Challenge: Dealing with supply chain issues in the farm equipment vertical

Andrea Cannon, a veteran account executive from LocaliQ, knew that a local farm equipment dealer could use some assistance dealing with the issues causing many businesses trouble this past year.

“[The farm equipment] dealer had trouble getting equipment due to the supply chain problems,” said Cannon. “This is a locally owned company that specializes in selling commercial equipment to customers.”

While Cannon obviously couldn’t solve the supply chain issues for the farm equipment business, she was able to ease the burden of their potential advertising costs by turning to AdMall.

Solution: Investigate AdMall’s farm equipment co-​op report options

“I called on a farm equipment dealer of KIOTI, Toro, and Exmark,” said Cannon. “I used AdMall to gain an understanding of what co-​op existed, how each plan worked, and if there were marketing contacts available for each brand.”

“AdMall provided a wealth of information. The co-​op details for each vendor were very beneficial.” 

Result: A six-​month digital advertising agreement

After pitching her digital campaign, the farm equipment dealer agreed to a six-​month contract

worth $21,750. The campaign consisted of SEM and social carousel ads.

“[AdMall] is easy to navigate,” said Cannon. “A couple of clicks and I can find generally what I want. AdMall helped me speak high level about co-​op plans.”

Farm equipment dealers sell new and used tractors, combines, balers, harrows, etc. to farmers. These dealers are heavily concentrated in the farm-​rich states of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois, among others. In addition to selling equipment and parts, these businesses also supply repair and maintenance services and offer advice on how to use the equipment. Urban expansion has caused many dealers to extend their inventory to include residential lawn and garden equipment, tools and replacement parts.

Major manufacturers of farm equipment include John Deere, AGCO, Husqvarna and CNH Industrial. In many cases, the dealer may act more as a wholesaler than a retailer. In other cases, dealers may carry more than one manufacturer’s line or specialized equipment, often referred to as short lines. 

Consolidation in the farm equipment industry has been taking place for nearly 100 years, as fewer people farm more acreage. To meet the changing needs of agriculture, farm equipment is getting bigger and more productive, but the market overall is shrinking. Dealers face competition from each other and from equipment leasing companies. Dealers often work as the middle link between manufacturers and farmers. Leading dealer companies with multiple store locations include Titan Machinery, RDO, and Ag-Pro. 

Approximately 7,800 businesses operate at the wholesale level and report about $71 billion in annual revenue in the agricultural, garden and farm equipment industry. Farm equipment manufacturing and dealers support approximately 120,000 jobs in the U.S.

Farmer purchasing power varies with respect to factors such as crop and livestock prices and government subsidy programs, so investment in new equipment shifts widely from year to year. The number of large-​scale farms has decreased significantly in recent decades partially because of efficiency and mechanization. As contraction occurs in the industry, these dealers may shift their focus to lifestyle farms and expand product offerings to include animal feed and garden supplies. Dealers realize the economic impact of the COVID-​19 pandemic and anticipate that many farm operations will forego expensive purchases. Manufacturers project a 12.8% decline in downstream demand.

AdMall maintains a database of detailed co-​op funding/​market development programs for over 10,000 brands. There is no cost for vendors to have their co-​op advertising program details listed in the AdMall intelligence system. When vendors share their co-​op plan with AdMall, their local dealers can have the kind of success experienced by this beauty salon and this window treatment retailer.