Shortline manufacturers of farm equipment and support services have filled a vital niche in the role to mechanize agricultural production. These manufacturers have also played a vital part in the financial health and growth of farm equipment dealerships as well.
The early days of farm equipment sales found a dealer of almost every 'major' brand in every county in the country. These early dealers mostly replaced draft animal power with tractors and the plows, harrows, cultivators and planters that they pulled. The market then opened up for other equipment, especially for forage production. Dozens of company names made their entrance such as McCormick, Deering, Hesston, Vermeer, Gehl, New Idea and New Holland then Bush Hog, Woods and Sidewinder come to mind on the rotary cutter side. Cotton, peanuts, sugar cane all had their own set of companies that catered to these southern crops.
All these were perfect fits for certain areas and were great companion equipment to utilize the new horsepower on farms of all sizes. Down through the years some of the shortlines were purchased by the main liners; a few survived either as a company with their brand name. During the heydays of production many shortliners produced products for the 'bigs' that they rebranded and sold — but that never seemed to work well long term. It is hard to serve 2 masters. The shortliners usually had skill sets that allowed them to develop, produce and market a product or products that was their 'baby' and were proud and knowledgeable of the market it served. They were also more flexible in general.
Shortliners have some great success stories and many continue to grow. However, many fell by the wayside or were again purchased by the majors.
We were a Gehl dealer. Gehl was a provider of forage machinery to the small to mid-size dairies. They were good. We were called to Louisville for a 'think tank' meeting during a National Farm Machinery Show. Gehl had their financial people there and they extolled the goal that they were on the way to dominate the hay and forage market. A few months later they exited the farm equipment market all together. The small dairies were falling like flies (some pun intended) and thus so did their need for forage equipment. This is an example where the market served by a shortliner simply disappeared. Gehl continued with their industrial line, then sold this segment as well.
Robert Ratliff, the founder of AGCO had a different attitude about shortliners. He liked them, he bought a bunch of them. The other stuffed shirts in the industry made fun of Agco and their 'coat of many colors' brands. Tye, Glenco, Farm Hand, New Idea, Hesston, Sunflower, Spra-Coup, GSI, Farm Fans and a bunch of others I have overlooked I am sure, were acquired by Ratliff and company; 21 in all during his term. When asked by the press and others why he didn't paint them all the same color, he made this statement, "My wife needed a vacuum cleaner, and as much as I hated to, we went to Wal-mart. There I looked at rows of vacuums and made our selection. It dawned on me why not do the same with disc mowers or hay balers. No matter which brand is selected, AGCO gets the money. It also gets our foot in the door of many dealerships who hold these contracts to build a relationship. Then we can add other lines and get more of the market instead of just limiting ourselves to dealers." As more VP's were added and 2 of the founders of AGCO were killed in a tragic plane crash, Bob's idea slowly gave way to the 'normal' way of selling farm equipment — all painted the same color — and many brands went away: right, wrong or indifferent, we will never know.
One shortliner fell afoul of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). HFI, or Hay Forage Industries was the subject. HFI was founded from the ashes of Fiat Agri exiting Hesston Kansas. AGCO and Case bought and funded the plant 50/50 which made hay and forage equipment. The same product was produced for both of the bigs. When a baler was decaled Case-IH an identical one was produced with the AGCO, NI or Hesston decal attached, the cost was exactly the same. Case or AGCO could sell the product for whatever they wanted. Then the Case, New Holland, Ford merger occurred and the SEC said "Hold on there, CNH, this could constitute a monopoly of the market." Therefore, due to pressure, Case wound up selling their half of HFI to AGCO. This was kind of a shock to young AGCO, but the possibilities spurred them to execute the purchase. The quirk to the Hesston plant is that it was owned by Fiat, then sold to AGCO and Case. Then Fiat purchased New Holland and then merged them with Case. Had AGCO not purchased all of Hesston then Fiat would have ended up buying back what it had just sold! One needs a road map to follow these things sometimes.
Rotary cutter lines are ones that pop into mind when thinking about shortlines. Sidewinder (the inventor of the "Stump Jumper"), Bush Hog, Schulte, Alamo, Hyco /Big Bee, Taylor Pittsburg, Rhino, Woods and many others all competed in the bush hogging business. Bush Hog sure found it nice to be the icon of the industry making a verb out of their brand. Many of these brands tried to sell their cutters to the majors, painting, decaling and delivering to their brand of dealers with aforementioned hit and miss results. Then consolidation hit. Now Bush Hog, Schulte, Alamo and Rhino all abide under the Alamo tent. It is crowded there, trust me. The shortline rotary cutter business is one of the most competitive segments that exists and is the most popular shortline product a major dealer handles.
All the shortliners are staffed just like the big guys on a smaller scale. While not in the farm equipment market, we had a customer who was a territory manager for Homelight. Remember the generators, weed whackers, chain saws, blowers and the works? We had a great business with our rep as we took all the extras and closeouts from his large commercial accounts. One day he came into the store proudly wearing a logo shirt and with his chest beating he announced a major had bought Green Machine and Homelight. He was kind of short in stature and we swore he grew a half foot. A few months later when he came in for the weekend, he took off his shirt and stomped on it. Seems the company had decided it was a bad move and fired all the reps and later sold the company.
During the 1980's and the shrinking of the industry there were thousands of employees like our rep who lost jobs. Some were hired by the acquiring companies; some exited the ag segment. Whenever anyone looks at a brand or company, rest assured there are NO giant machines out there that spit out products and places them on dealer lots. It is PEOPLE, just like you and me, that run them. There are and have been some geniuses, and some, well let's just say not so mentally inclined.
To run a company it takes brains, dedication and relationships working the right market with the right product at the right time. It doesn't hurt to have a bit of luck as well and one must be ready to change. An example is Holland and Mechanical tobacco sitters. They sold all they could build until a Washington decree shut down tobacco, they had to pivot to veggie planters and a smaller market that they could grow. A machine didn't do that — it was their people whose job it was to save the company.
Shortliners have also made machinery built by the big guys better, almost without exception. The main builders of planters would never admit their units could skip a row. Dickey-john saw the issue and built a monitor for all planters. What planter today does not have a monitor? Row cleaners were not deemed necessary until Martin Industries proved their worth. Allis-Chalmers produced a small round hay baler. Now it is argued as to the conversations, but the idea was nixed to make a bigger bale, thus enter the Vermeer brothers and the rest is history. Cabs on tractors, clod-busting tillage tools, minimum tillage tools, sprayers, drones, fertilizer spreaders and on and on goes the list of shortline innovations that allowed the market to be more efficient in agricultural production. European shortliners are also players here in the Americas. Disc mowers, rakes, tedders, forage harvesters from European shortliners have a large chunk of what used to be only an American made product market.
Finally, today one continually hears the term ‘purity.’ This means the big companies want only their product on the lot of 'their' dealers. Branding is a hot term in the industry. They want their brand to be promoted as all a customer needs. If they do not build it then you, Mr. Customer, do not need it. This is almost like a war on shortliners’ innovation. My daughter worked for a company that brought new products and services to the ag industry and market. This requires time and huge amounts of investment cash. They connected innovators with producers and manufacturers with the goal of bringing modern technology into the ag market.
Let us just say ‘open arms’ is not a term used to describe the major manufacturers toward innovators per my eavesdropping during her time there. Many innovations were purchased just to be shelved so others could not beat them to the market with this product. Many new products were purchased by investment groups and then picked apart for 1 or 2 features, sold to the industry, then scrapped the rest.
The fallacy of purity is the thought that all customers buy the brand. Wrong. Customers largely buy from the dealer, specifically the salesman they trust. Dealers are forced to forgo many dollars in profits by not carrying popular side lines that are sellable in the territory. The majors are always fearful of dealers cherry-picking their line and selling only what they choose. So if a dealer does do that, then whose fault is that? The majors price vs features and quality evidently are not up to snuff or this would not be an issue. Stocking only a single brand masks this issue. It has been our observation that when someone has a major line adding too many shortlines is not beneficial as well.
Farm equipment dealerships are not one size fits all. Each is unique in markets and equipment needs. Manufacturers need to be tolerant in this area when the sidelines contribute to the financial health of the dealer.
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The North American Equipment Dealers Association (NAEDA) is a non-profit trade organization representing retail dealers in the outdoor power, agricultural, construction, industrial, forestry, lawn and garden, and turf equipment industries. In today’s complex, high-stakes environment, protection goes beyond policy; it requires a strong, informed voice. NAEDA is that voice. We know the industry, understand its challenges, and stand ready when the unexpected strikes. By strengthening dealer–manufacturer relationships and advocating for fair, forward-thinking policies, NAEDA ensures members are heard, protected, and supported. One Unified Voice: Advocating. Defending. Protecting. The voice you trust. The support you need.
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Told from the perspective of an in-the-trenches owner/operator — Tim Brannon of B&G Equipment, Paris, Tenn. — Equipment Dealer Tips, Tales & Takeaways shares knowledge, experiences and tips/lessons with fellow rural equipment dealerships throughout North America. Covering all aspects required of an equipment dealership general manager, Brannon will inform, entertain and provide a teachable moment for current — and future — leaders within equipment dealerships. |
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