Fifty Years
Maruichi Leavitt Pipe & Tube

Thirty Years
Supreme International Limited

Twenty-Five Years
Hillco Technologies, Inc.

Twenty Years
Blueline Mfg., Inc

Fifteen Years
Daemer inc.
Safe Engineering
Norden Mfg.
Summit Steel Corp.

Marc McConnell, chairman of the Art’s Way Board of Directors, said this: “We are very pleased to announce Michael’s promotion to chief financial officer.  Michael’s dedication and growth have earned him this promotion. We believe his expertise will enable us to continue to move our business forward.”

The newly formed group is made up of Herschel Ag Parts, located in Indianola, Iowa, as well as Fieldquip PTY LTD of Australia and Santa Izabel Implementos located in Brazil.

Taylor has been with Alamo Group for 17 years, where he has held leadership roles at Bush Hog and Rhino. He served on this Association’s Board of Directors from 2014 to 2017.

Taylor will report to Rick Raborn, executive vice president of Alamo Group Inc. and head of the Agricultural Division.

Alamo Group, founded in 1969, has about 4,350 employees and operates 32 plants in North America, Europe, Australia and Brazil. The corporate offices of Alamo Group are in Seguin, Texas.

Source: Rural Lifestyle Dealer |Member since 1952 |

Winnipeg-based AGI announced last week it has bought all outstanding shares in Ontario-based Affinity Management Ltd., developer of the Compass brand of farm and agribusiness management software.

Affinity, which was founded by Neal Dilawri in 2007 and built through partnership with chemical firm BASF, has 18 employees. Dilawri will now take a senior leadership role on the AGI SureTrack platform and provide “vision and guidance” going forward, AGI said.

The Compass product suite is “highly complementary to AGI’s current offering and will be a key component of the full AGI SureTrack platform,” AGI said.

The SureTrack platform, formerly known as Intellifarms, includes the SureTrack Farm system for farmers and the SureTrack Pro system for processors, merchandisers and grain buyers.

The platform is meant to bring together data from “across the farm, providing our customers with the ability to manage their crop production, manage their overall business, and market their grain based on content and robust traceability,” AGI CEO Tim Close said.

In an update last week on its fourth-quarter financials, AGI said it has “demonstrated the success of its AGI SureTrack subscription model” in 2019, by “increasing retail equivalent sales by 70 percent, despite capacity constraints and a challenging U.S. ag market.”

Source: Glacier FarmMedia Network | Member since 1996 |

Butt has held a number of senior positions in GKN since joining the company in 1999, including being responsible for the company’s plants in Telford, England, and Estherville, Iowa.

“I am delighted to have been appointed to this role at such an exciting time for the company,” Butt said. “I am looking forward to working closely with my team to deliver our growth and development plans worldwide and to drive the long-term investment programs across our plants and technology to bring industry leading solutions to our customers.”

GKN has plants in the UK, Denmark, China, and the United States. It manufactures more than 8 million wheels a year.

Source: Shropshire Star in England |Member since 1994 |

“Our employees, as well as the entire community of Hector, mean very much to us, so we’re excited to present them with this new opportunity to take ownership in the company,” said Gloria Nelson, president and CFO of Loftness.

Loftness Manufacturing was founded by Dick Loftness, a farmer from Hector, and initially produced a line of snow blowers. In 1979, Loftness sold the company to another local farmer, Marv Nelson, who helped expand the business into other product lines.

After Nelson’s death, ownership of the company was split among family members.

Source: West Central Tribune | Member since 1980 |

The company brings its pink mower to farm shows all over the United States each year to raise awareness about Joy to Life, which funds mammograms for the uninsured in Alabama. Visitors to the shows buy a chance to own the statement-making piece of machinery while they support women’s health.

“We are proud to work with a fellow Alabama organization in this critical cause,” said Bush Hog President Jerry Worthington. “Breast cancer has impacted the lives of our families and our Bush Hog family. Every life that can be saved by early detection and treatment is a blessing.”

Source: Rural Marketing News | Member since 1960 |

His brother, Steve Sukup, 63, the company’s chief financial officer, will take the helm of the family-owned business. Charles Sukup, 65, will remain chairman of the company’s board.

The Sukup brothers’ parents, Eugene and Mary Sukup, started the business in a welding shop in 1963.

“Growing up, I always knew that I would work in the family business and was proud to be the first degreed engineer for the company,” said Charles Sukup, who received a bachelor’s and master’s degree in agricultural engineering from Iowa State University. “Evidently, Dad thought it would be cheaper to raise an engineer rather than hire one.”

The company said Charles Sukup is the same age his father was when he stepped down as president in 1995. Eugene Sukup died last year. Mary Sukup continues to come to the office each week, the company said.

Five members of the third generation of the Sukup family now work at the company—three in management and two in production, the company said.

Source: Des Moines Register
Member since 1991 |

The goal in establishing this subsidiary is to focus on the development of leading-edge technologies and enhance adoption of the Dot robotic system for use in autonomous farming.

The Alberta-based team will focus on computer vision, machine learning optimization, and intelligent navigation.

“This is a clear signal that we are committed to providing broad-acre farmers with the safest, most cost effective, and most efficient autonomous robotic system available in the world,” said CEO Robert Saik. “It also shows our commitment to driving Canadian agricultural innovation across the globe.”

By the end of 2021, Dot Intelligence Inc. plans to add to the team members that have moved from Regina to Edmonton with approximately 20 new hires.

Cory Beaujot, managing director of marketing, sales, and communication at Seedmaster Manufacturing and Dot Technology Corp., is a panelist at the autonomous farming session at the fall convention and will also speak at the Tillage Council meeting.

Member since 2018

The new Agrisolutions facility features a $1 million investment in robotics. Company leaders said they hope to more than triple their workforce from about 30 employees to around 100 over the next few years.

Agrisolutions produces disc blades, most of which are sold to Deere.

Source: Quad-City Times
Member since 2000 |