaller steering wheel to a set of electro-hydraulic actuators. Both the manual force and the number of steering wheel turns required when driving will automatically adjust to the tractor's actual speed.

The driver benefits from the reduced effort required during field, front loader and transport operations, and from a more stable ride at high road speeds (up to 50kph).

In addition to the gold medal, Deere scooped five DLG silver medals for several innovative solutions for tractors, harvesting equipment and crop-care solutions.

Exchange

First up is a system which enables two-way ISOBUS data exchange between the tractor and more complex implements. During operation, the system allows the implement to take command of certain pre-assigned tractor parameters. For example, a round baler can tell the tractor when bale formation is nearly complete and will then make the tractor slow down to release the bale.

The extension of iSolutions from self-propelled sprayers to 700i and 800i Series trailed sprayers also nabbed a silver medal. This facility includes the integration of a tank fill calculator, an advanced SprayerPro boom control package and an AutoDilute function to handle the appropriate dilution of residual liquid in the sprayer.

Also among the prize-winning innovations was the newly designed Condition Monitoring System (CMS), which will be optionally available on the new 7950i self-propelled harvester.

This system continuously monitors the bearing vibrations of key components, such as compaction rollers, drum, kernel processor and accelerator fan. If these bearings begin to change their vibration frequency, the driver or fleet owner is alerted via a signal in the cab or remotely via JDLink.

Local Man Turns Old Sewing Machines Into New Toy Tractors

2009-11-09T04:08:00.000-05:00

Herald-Review

Roy Gaunt holds one of the model tractors he made out of

an old sewing machine at his home in Shelbyville.

The Bible says, "They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks."

There's some dispute among scholars about this, but the passage from Isaiah is widely interpreted to mean the sword and spear bashing will coincide with the establishment of a future Messianic Kingdom of God on Earth.

That could take awhile. In the meantime, we can enjoy the handiwork of Shelbyville's Roy Gaunt, who is busy in his basement workshop beating antique sewing machines into models of vintage farm tractors.

Well, it's not so much beating as it is a careful laying of hands to remove bits and add bits, rounded off by skillful painting in authentic factory colors. The results are a major transfiguration: sewing machine bodies morphed into John Deere, Farmall and Allis-Chalmers tractors from the nostalgic heyday of the American family farm.

Gaunt explains that the bodies of old Singer machines and others from the 1800s and first third of the 20th century do actually look remarkably like the chasses of old farm tractors. His art is to heighten the visual tromp l'oeil effect with skilled tweaking here and there. Wheels from a push lawnmower become the big back tires, while front wheels, attached to adapted needle shafts, are the same ones found on Ertl-brand farm toys.

A particularly effective touch is the vertical mufflers above the engine canopy. "I use pieces of vacuum hose slipped over a little piece of round metal rod that I cut to length and paint," he said.

His tractor seats are liberated from the cutlery drawer in the shape of soup spoons bent to the correct angle, the bowl of the spoon a perfect miniature butt-shape. "And the older seats had holes bored in them, so I do that, too," said Gaunt, 71.

Wife Eleanor Gaunt says her husband is blessed with mechanical acumen and an eye for understanding what works visually. "Just always a very observant person," she says. "He sees things most people would not see. He's very good at noticing details."

Gaunt used to get detailed knowledge of real tractors every day as a farm boy growing up in Iowa, who first drove the family's 1930s F-20 Farmall when he was 7. Gaunt stayed down on the farm into the turbulent 1980s, when staggering interest rates ripped a hole in the fabric of American rural life and, as singer John Mellencamp put it, there was "blood on the plow."

Separated from the land, he needed a job and moved with his wife and two sons to Central Illinois, where he worked for a farm supply company. He stayed there until retirement in 2002 and worked part time in another job for five years until some creeping health problems demanded retirement take a more comprehensive form.

The old farmer had seen a magazine story about a guy who did the sewing machine-tractor thing and decided it sounded fun and doable now that he had the time. "I kept the idea in the back of my mind for three or four months and then just thought, 'Well, I really could do that,' " he recalls. "And so I made one."

That stitch in time occurred about a year ago, and he's been on a roll ever since, cranking out John Deere toy tractors that sell for prices starting at $60 and do a good job of cultivating their own word of mouth advertising. "They are conversation pieces, and no two are exactly the same," he says. His wife even managed to sell one just chatting to her hairdresser about them.

"The lady needed one for a birthday present for her husband," recalls Eleanor Gaunt, 69. "You guys are hard to buy for."

Gaunt usually builds to order and, pedal to the metal, he can piece together a sewing machine tractor in about two weeks. He's constantly on the lookout for vintage sewing machine raw materials but says the golden thread of prosperity sometimes loops right around tractor conversions and ends up back at the machine itself.

"I run ads seeking sewing machines and think I bought about a dozen this one time, and I noticed a machine in there that had a kind of a unique cover over it," he says. "I didn't tear it down right away but did some research and ended up selling it to a private party for more than I could have received if I'd made it into a tractor. I guess I'm learning."

GET YOUR OWN

If you would like Roy Gaunt to create a sewing machine tractor for you, call 774-3377.

Scotsturf '09 Show Preview

2009-11-07T18:13:00.001-05:00

from Horticulture Week

The show involves over 80 exhibitors, educational presentations, live product demonstrations and award ceremonies for the grounds care, golf course, local authority and arboriculture industries.

Show Manager Roy Daniels said this year's agenda would be dominated by pesticide approvals, weed control, integrated turf management and health and safety.

As well as the presentations there are awards for innovative and new products, IOG awards, the Scottish Groundsman of the Year award and presentations to the land based colleges.

Many companies will be launching new products at the show, which promises to offer something for every aspect of the Scottish sports turf, amenity and leisure sectors.

The companies exhibiting include:

Bernhard and Company will display the Express Dual and Anglemaster 3000MC range of cylinder and bottom blade grinders along with blade thinning attachment for the Express Dual cylinder grinder.

New this year from Broadwood International is the SnowEx TLR-275 mount, which opens up the world of salt and grit spreading to users of quad bikes, ATVs and UTVs as well as functioning perfectly with any vehicle fitted with a standard 50mm ball hitch.

Dennis will be showing, among other things, the S500 PLUS, which takes the effort out of surface spiking, slotting and overseeding. The 500mm operating width, Honda-powered unit has simple changeover between applications with an optional overseeding box mechanism.

The Double A Trading Company will launch the new Gianni Ferrari ML360 Turbo Loader, a 36 HP diesel pivot steer multi-purpose compact wheeled loader capable of operating a wide range of attachments including buckets, pallet forks, trenchers, brushes, post hole borers and excavators.

Pride of place on the Fairways Group stand (Wiedenmann UK) will be the Terra Spike GXi8 - Wiedenmann's latest deep fast aerator which, with a working width of 1.8m, is40 cm wider than the GXi6 (which was designed for fine turf areas and compact tractors) and fits tractors from 30 HP. Coverage is 5,800sq m/ hour at 110mm square hole spacing (based on a crank speed of 485revs/min and assumes the pulling tractor is moving at 3.2km/hour). Also debuting is Wiedenmann's trio of surface conditioning equipment — the Terra Float, Terra Slit and Terra Seed.

IPU Group will showcase a selection of new models from Ferris Industries' ride-on mower range, including the new-to-the-UK Ferris Evolution - a ride-on mower with a seating position allowing the operator to take the ‘ideal' ergonomical position for comfort and all-round visibility.

GreenMech will show the new six inch capacity turntable Quad Chip 150 woodchipper that was launched at IOG SALTEX show. The turntable allows ultimate positioning of the in-feed chute for convenience of access in limited space and more importantly safer use when working from the road side - when the chute is moved to 90° of the drawbar the rear of the machine stays within the width of the axle and does not protrude.

Green-tech will be on hand to explain the success of its innovative Mona Plant System irrigation system which offers significant saving in time and water efficiency. They will also be displaying the gt composphere, an environmentally friendly composter alongside some of its best-sellers - gt Gree-tree topsoil, the 100% sustainable, recycled topsoil; and gt GRB, the 100% recycled ground reinforcement block.

From GroundsCare Products, the Turf Teq brush cutter features a variable angle cutting head that allows the operator to cut under hedges, fences and trees; a deck that pivots incrementally to the left by up to 300 mm beyond the handle bars; a 711 mm wide deck with 660 mm cutting blade; and adjustable mowing heights of 70 mm and 95 mm.

Showcased at IOG SALTEX, the Orbs prototype from Inclusive Play (UK) will be on show. Despite being only 45 cm high and 35 cm diameter, the eye-catching items are designed for their sensory appeal. The Orb is manufactured from high density polyethylene which is durable and impact-resistant, but the product becomes more tactile when a ‘smiley' is machined into the top.

Irrigation Supplies will be showing for the first time the new range of K-Rain sprinklers and providing details of the new Kasco water treatment fountains. The company manufactures pop up impact golf sprinklers that are interchangeable with Logic/ Watermation GN / GR sprinklers, and is the distributor of HIT solenoid valves, Perrot sprinklers Nelson, Hunter, K-Rain Weathermatic and Tonick.

Machines from John Deere's new golf and sports turf maintenance product range will be featured. The 220e E-Cut walk-behind greens reel mowers with hybrid electric drive, and the 7200 PrecisionCut trim and surrounds mower, with the patented Width on Demand cutting system, both have Quick Adjust cutting cylinders featuring a Speed Link system for extremely quick height of cut adjustment.

Additional new machines on show will include the 8400 Commercial triple reel lawn mowers which features high capacity 10 inch Jumbo cutting units, an intelligent all-wheel drive traction system and a Cross Cut function for increased productivity; the HD200 SelectSpray amenity turf sprayer, fitted to a John Deere Pro Gator utility vehicle; and the X749 lawn tractor, an all-wheel steer version of the 4WD X748 model, also designed for demanding commercial applications.

JSM Distribution will be launching the Sweep N Fill system, a trailed twin-brush system providing superb topdressing performance, filling aeration holes with topdressing in two passes, with no damage to the plant.

Lloyds will be exhibiting the Buffalo turbine blowers at Scotsturf for the first time, including the Cyclone PTO and the Cyclone KB3 Debris Blower in engine and PTO version.

Symbio will display the new Symbio TraceOlite highly porous zeolite that is impregnated with essential trace elements and holds 30-40 per cent of its weight in water. Also new nd on show will be Symbio Liquid Aeration, which releases oxygen molecules into the thatch layer and rootzone for thatch degradation. This helps oxidise nutrients and can oxidise black layer.

Symbio also launches its new range of Early Start Fertilisers to help overcome the problems of a late start to the growing season and Compost Tea Brewers that help increase soil biology for healthy perennial grasses.

Spray Techniques plan to stage a sprayer nozzle display, demonstrating a range of nozzles that can be used in pesticide, herbicide and liquid feed application. Various nozzle sizes and designs will show how there are always options as the conditions of weather, growth stage and amount of diseases etc change. The display will also feature new drift reduction air inclusion nozzle the Bubble Jet.

As local dealer for Massey Ferguson Groundcare equipment, SGM (UK) will display a selection of models from the newly extended range which now covers from 19.5 to 91 DIN HP.

Scotbark provides innovative solutions for erosion, flood and sediment control, and its expanding ‘tool box' of products includes the use of filter and growing media that is custom-installed to suit individual applications. The products are used in conjunction with the Express blower system.

The Scottish Golf Environment Group (SGEG), a subsidiary of the Scottish Golf Union (SGU), can help address environmental issues by:

• Giving free best practice and legislation advice on managing and creating habitats and landscape features such as coastal links, grasslands, woodlands, wetlands, ponds and heathland

• Providing free advice on nature surveys and protecting and providing habitats for flora and fauna species, environmental training and integrated management planning.

• Giving free advice on water management, waste reduction and energy efficiency - helping clubs obtain specialist audits (some free of charge) and promoting green technologies such as recycled products and renewable energy sources.

• Assisting in developing practical projects, plus providing information on grants and sources of project funding along with advice for new golf developments and course extensions.

Adopting green mowing technology such as the Scotts Classic reel mowers, or the German-designed Brill reel mowers.

Shelton Sportsturf Drainage Solutions LLP's Supertrencher + range has many new features, including a twin-speed digging wheel to suit dry, hard soils or wetter conditions. The digging wheel is in line with the centre of the tractor, with twin cylinders adjusting the digging depth either manually or by laser. Excavated soil is thrown into a large aperture at the front of the machine, then elevated via two conveyors into a trailer running alongside. The newly designed conveyor is hinged so that it can be turned through 90 deg to lay alongside the body of the machine for transport purposes.

This is Simon Tullett Machinery's first full season with the RoboFlail zero-turn remote controlled mower which won the New Product and Innovation Award at Scotsturf 2008, and is available with either standard rotary or open-front rotary deck. STM took the machine on a successful roadshow in Scotland - for example, Dundee City Council had a demonstration then placed an order.

One Man's Pursuit Of All Things 'Tractor'

2009-11-07T14:01:00.001-05:00

from The Fence Post

This display of John Deere pedal tractors depict the preference of the equipment used on the Oatts Farm. The Ford pedal tractors reflect the preferred brand in the Oatts Farm Antique Tractor Museum.

Photo: Fred Hendricks

What do you call a person who lives in the south, farms several thousand acres for grain production, has a bunch of antique tractors displayed in museums in two states, collects farm toys, including pedal tractors and owns a farm toy store? Some would call him a Southern Gentleman.

Charles Oatts is a true Southern Gentleman but he does not take all the credit for the aforementioned family enterprises. “While each family member has varied interests, we're all involved. My wife, Shirley, is very supportive and as active as any wife could be. Our son, Brian and his wife, Carla and their two children are involved with all facets of our family farm. And a 36-year loyal employee, Tommy Johnson, helps manage the farm toy store and restores the antique tractors. In addition, numerous other employees make untold contributions to the farm business,” Charles shared.

The Oatts Family farm business is located in Hopkinsville, a community in the fertile Pennyrile region of southwestern Kentucky. Charles grew up on the family farm helping with the tobacco, hay and grain cropping. Their livestock included; beef, hogs and a small herd of milk cows. He attended a one-room school for grades one through seven with the same teacher all seven grades.

After high school graduation, Charles began his college studies. Charles farmed part time during college. With a degree in hand, Charles taught school and served as a school administrator. After a short stint in the classroom, he started farming full time. His management and farming skills were honed as the family developed their many enterprises.

Collection Hobby — Toy Show

Charles developed a farm related hobby collecting antique tractors. “The collection has grown with five brands represented. Although we farm primarily with John Deere equipment, I was intrigued with Ford and Ferguson tractors. And now with Tommy's help, we have more of those than any other make. All told, we have about 40 tractors fully restored. The majority of the tractors are displayed in our home farm tractor museum. We also have a number of antique tractors on permanent display in the Ford Tractor and Toy Building at the Florida Flywheeler Show grounds located in Ft Meade, Fla. This show is a very large event with tractors on display during their November, January and February shows. Shirley and I spend several months in Florida during the winter so we're able to maintain those tractors while taking in the Flywheeler Shows,” Charles stated.

With farming activities moving at a slower pace during the winter season, the Oatts Family hosts the annual Western Kentucky Farm Toy Show the first Saturday in December. Charles talked about the show, saying “We open our museum for visitors to view the antique tractors while attending the toy show. We also use a portion of the warehouse adjacent to the toy store for other venders to display. Toy collectors attend the show from across Kentucky and the surrounding states. This activity is a real family affair with all the Oatts clan involved.”

Toys Spring from the Earth
The bug to collect farm toys caught Charles in 1977. “We were excavating a sight for a tool shed and came across two childhood John Deere toy tractors buried under a tree. They were in remarkably good shape. This spiked my interest so I started going to farm toy shows to collect other desired toys. Today, the collection consists of all brands and has grown to several hundred. Two of the prized pieces in the collection include; a 1:16 scale die-cast John Deere model A with the high post and a 1:16 scale die-cast John Deere model A with a man on the seat, both made by Ertl. We also have the 1:16 scale die-cast John Deere models 14 and 17 made by Wagner. Our farm operation uses all John Deere equipment so we try to focus on those,” Charles said.

Charles soon learned that farm toy collecting had wide and diversified interest. “Invariably, the collection became a discussion point when friends came by to visit. These friends began asking that we purchase toys for them while at toy shows,” Charles remarked. With this interest in farm toys by friends and neighbors, a retail business evolved. He went on to say, “We realized there was a market for farm toys. So we made the decision to start the toy business. I contacted the toy manufactures and we were soon off and running with the Oatts Farm Toy business.

Expanding the toy collection to include pedal tractors was quite by chance, as with unearthing the toy tractors. “The pedal tractor collection began when we discovered a John Deere model 130 made by Eska in a farm building we had purchased. We soon started adding pedal tractors to our toy collection. We have a few antique versions but most are new versions as they became available through the years. We probably have about 150 pedal tractors with nearly every brand name represented. We also offer all the commercially made pedal tractors through our toy store,” Charles commented.

Unique Pedal Tractors

Rare antique pedal tractors continue to hold their value. If you are among the collectors with any of the old gems, consider yourself fortunate. “We do not have many of the antique pedal tractor versions, but we're fortunate to have a few. Among the more prized ones is the 1958 John Deere model 130 by Eska. This pedal tractor was the one that came with the farm we purchased,” Charles recounted.

Charles went on to comment about additional features of their pedal collection, “Harold Sherron of Boaz, Kentucky is an avid collector of antique Gibson tractors. In fact, he may have the most complete set of anyone in America. Harold had a set of three Gibson pedal tractors made for resale. They include: Gibson model H-Jr row-crop, Gibson model H-Jr standard and Gibson model D-Jr standard. All three are nice quality. We're fortunate to have them in our collection.”

Another very rare pedal tractor in the Oatts hoard is the John Deere model 8310T track version. This custom model 8310T features continues rubber tracks along with front-end weights. Wayne Samuelson of Dyersville, Iowa customized this tractor. “Another favorite pedal tractor is our custom John Deere model 430. We don't know who built it, but we think it is quite special. We enjoy the pedal tractor additions in our collection. They are more out in the open and certainly add color. They also spur a lot of reminiscing along with interesting discussions when customers and friends come by,” he noted.

Twists and Turns of Toy Collecting

When reflecting on how the farm toy hobby evolved, we are often reminded of someone or a special event that influenced us. Charles noted earlier that they came on two toy tractors and the one pedal tractor by chance. “No one really influenced me as I launched the collection. I remember the many fine individuals who were serious toy and pedal collectors that Shirley and I have met over the years. We have been so impressed by them and their collections. It really made us want to continue in the hobby. I would love to name them, but they are too numerous to mention,” he reflected.

The never-ending enhancements to toy tractors and pedal tractors make the collecting hobby more intriguing. Charles recalled, “Details of toys have improved significantly. Plastic is being used more all the time. There are many more models available. And there are more sizes, including 1:32 and 1:50 scale offerings. The higher cost of today's toys makes it more difficult especially with the Key and Precision Series.” He commented further, “I really like the 1:16 scale construction equipment, but we don't see many of them anymore. Having that larger scale made the equipment seem more realistic.”

The average age of the collector suggests that younger people may not be as interested in farm toys or John Deere collectibles. No doubt the cost for high detail toys plays into the age of the collector. There are young collectors with a keen interest in toy replicas, however. “When attending farm toy shows, I am concerned that there are fewer young people who will become dealers. This may become a problem when older dealers stop going to the toy shows. The economy is a problem for many families. It is causing many of them to reconsider how much they should be investing in toys verses necessities,” Charles lamented.

The beginner can certainly find his niche when interested in collecting. “I would advise those who are beginning to collect to consider the space available for their toys. The available space will determine the scale to start collecting. It will also provide direction regarding the availability of numbers of toys available in that scale and chosen brand. I would encourage the starter to pick a brand and stick with that brand. And then, go with a selected series, be it shelf models or high detail,” he advised.

There are numerous avenues to stay informed when collecting. “I get my best information from publications like Toy Farmer. Talking with collector friends, visiting farm toy stores and auction sales are all good sources of information. We also attend 10 or more toy shows each year,” Charles explained.

Friends and Future
The farm toy hobby is people sharing their past, developing friendships and looking toward an optimistic future. “We feel the collection hobby involves some of the best people in the world. And, we are proud to be a part of it. Whether we're assisting a customer in our store or hosting the Western Kentucky Farm Toy Show, we get to see the customers smile when buying or as they admire our collections. It may be a smile of reflection back to a piece of equipment they operated or the purchase of that sought after replica. All of this makes it worth more to us than the actual value of the collections,” Charles expressed. He went on to note, “Through our collections, we feel that we are preserving our agriculture heritage. It also encourages other individuals to preserve their past through collecting farm toys, pedal tractors or antique tractors.”

If you would like to learn more about Oatts Farm Toys, you may contact the friendly folks at (270) 885-8175. Reminder, the store and museum are open by chance or by appointment.

Fred Hendricks owns SunShower Acres, Ltd., of Bucyrus, Ohio, a dairy cattle consulting business. Mr. Hendricks is an avid farm toy collector and a freelance writer.

About the author
Fred Hendricks owns SunShower Acres, Ltd., of Bucyrus, Ohio, a dairy cattle consulting business. Mr. Hendricks is an avid farm toy collector and a freelance writer.

Deere Studies Russian Production Options

2009-11-03T11:41:00.002-05:00

from Lesprom

Moscow -- /Lesprom Network/ Deere&Company studies possibility of production at Severstal units, as Kommersant newspaper reported.

Voronezh and Nizhniy Novgorod regions now have at least two competitors for an investment agreement with American Deere & Company, the paper reports. The company started negotiations with administrations of Oryol and Lipetsk regions regarding construction of plant producing John Deere combine harvesters. Experts find that irrespective of what Russian region Deere & Company will choose for placing its production lines, construction of the facility will start in three years at the earliest.

Oryol region confirmed that Deere & Company regards the possibility of placing John Deere agricultural equipment plant in the region. A source close to the negotiation process told the paper that Oryol administration proposed the company a site at Oryol steel-rolling plant belonging to Severstal Group having an area of 7,000 to 8,000 sq m. The enterprise is located in Severniy district of the town of Oryol. Region governor Aleksandr Kozlov participated in the negotiation process with Deere & Company, newspaper’s source said. ‘American company is gradually building up its industrial complexes in Russia. They have decided upon assembling sites in Orenburg and Moscow region’s Domodedovo. At the same time, they are looking for a full production site’.

However, he said that the administration did not manage to get an answer from Deere & Company. ‘As in other regions, Americans listened to the proposal and announced that the decision will be taken by the board of directors, though the site in Oryol is ideal. Directly speaking, you just have to wash the floors and move in the machinery’. The source added that, according to his information, Deere & Company regards also a possibility of such production in Lipetsk. ‘Not a single region which is of interest to the company will get precise answer for one more year. It will depend not only on their wishes but also on where the Russian authorities will tell them to locate production’.

This spring Deere and Company showed interest in placing production in Voronezh region. At that time, Voronezh governor Alexei Gordeev met the head of Deere & Company Robert Lane. Mr Lane underlined that their relations with Mr Gordeev, a former agriculture minister, are long and well-established and the company is glad to continue cooperation with him in his new post. The regional government, in turn, expressed confidence that the company will most probably choose Voronezh. Experts said that if the plant in Voronezh was going to be as large as in Kaluga, its construction would cost around $80-100 million. However, soon Deere & Company started talks with Nizhniy Novgorod regional government concerning possible establishment of production there.

Nevertheless, Deputy Chairman of Voronezh government Aleksandr Gusev who is responsible for industry matters said that the company did not lose its interest in the region. Moreover, he announced that the region picked three facilities with an area of 35,000 sq m, though he did not specify what particular facilities they are. A source in regional administration has recently informed that since Mr. Gordeev’s meeting with Robert Lane no progress was reached.

Experts find that irrespective of what Russian region Deere & Company will choose for placing its production lines, construction of the facility will start in three years at the earliest. ‘In such large companies just taking a decision may take several years’, Director of agricultural equipment producers union (Soyuzagromash) Evgeniy Korchevoy commented. Representatives of Deere & Company also said earlier that they will start new facility construction only after they commission their new production and logistics centre in Kaluga.

The board of the company, however, has recently approved construction of a production centre and spare parts storage in Moscow region’s Domodedovo. Deere&Company is going to produce a wide range of John Deere machinery there, including tractors, agricultural and forest harvesting and construction machines. The new project will complement planned investments in a complex in Kaluga region and production facility in Orenburg. It is known that Deere & Company will place a 45,000 sq m site in Giffels Management Russia Yuzhnye Vrata industrial park (Moscow region). Rent fee is estimated by experts in $100-105 per square meter annually. Generally, by 2015 the company is going to invest around $500 million in its Russian projects, namely in Kaluga and Moscow region ones and a joint venture with Russian agricultural machinery producers.

Deere & Co. Recalls 452 Workers

2009-11-03T11:17:00.002-05:00

AG Weekly Online

MOLINE, Ill. (AP) _ Farm equipment maker Deere & Co. says it will recall most of the workers it laid off earlier this year at an Iowa plant.

The Moline, Ill.-based company says the 452 manufacturing employees will be recalled to its John Deere Ottumwa Works starting Nov. 30 as it begins production of its 2010 models.

But Deere says 78 other workers will remain laid off until market conditions improve enough to warrant their return.

In June, Deere said it would temporarily lay off 494 of the factory's workers due to weak demand amid the economic slowdown. That followed a layoff of 40 employees in April.

The Ottumwa Works employed about 260 salaried employees and 720 wage employees, including those who remain laid off.

The plant makes equipment such as balers and pull-type forage harvesters used by hay and livestock producers.

A Faster Way To Move A Lot Of Snow

2009-11-03T11:15:00.000-05:00

SB2176 Snow Blower for all John Deere 400 Series Loaders
from Construction News

John Deere's Frontier Products has introduced an easier, more powerful way to quickly move snow: the hydraulically driven and loader-mounted SB2176 Snow Blower for all John Deere 400 Series Loaders. Designed to save time and energy, the SB2176's quick-attach feature allows operators to mount the blower without removing the loader. The blower is driven by an independent, hydraulic three-point hydraulic power pack that attaches to the rear of the tractor. Self-contained and driven by the tractor's rear PTO, it is also Category 1- and iMatch -compatible.

"The SB2176 increases tractor versatility and ease of use, both of which are necessities for operators with a long list of duties, such as those at schools or municipalities," said Tom Elliott, division sales & marketing manager for Frontier. "But clearing snow will become every operator's favorite task with the help of the hydraulic controls and the ability to drive the blower facing forward. The ability to quickly disconnect the snow blower and begin using the loader again means more versatility."

Able to face the toughest snowfalls, the SB2176 features a 76-inch working width and automatic auger speed control to prevent clogs. In addition to hydraulic loader control of height and pitch, the chute rotation and optional chute angle adjustment is powered by the rear power pack and controlled with rocker switches installed in the tractor operator station. The cutting edge is replaceable while the steel skid shoes are adjustable and replaceable.

For additional winter needs, John Deere also offers two commercial-mount three-point snow blowers, the 1274 and 1280. These 540 PTO snow blowers feature a 74-inch and 80-inch width, respectively.

John Deere Reel Mowers

2009-10-26T21:19:00.002-04:00

From John Deere International

The best seat on your course may well be in the John Deere 1905. This five-unit reel mower features an optional deluxe cabin, prepared with integrated air conditioning for those days when you just can’t beat the heat. A great example of operating comfort is an integrated armrest control for convenient operation. Reels are lifted or lowered by fingertip switches integrated in the CommandArm armrest. And all the operating controls are right at your fingertips.

But where the 1905 line of reel mowers really succeeds is in the area of high-volume mowing. These are excellent mowing units: five John Deere-built ESP (Extra Strength and Precision) 76 cm (30 in) reels. The ESP cutting units provide a patented heavier frame that will sit down tighter and stay in contact with the turf.

A powerful 2190 cc Yanmar Engine with a rated power of 31kW (41.5 hp) helps drive the 1905 through the toughest of conditions. Yet even with all of this power the 1905 has remarkably low sound levels. It also has perfect balance, which will help your crew as they navigate around bunkers and mounds.

The 1905 has plenty of other user-friendly features: a central quick-lift for simultaneously lifting all five units; height adjustable and tilt steering option. And while the 1905 is simple to operate, it’s also safe, thanks to the Safety Interlock System, controlled by the patented White Box.

Deere 8R Series Provides 360-Degree Lighting

2009-10-26T21:12:00.001-04:00

From the Prairie Star

Safety comes first in the field, on the farm, and on the road. Good lighting on tractors is an important key to keeping everyone safe 24 hours a day.

Tractor engineers are designing new lighting systems for crop producers who need greater nighttime visibility.

Faced with a need for 360-degree lighting, John Deere engineers used computer software to design and place lights on their newest line of tractors.

“With the new 8R and 8RT Series, the lights within the roof are not adjustable. We've specifically built them to cover a 360-degree pattern around the tractor without having to be adjusted,” said Chad Hogan, John Deere product line marketing manager.

Designed for row-crop farming, the 8R Series' Standard lighting package includes two rear-facing, two front corner and two rear corner 65-watt cab roof halogen flood lights to provide 330 degrees of lighting. Hood lighting provides the remaining 30 degrees for complete stadium-style lighting.

In all, the Standard package comes with 18 lights plus extremity warning lights. Deluxe and Premium packages offer even more lights.

There are many reasons that customers have asked for increased tractor lighting.

“I would say, the increased demand for AutoTrack on tractors has certainly increased the desire for customers to have better lighting,” said Hogan.

Some crop producers have crews, who are more than willing to drive tractors through the night. While AutoTrack keeps the tractor running straight, the operator still needs to see what's going on - whether there is a deer, a tile line, a big rock, or something else up ahead that needs to be seen.

John Deere engineers also found that tractor operators needed more light to monitor wide or long implements in the darkness.

“We have planters as wide as 120 feet. Not that long ago, a 20-foot planter was a big planter,” Hogan said. “Now operators need better lighting to see clear out to the edges of that wider equipment, plus they are working at faster speeds today.”

John Deere offers a Deluxe lighting package for the new 8R tractors that include four additional halogen lights on the front of the tractor plus a rotary beacon light.

“If you are manually steering the tractor, the Deluxe lights - additional lights on the roof and the beltline of the tractor - help with forward visibility,” said Hogan.

A Premium lighting package includes a rotary beacon light, and two halogen lights on the rear fender are replaced with Xenon High Intensity Discharge (HID) lights. On the front grille of the R Series tractor, two halogen lights are replaced with three HID lights.

Technology has brought lighting a long ways.

Taken too much for granted, the light bulb is still one of the greatest inventions of all time.

Incandescent lights use glass bulbs that hold a gas such as nitrogen or argon. Electricity heats up the tungsten filament resulting in very hot white heat and light.

A halogen light also uses a tungsten filament and is sealed into a bulb, but the bulb is filled with inert gas and halogen gas. Halogen bulbs give light of a higher color temperature, a blue color. The halogen gas combines with the tungsten atoms to allow the filament to last longer than incandescent light.

A Xenon HID uses xenon gas to also produce a slightly bluish light, but does not use a filament. Light is produced by electricity arcing between two tungsten metal electrodes.

The HID bulbs provide extreme brightness and daylight color to define items in the field or farmyard. The Xenon HID light can last much longer than a filament halogen bulb.

The HID bulbs need extremely high voltages to initially jump the electrode gap when first turned on, and that requires an electric starter and a transformer, or ballast.

“The tractor operator will notice a longer beam of lighting in the center for following marker furrows with the HID lights,” said Hogan. “The overall width of the lighting for a non-row-crop operation will be obvious to distinguish tilled from non-tilled passes.”

The John Deere engineers also designed the HID lighting system to use a smaller housing and a remote-mounted ballast, Hogan said. The smaller house increases the rear window view.

Hogan said the Deluxe package is $715 over the base lighting price. That includes four additional halogens and a rotary beacon light. The Premium package is $3,075 above the base price.

“Anybody that is running a lot of work at night, we're seeing a pretty big interest in the HID lighting package,” he said.

Especially during this long fall season, Hogan encourages producers to think about the lighting system on their tractors. There are light kits available for tractors and combines to improve lighting.

He also encourages producers to think about lighting when ordering a new tractor, and to evaluate the lighting when considering the purchase of a used tractor.

“Make sure you choose a lighting package at the time you purchase your tractor that's going to fit your needs. It's much easier to buy the tractor from the factory with the right lighting up front than to go back and add lights later,” Hogan said. “There are kits available, but sometimes adding the HID lights can be difficult on some tractors because of the way the wiring harnesses have to be routed.

“You might not think about lighting when you're shopping, but after you run a few nights, you may find that you need a tractor with a better lighting system,” he added.

Boy's Wish To Visit Deere Headquarters In Moline Granted

2009-10-25T23:08:00.001-04:00

From the Press Republican

Anne and Dana Monty will remember July 2009 as the month their youngest beat leukemia.

The 7-year-old's days of chemotherapy, steroids and isolation were over. Dylan would no longer take 13 pills a day — a routine he had endured since his diagnosis at age 3. He was free, and they could all finally breathe.

Dylan, though — he just remembers the tractors.

Lifelong dream

Dylan plays with John Deere toys in his sandbox.

A recipient of a wish from the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Northeast New York, Dylan chose to visit the John Deere Headquarters in Moline, Ill. It was a wish the foundation had not granted before.

"We are delighted to be able to provide Dylan with his heartfelt wish to visit the John Deere Factory," the foundation's CEO William C. Trigg III said in a press release. "It was his lifelong dream that we were proud to make come true."

At first, it seemed John Deere would not be able to accommodate a wish, as they were dealing with company cutbacks.

Wish coordinators asked Dylan if he would rather wait for John Deere or choose something else. He waited.

The family was given 14 days notice to prepare for their trip.

His wish was granted July 12, and began when a limo filled with toys, balloons and John Deere clothing backed into their Saranac driveway.

Dylan, his parents and his 13-year-old sister, Abigail, piled into the car, which took them to a train station in Albany. They took a 14-hour train — their least favorite part of the trip — to Chicago. From there, they rented a car and traveled to "John Deere heaven," Anne said.

Dylan remembers the trip with a shy smile, his face half in shadow from one of his green John Deere hats, one of his countless souvenirs.

Career aspiration

A boy who has lived for more than half of his life with cancer, Dylan's favorite part of the school day at Saranac Elementary is recess, when he can play outside.

If he's not driving his motorized John Deere 6x4 Gator, a toy John Deere tractor, he is rolling toy tractors around the front porch, riding his John Deere bike or playing with his John Deere dump truck or other John Deere collectibles. His future career aspiration: to drive tractors.

Dylan's father, Dana, and grandfather both worked for John Deere. Dylan's grandparents have a tractor that he knows how to drive, back up and dig holes with.

"John Deere has been in the family for a long time," Anne said.

Upon arriving at the headquarters, Dylan was overwhelmed with the attention.

"He was like royalty," Anne said. "There were hundreds of people. He was like, 'Oh, my!' He doesn't like to be the center of attention."

Workers at John Deere had pooled money to provide Dylan with gifts and $500 worth of gift certificates to the John Deere store. The Montys had the merchandise shipped home — items from toy trains and hats to dominoes and a baseball.

"My top bunk is still full of stuff," Dylan said.

Sprawled on his bunk are rummaged-through and even some unopened boxes of John Deere goodies. They match the rest of his room, decorated with John Deere wallpaper, clock, money bank and bedspread.

At the offices of the CEO, the family was treated to catered lunches. Dylan chose the menu.

"Chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese!" he said. The next day's offering was personal-pan pizza.

After lunch, they gave Dylan bread to feed the Japanese Coy fish in their pond.

"He liked that," Anne said. "That's more North Country to him. He probably would have liked to have a fishing pole out there."

Later, they visited a testing facility with fewer faces and more machines. He drove the equipment for five hours, his mother remembers, until tour guides had to politely tell him the day was over.

Driving Skills

Dylan was armed with a photo ID card that gave him swipe access into the buildings at the headquarters. He proudly displayed it, along with his toys.

Dylan brags about his tractor-driving skills.

"I just did it yesterday, right, Dad?" Dylan asked, looking to Dana.

His father nodded, looking down at the 7-year-old with pride in his eyes.

Working at the John Deere headquarters is Dylan's dream job. But workers there told him that the company was so well-loved, employees rarely leave.

"We're going to put in his application now," Anne said with a laugh.

Testing the Deere 7530E Premium

2009-10-24T10:00:00.001-04:00

From Farmer's Guardian

Although John Deere showed its E Premium electric generating 7430 and 7530 in late 2007 they only arrived in the UK earlier this year. We chose the popular 7530 which is familiar to anyone who has operated a Deere.

Our 7530 was an E-Premium model that uses an electrical generating flywheel to power components such as the air-conditioning and engine cooling fan.

Not only does this allow the components to be relocated to other areas of the tractor that were restricted by mechanical drives, but offers greater flexibility in how they perform such as reversing the fan to clear debris. But these are not the only advantages.

The engine is said to be more responsive and fuel tests carried out by an Italian journal recently show savings in diesel of around 10 per cent are possible when compared to a conventional 7530. Combining this with Deere’s AutoPowr CVT, which is ZF’s E-Com transmission, should add to this tractor’s fuel sipping abilities.

In the field it performed well with both the six-furrow mounted Dowdeswell and on the 4.6m Cultipress. On the latter, it comfortably reached speeds in excess of 10kph with the tines breaking down any big clods that were smashed further by the DD rings.

Engine

The Deere 6.8 litre PowerTech motor is rated at 180hp with the engine revving up to 2,100rpm to a maximum output of 195hp with max torque being 828Nm.

For transport and pto operations, Intelligent Power Management raises engine output to 203hp on the conventional 7530, but because of this model’s electrical generation, the E Premium finds a further 12hp when IPM kicks in.

Our machine produced a mighty 189.5hp at the pto shaft when hitched to the dyno - and this was an unboosted figure.

Engine servicing is every 500 hours with the transmission and hydraulic oil requiring a change every 1,500 hours. The transmission and hydraulics share the same oil.

Raising the bonnet reveals the cooling pack - no fancy unfolding radiators here to aid thorough cleaning, making cleaning out much trickier.

Slide out mesh screens prevent large debris getting sucked in to the radiators though. Deere’s air-filter is positioned up front, making it one of the easiest to access.

Cab access

John Deere has done a very good job of making this six-post cab light and airy, even though it is only marginally larger than the Fendt. Though without a huge growth beneath the steering wheel, there’s much more foot room in the Deere.

The reach and rake adjust steering wheel provides a comfortable driving experience and also suits taller operators.

Because a lot of the tractor functions are contained within the Command Center screen there is no vast array of buttons around the cab - in fact this cab is a bit bland compared to the others. And its not helped by the drab brown interior trim. But there is a useful amount of storage on the side console and the plastic trim fits snugly together.

As this is a six-post cab, you can open a side window to get a bit of fresh air, and this is something that is not possible if you opt for the four-post cab.

Air vents around the steering column can result in chilled knees and this would be more comfortable if air could be distributed more evenly around the cab.

Monitor

The Command Center screen operates in much the same way as the Power and AutoQuad 6030 and 7030 Premium tractors.

It is in charge of a range of functions, from selecting work lights to setting the linkage lift height, and because this is an E-Premium model, operators can select an auto function for the reversible fan.

It is a small colour screen though, and mounted on the side console does not put this screen in your line of sight. But then, all the performance information can also be found on the dash. The Command Center screen is also fixed into position.

Short-cut keys can be assigned to regularly accessed menus and the highlight function can then be moved around the screen using the dial before using the tick button to confirm.

Armrest controls and console

Autopowr Deere 6030 and 7030s can be supplied with the Command Arm multi-function armrest.

The transmission control lever allows you to alter the speed within one of two sliding ranges - just push the lever past the offset notch to select the second range. The lever’s thumbwheel sets the target speed and is easy to use. It’s so simple it had us looking for other levels of complication.

Like others in this test, the onboard computer alters engine revs according to load for the most economical set-up.

You can also limit engine rpm using a hand throttle. The large plastic finger switches for operating the spool valves are a reasonable size. There are also switches for controlling the rear linkage and engaging the optional auto-steer system.

The steering column powershuttle also looks after the park gear and neutral. If the tractor is left in neutral for more than 10 seconds then the parking lock is automatically engaged. Deere’s power shuttle lever can feel a bit clunky when changing direction, though it is positively engaged.
Rear mudguard controls

Our 7530 came complete with a hydraulic toplink and the relevant mudguard buttons for controlling it to make hitching up easy. It’s possible to select which spool is controlled by which switch using the Command Center screen.

A pair of buttons also look after the rear lift arms, and carry a linkage symbol to differentiate them from the spool buttons - a bit of colour would make it quicker and easier to identify these controls, just as Valtra has done. Lift capacity for the Deere is rated at 9,000kg.

There is also the obligatory pto engage/disengage button. The 7530 comes with 540E, 1,000, and 1,000E rpm speeds, all of which are chosen using the Command Center terminal.

The hydraulic push back hitch gets its own dedicated spool control switch rather than having to swap pipes around, and the spool dust caps are coloured co-ordinated with the in-cab switches.

John Deere 7530E Premium

Good points

Very simple transmission controls
Familiar control layout
Auto reversible fan
General visibility

Bad points

Bland cab interior
Cab space
Command Center screen’s size and location
Radiator access

John Deere On Display At Auto Show

2009-10-18T09:37:00.000-04:00

From the Midland Daily News

The Northwood University International Outdoor Automobile Show continues through today. It opens at 10 a.m. The closing ceremony is at 5 p.m.

When people think of the Northwood Auto Show the images that come to mind are usually shiny new automobiles. However most don’t think of tractors. Perhaps until now with some of big farming machines from John Deere on display throughout the show.

“We’re a specialty division, we show off other types of vehicles,” John Deere team captain Tyler Marifke said after his group got a few questions as to what tractors were doing at a car show. Marifke, a junior in Northwood’s entrepreneurship and management program, is from Elkhorn, Wisc. and chose to work the John Deere display because while he’s never been a farmer, he has fond memories of the big green and yellow tractors on display at his county fair when he was younger.

John Deere is the only tractor company with products at Northwood, with an area booth featuring three full-size agriculture tractors, two smaller utility tractors, a zero-turn mower and a “Gator” utility vehicle. A hay baler and a disc tiller also were on display. There is even an industrial generator and air compressor made by John Deere.

“We figured we’d knock them out with stuff,” said Marifke of the selection of equipment on display. By comparison, last year the Deere company display only featured a few lawn tractors. According to Marifke, the display has gone over well.

“The kids love it.” According to Marifke many of the kids are amazed by the size of the 6-foot tall tires on the big agricultural tractors. A few farmers were also impressed, with some saying they might look into them further.

The vehicles on display at the auto show are often know for speed, such as a 200 mile-per-hour Ford GT parked just yards from the John Deere area. The tractors can’t really compete with that, according to Marifke. The fastest one on display is a new John Deere 8225R that tops out at 27 miles per hour.

“They weren’t made to be fast.” Marifke added that the 8225R is John Deere’s newest model and has been on sale for only aweek. There are only 20 of them in Michigan. The one on display is fresh off the assembly line. The paint still had a fresh-sprayed smell to it when they received it, Marifke said.

The farming machines better match up against the most high-end cars in price. The center piece of the display is the gigantic eight-tired John Deere 9420 articulated tractor. The wheels on the massive machine don’t turn; instead the tractor pivots in the middle. In total the 9420 costs about $500,000.

Not all of the tractors will put you back half a million. Also on display is a John Deere 7230. This more basic model goes for about $45,000. According to Marifke, leasing and financing options are available.

All of the equipment was loaned for the display from the Bader and Sons chain of dealers. The agricultural tractors came from their Linwood dealership and were driven to the show. According to Marifke, the trip getting them there took two hours.