Top of the list for April was a Consumer Reports feature on the most and least reliable lawn mower tractor brands.

New Holland dealers see a good year ahead for total and aftermarket revenue and they’re expanding their offerings of hay tools/ balers. They are unique in optimism for this product category among dealers of other leading manufacturers.

Rising employment levels are almost always a positive sign indicating a business is growing. That being the case, landscape contractors are on a roll — again. And this is also a positive sign for retailers, particularly outdoor power equipment dealers, who supply the equipment needs for those maintaining parks, corporate facilities and homeowners with turf services.

Landscape contractors, one of the prime market segments for rural lifestyle equipment dealers, continue to show strong growth potential in 2017.

Most Case IH dealers have a positive outlook about revenue in 2017, especially aftermarket revenue, and many will add tractors 40-100 horsepower and utility vehicles to their lineups.

In Consumer Reports’ 2017 survey of 11,217 subscribers, John Deere takes the top prize as the most reliable brand of lawn tractors and among the more reliable zero-turn-radius mowers. And reliability is key — in our fix-it surveys, readers told us that they're more likely to repair lawn tractors and ZTRs than any other products we ask about, even such big-ticket major appliances as washing machines and refrigerators.

The recall includes certain model year 2015 Ranger 900s due to faulty fasteners on a heat shield.

The event will be held at The American Club and includes speakers Ben Saunders, polar explorer, Ann Marie Buerkle, chair of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and others.