Episode 3 | The Cutting Window

speaker-0: for an upset customer with a broke piece of equipment in the field trying to generate his only source of cash flow for this quarter or this month or whatever it might be. We've got to have our whole team on board to satisfy this customer. And with that, to be in this industry, you've got to have some excitement in that. So we call, we of course put in a TechConnect case and go through those processes. We get a phone call and there is a plane of not only engineers, corporate personnel as well, not only from Fint Germany, but from Adco Fint North America and from Man Engine Germany in North America. We have four different groups of people, know, two different companies, so to speak, but
The Parallel Path: Okay, I have some rapid fire questions for you. Answer as quickly as you can. Yes. All right. Net wrap or twine? Net wrap. Okay. Disc mower, mower conditioner or sickle bar? Mower conditioner. ⁓ good one. Okay. What's the most common operator mistake with baitlers? Over greasing specific bearings.
speaker-0: And they're like, the fact that you married a FENT tractor to deer guidance to a Kraus strip till, and were able to communicate with not only the Raven pumps on the liquid, but the control system on the anhydrous and have it operational within 30, 45 minutes and us in the field operating and painting way lines and doing all of that. They're like, that's absolutely not what we expected. As we you we going to
The Parallel Path: Just even on a regular basis, how many of your people do the pre-order, early order versus waiting for equipment to come on the lot? A very large percentage, especially in the custom hay operation. Sometimes we are waiting on them to get contract signed and then to have guaranteed tonnages and acres. So a lot of times my guys are later in the game, but I'd still say a vast majority.
speaker-1: Aiden, hold on just a minute. You're recording, you're not recording.
speaker-0: ⁓ it stopped whenever you got that phone call. You're in trouble.
speaker-2: We're running out of time too.
speaker-0: boy can talk.
speaker-2: Y'all don't need me on there. There he is.
speaker-1: I that speaks to the service that you guys have there in Dalhart and that we practice across all of our parallel locations, making sure we meet those customer needs.
speaker-0: in learning new things, in evolving, in helping the customer, developing, in creating these new sources of cash flow for your customers. else, if they're not in business tomorrow, the day after that, we're not in business. So we've got to be ahead of the game. two sets of engineers and two sets of corporate guys. And we go to this field and I'll say it, we're in Vega, Texas in the middle of nowhere. And we got a lot of German, a lot of ⁓ West Texas, a lot ⁓ of corporate North America lingo. You wanna talk about talking in circles. I mean, we're all over the place.
The Parallel Path: pre-order. happens if someone waits too long though and they miss that early order window? They can actually have to wait six to eight months on a piece or possibly, you know, if they all get pre-sold and they only building them, you know, a certain time of year, may have to ride into a good use piece. And what's the benefit besides like, is there a finance benefit to early order? Do they get a better finance rate?
speaker-1: Let me see.
The Parallel Path: Okay. Do you think most producers under buy or over buy equipment? I would say under. ⁓ Under buy and try to stretch. And he's not saying that as a salesman at all. No, that's just... Not at all. Not at all. We create the efficiency through versatility. Very nice.
speaker-0: Absolutely. That goes along with what we were talking about earlier with the versatility that our service team and parts team has to have in this specific scenario. Pedro, one of our technicians, absolute rock star from the technology aspect, the operational aspect of the tractors. mean, it's second nature to him. I he gets in there, they're like, well, be sure. And he's like, ⁓ yeah, be sure you do this. And he's like, ⁓ I did that when I first got here. It's already done.
speaker-1: When we're looking at these equipments, what is like the most common setup you guys see that you sell? you
speaker-0: The most common setup, if a guy's strictly hay, I'll say twin conditioner header on the 265 swather, FENT 900 tractor on a 2234 XD baler. And then, you know, we've got these meal stack, bale stackers, we've got the pull top ones. And then we do, we sell quite a few of the self-propelled bale wagons. And then with that, a lot of our guys either have a 700 series FENT tractor with a loader.
The Parallel Path: What's worse, rain on a cut hay or downtime waiting on parts? Ooh, downtime. Downtime, downtime. That leads to a lot of chewings. All right. What's more important in a rake, speed, simplicity or crop quality? Quality. ⁓ all right. All right. What's the best customer question you've ever had? Typically, you know, finance rates can bump up and down. We can get things locked in so that if they do go up, we're locked in. can, as far as programs and prices, there's lot of, there's extra discounts during the early order program so that you can save dollars on the actual purchase of the equipment. So sometimes there's some pretty big savings in the pre-sale in the early order programs that weren't outside of them, you wouldn't be able to get.
speaker-1: Hello and welcome to the Parallel Path. The Parallel Path is a monthly podcast from the marketing team here at Parallel Ag, bringing real conversations from across the agriculture industry. In each episode, we will sit down with equipment experts, service professionals, industry leaders, and farmers to talk about the challenges, innovations, and decision-shaping modern agriculture. From iron and uptime to technology and market trends, the Parallel Path focuses on the people and ideas that keep the farms moving forward.
speaker-0: And everybody's just kind of like, all right, you know, let's roll then, you know, let's go make money. it's really a cool deal. But yeah, there's absolutely multiple ways we can do that, either pulling waylines and uploading them into our system or adapting our equipment to accept the Deer Globe and Monitor. And that was like this one, it had a 7,000 series Starfire Globe on it and the new GEN5 Deer Monitors. or a Manitou telehandler or articulating loader to help stack and move that hay and load trucks out of the field. We do get a lot of questions when you look at other regions. A 900 series vent isn't necessary to be on that size baler. A guy could get away with a bigger frame 700 series vent or now fence-free release the 800 series vent.
The Parallel Path: What do you think I should do? Yeah, that's a dangerous question, isn't it? His answer is always buy more equipment. Yup, right at the check. Let's go. Okay. First cutting or second cutting? Ooh. Ooh. As far as the pre-sale stuff goes, it's getting more more popular across the whole industry with the different options that all this equipment comes with. If you can get in there and you can pre-order, pre-sale, can order it spec'd exactly like you like. Sometimes if we order a couple pieces and we got some folks interested, well, it might not be spec'd quite right. So there's a lot of advantage.
speaker-1: Today's episode is all about what we're calling the cutting window. If you've ever put up hay, you already know you don't get much margin for error. If the window's there, you've got to go. If something breaks or you miss it, it's not just frustrating, it costs you. We're sitting down with Stephen Roberts out of Dalhart and Greg McClure, our Southern Plains sales director, to talk through what commercial hay really looks like and what it takes to stay ahead of it. So Stephen, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?
speaker-0: it was flawless. You know, a lot of times other manufacturers will change this wire inside once, once they get used to us being able to do things like this, but even with the newest, ⁓ Gen five plus, I believe it's called the G five plus monitor and the newest 7,000 globe. I mean, it's, it was plug and play. ⁓ and then, you know, then it translates right through the ISO plug. ⁓ you can see your equipment, whether it be a plan or Baylor.
The Parallel Path: First cuttings. Okay. Cab with an AC or an open station and toughness. ⁓ goodness. From the efficiency aspect, cab and AC. ⁓ But from the nostalgia aspect, open cab. Let's roll. I will tell you, I was driving home from dropping the kids off at school this morning and there was an older farmer.
speaker-0: Um, but in my region, we do so many, we do so many things. The 900 series is perfect on that baler. It is smooth as glass. You don't feel every plunger stroke. Um, to wear on a 700, you do, you feel that plunger stroke. Um, but, uh, but a lot of guys in other regions, the cost, the cost separation, you, you'll feel that, you'll be all right with the 700 and just deal with the plunger stroke. But on that 900 is just smoother, nicer. Um,
The Parallel Path: and taking advantage of the pre-sale and pre-order programs to spec a tractor or a windrower or whatever it is that you're buying to really meet your needs and get it the way you want. are some of those features that your customers are actually looking for whenever they're trying to make a decision on ordering it early? Is there like those two or three things that they kind of make or break a decision?
speaker-0: Yeah. So I've been with the Livingston Parallel Group since 2016. Before that, was actually at Warrant Cat. Warrant Cat had the Agco line at the time. Prior to that, commercial cattle feeding, stalker feeder, and worked for Cow-Calf Ranch in college, even through my childhood and teen years. I've been in production agriculture. All of it's right there on your monitor as it would be.
speaker-1: Alright, as we wind this down, I'm gonna ask each one of you, what is one thing you wish every Hey customer knew? Steven?
The Parallel Path: And he had one of those open station pulling a six row corn planter with actually markers. And I was like, you want to talk about nostalgia. Even I didn't have that. that was. That's one of those guys. you want to get a hold of him, you're going to have to call the house phone. Exactly. All right. Just a few more.
speaker-0: You got plenty of horsepower and reserve, but then when you're done bailing, you can hook to that bail wagon. You can hook to your big planter, your big drill. You can hook to your big disc and do tillage. ⁓ We've got to get into it prepared for the unknown. ⁓ we sell predominantly, 900 Series is my number one frame size tractor that we sell out of Dalhart. every hay customer in my region or in the entire world.
The Parallel Path: Well, Stephen can probably tell you more because he's on the ground floor with a lot of these customers. But you know, with his guys out there, we're running front three point PTOs for triple mowers. Well, in a large part of our trade area, we don't need the front three point PTOs. Even though it's getting more and more popular, it's moving further, further east with the, with folks thinking about going that way. So they have more options with their equipment.
speaker-1: in your region.
speaker-0: In my reason. I'll say, I'll say this when, when I got out here and moved over to the Livingston side, ⁓ you know, through the years, the, the, the old, the old heads from Livingston, the Greg McClurs and these guys, we had a lot of guys that were running Massey-Bailers and Massey-Swalters, but they were on different tractors. Now we've started rewriting that, ⁓ just through the years and we've got a lot of, you know, essentially my entire life. ⁓ Pretty hardwired for the cattle side of it, ⁓ but opportunities around 2013 led me to the equipment industry and I've been here since and I've said transition from cat ag to Livingston to now with the parallel ag team.
The Parallel Path: Biggest hay season flex, bale count, tonnage, or finishing before the rain? Tonnage in my region. Okay. Okay. What's your favorite smell, fresh cut hay or diesel in the morning? Fresh cut hay because it's... We don't get it as much out here, you know, ⁓ just due to the solids came in the snap, you know.
speaker-0: And then honestly, right next to that is the 1000 series. There goes a 942 right down the road right now. exactly. Exactly. I sold that bad boy. ⁓ But with that, wow, lost my thought. Lost my thought.
speaker-1: Awesome. Greg, what about yourself?
The Parallel Path: um, tire size is a big deal, whether it be road crop or the big fat tires. And so, you know, there's just several things, um, the self-cleaning air filter that Steven spoke about, reversing fan, you know, those are really big options that do make a big difference, um, in purchasing. there, is there a typical package that you order in to keep on hand for us, for someone who may not have placed a pre-order?
speaker-1: score.
speaker-2: So I'm going to date myself here just a little bit. started with Livingston machinery back in 1995. ⁓ Basically was horse rack wax type guy. I got to put together some equipment, moved into a technician role and a service truck ran that for several, several years, worked as shop foreman for a few years, spent many years in sales.
speaker-0: A majority of our custom hay guys have now converted to running fence tractors. I would say I wish the rest of these guys, and that's what we're working on, would understand the availability, the production, the efficiency, the reliability of the fence tractor in a hay operation. And the versatility, you know, in 2016, 2017, the fence weren't capable.
speaker-3: Let's talk about, we talked about kind of the commercial ⁓ customer. Let's talk about a little bit about the commercial hay equipment. we were just talking about what you sell in your area. You've talked about efficiency and changes. know, years and years ago, we started out with a 4,800 Big Butter and then a 4910 where we would pull them with a John Deere 4440 at times and have to.
The Parallel Path: ⁓ Central Oklahoma probably gets to smell fresh cut hay a lot more than I do. I wish they made that in a candle. And the other thing I wish they made in a candle, once again, driving the girls to school this morning, they were spraying burn down. Right across the best, like glorious smell is the smell of burn down. And Charlie, my oldest goes,
speaker-2: Moved up to location manager there at Chickasha for several years. Then I took a little break and spent about eight years running the Apache farmers co-op and all their locations and come back a couple years ago to run the application division for the Southern Plains region here for parallel ag. And just recently took on the role of director of sales for ⁓ Southern Plains region. So been around the ag world for a long, long, time.
The Parallel Path: Yeah, we, we, we try to, I try to break it up between the big tires and the road crop tires. So we have something for the customer, ⁓ whether they're, you know, more of the commercial hay guys or more of the, the, ⁓ the traditional road crop farmer, ⁓ you know, the big hydraulic pumps with, so that we have the flow that we need. Stephen, help me out. What else are we?
speaker-0: They were a great hay tractor that not as many people had, but at that point they weren't capable of the 30-inch row to be able to roll into a row crop setting. Now with this availability, ⁓ not only does that increase resale value, but at the same time, it just increases versatility of that tractor being capable of a 30-inch row or row cropping on a 40-inch even. ⁓
speaker-3: take chain around the three point arms to lift the draw bar up because of the weight. the things have changed so much.
The Parallel Path: Mom, you're so weird. was like, no, it's the smell of toxic chemicals. It's giving life to me. Yep. Okay. I think I have two more. ⁓ What brand loyalty myth do you hear all the time? What brand loyalty what? you hear? Myth. ⁓ what brand loyalty myth? ⁓ I'd say, you know,
speaker-0: Yup.
speaker-3: I can still go run one of these. Some of this new stuff is kind of tough on me, technology, it's advanced way quicker than I have. So the change in not only the operations, but the equipment is more efficient. And yes, it's money, but you can cover so much more ground and everything is a timing event for these guys. When it's go time, we got to go, right?
speaker-2: ⁓ Customer service is huge on my list and you know between Living's Machinery days, ⁓ my co-op days and then my parallel ag days, it all boils down to a passion for taking care of the customer and taking care of farmers and ranchers alike.
speaker-0: that in the warranty, the warranty, the gold star, the three year 3000 with the service package and the fuel efficiency. That's a huge thing. In 2016 with those old style engines, balers, triple mowers to maintain a constant 1000 PTO RPM, our engines were having to put out, you know, 2000 to 2100 engine RPM. Now with this new technology and the man engine and then the new agco power engine in the
The Parallel Path: Guidance unlocks, the second monitor for running isobus equipment, weighted right, front and rear ballasting, quick hitches, hydraulic top links for all these triple motor guys. And then even on the swather side, One that I deal with the most is even if say if to use a of ad co-equipment, but it's on another dealer's lot ⁓ that we won't support it because even though it's our piece of equipment, they bought it from dealer XYZ. Okay. All right. Last one. What's the question every buyer should ask before signing the papers? Will it pull it?
speaker-1: That is amazing. We were supposed to have a tech on here with us, Stephen, but I believe, has Hay Season started for you guys down there?
speaker-3: You know, when that alfalfa is in case we get a, we get a bell it up late in the evening, early in the morning, all night long, you know, there's been times we sit there and wait on this height of case up so we can roll. so efficiency is huge. And one thing that has been introduced over the years that has really changed the game is the steamer, the stately steamer. And so now that, now that we can put a steamer in front of one of these big biters, especially for the alfalfa growers,
speaker-0: So we've kicked off hay season, silage season. It's kind of all started at once really. ⁓ We've got guys running planters. We've got guys drilling some summer crops. mean, every, this erratic weather, ⁓ the drought followed by this erratic hot, cold up and down weather.
The Parallel Path: you know, the mergers. Certain customers really like having the rear steer option to where a lot of the custom operators don't take advantage of it. You'd think it's one of those efficiencies, you know, you get better road speed, this and that, but a lot of the times with them moving, you know, that the custom Hey guy wants the rear steer, but a lot of the custom silage guys don't because same thing, they are completely figuring on cost, you know, cost per ton.
speaker-0: in the 700 series and we're able to consistently maintain a thousand PTO RPM at 1500 engine RPM. So the fuel efficiency is greater than it was, but from the nuts and bolts aspect, if you're running a tractor for 5,000 hours at 2100 RPM, or you have the option to run a tractor,
The Parallel Path: When they do it? When they do it? Yeah, that's probably in the line. ⁓
speaker-0: you can plan and try in this industry and you can have it gapped and spaced where hay is going to start, silage is going to start, planting is going to start, summer crops, tillage. They're all going to have this window where they're supposed to start on your calendar, but you can't win. You can never win the battle against mother nature. And right now everything busted off at the same time. I mean, we've got deep tillage going in in one circle and then the circle next to it where swathing hay and then in the next circle, there's
speaker-3: It allows so much more time of where they can get that crop put up. Where years ago we might have a customer run four biters because he could only run a couple hours at a time. He needed that many pieces of equipment. But now, we're running four biters, we're running two biters, we're two steamers and putting up better quality hay, catching it at the right time and achieving the value in that hay.
The Parallel Path: The one I probably hear the most, it's not the one they should ask because we don't know it, but the one I hear the most is, what's it going to be worth in five years? And there's not an answer to that. ⁓ The question is... When's it going to rain this year? Exactly. The question, no matter what it is, what should be asked is how is this going to provide production efficiency and reliability that I don't currently have? ⁓ So that little option is one thing that helps them. The right cab suspension, ⁓ the electronic swath board actuators on all these silage guys, know, ⁓ running to that merger belt underneath it. If you don't have that electric swath board actuator, you've got to get out and mechanically pull a pin and slide your swath board down to redirect that crop flow at a different way. And that changes in...
speaker-0: At 5,000 hours at 1500 RPM, think about the longevity of the engine and the components, spinning at 30 % less. That's why you see a lot of these dairies and a lot of these guys buying these used fence and running them to 16, 17, 20,000 hours without major failures, without sending pistons to Saturn. Of course, there's definitely failures and they show their...
speaker-3: And instead of it getting rained on, we have grinder hay. Now we have premium number one alfalfa hay. There's a huge difference in their, you know, in their cash flow and their, in their bottom line for, for their operations. So a lot of efficiencies have came over the years to make commercial hay so much faster, ⁓ so much ⁓ better quality, if you will, that you can, you can match that to the quality in
speaker-0: 12 choppers, 100 semis, and 15 Massey swathers. I mean, it's all at once. Everybody's rolling.
The Parallel Path: That's probably deeper than most like random fire questions. know, usually it should be like, how do I Bluetooth this thing? You know, but I think that is the most important thing. You know, like I those things are the difference in profitable and not. And that's where us as a dealership, and that's another thing people don't understand. Us as a dealership. You know, the moisture in the crop, if we've got heavier wheat, it's going to propel more like a bullet. But if you've got lighter, fluffier stuff like this here, you're going to have to adjust that to create more of a bullet type structure or else it can go over or under the merger. It's just essentially a tail flap on the back of that header that controls the direction of where that crop goes. And so like, you know, that electronic swath board actuator is maybe a $500 option.
speaker-0: their age and their life. ⁓ But the resell, the longevity, the things that we can create just with these technologies that are specific to FENT and to AGCO. And I'd say I focus more on the tractor side for my custom hay customers because from a market share standpoint in my region, the swathers and balers are massive, furs and red. ⁓ We do have some competition in that aspect.
speaker-3: pretty sure there's a TV show where they talk about this and they say, make the plan, know the plan, execute the plan, plan goes off the rails, throw away the plan.
speaker-0: It's same thing every year but with a different cause. ⁓
speaker-1: And you are one of our commercial hay experts. So what's the difference between a commercial hay operation and a smaller operation?
speaker-3: Tomlin, my
speaker-1: I just have to you guys that the thought of putting a steamer in front of a baler as someone from the Midwest is mind blowing to me because we wait for it to dry down so we can bail it. ⁓
The Parallel Path: provide production inefficiency that other dealerships don't offer. The products we market also provide a production inefficiency that other manufacturers can't match. So when you bring these two together, the productions inefficiencies from the manufacturer and our dealership, ⁓ that's where...
speaker-0: There's a few different facets and a few different ways about it. Scenario A, you can call me and say, hey, I've got 1,250 acres of wheat that I want to pay you to swath and bail. I'm going to keep this hay and feed my own cattle or I'm going to market myself. Scenario B, Salem calls me or I reach out to Salem as the custom operator and I say, Salem, hey, here's the deal. I've driven by your wheat multiple times. It looks great. But for the most part, I'd say a majority of it is all Massey Red in our region. ⁓ You know, we do see a couple other brand swathers just for some guys who branch out farther. It might be on the other side of Colorado for a specific part of the season. So there is another dealer over there that can take care of that machine if it breaks down. ⁓ But in our network for our guys that run in parallels back door.
The Parallel Path: but a lot of areas don't use them to where they're almost required out here in that game because you don't want to see your operator stopping every time you change circles or if you park today and then you start tomorrow but you've got a little bit of dew or the moisture is different in the crop, then you're going to have to spend another 20, 30 minutes starting and stopping and adjusting that swath board. ⁓ So that's a huge one for us. ⁓
speaker-0: the hay equipment is predominantly red. So that's why I focus on the tractor aspect in regards to the hay customer.
The Parallel Path: I've historically proven over and over and over for 10 years. I'll say 10 years because 2016 was when I came to Livingston. January 16th. ⁓ For 10 years, we have been able to prove that this production, this efficiency, why you should go with us, why, you know, ⁓ yes, you know, if there is a failure in the first
speaker-0: I want to offer you this much per ton. I'm going to come and swath it and then I'll bail it and then I will move it off of your farm. ⁓ And as I market and resell this hay, I will produce you a check paying for the inventory that I have sold. ⁓
The Parallel Path: You know, on the balers, we've got a lot of guys who prefer tandem axles. We've got some guys that prefer single axles. And then we've got guys that prefer roller chutes versus the flat chutes. ⁓ It's really getting to know your customers ⁓ is the only way you can be capable of planning ahead. ⁓ You know, I'd say 10 years ago, most of these guys all wanted single axle balers.
speaker-1: What about you, Greg? What do you think a Hey customer needs to know?
speaker-2: Every big question.
speaker-1: What do you think your hay customers need to know?
speaker-2: Our hay customers, I'll go back to the service side more so than the product side is what we are at parallel to truly know that we are partners with your hay operation that we try to continue to have the good service that we've always had with ⁓ parts 24-7, good technicians that can keep you running. ⁓ You know, may have that steamer and get your hay done before
speaker-1: Greg, how does that differ from the hay industry there around Chickasha?
speaker-2: Well, there's been a lot of changes in this industry over the years. ⁓ Early on in my days, there was a lot of big butters out there. We plumped a lot of big butters out across the country, a lot of alfalfa. There were some small dairies in central Oklahoma where those dairies have since went away. So lot of this alfalfa started shipping out to ⁓ areas in Texas where there were still bigger dairies and moving on. I spent a lot of time in West Texas throughout my career as well.
The Parallel Path: little window, we're going to be there immediately. But if there's a failure when this thing has 35,000 bales or this tractor has 4,500 hours, we're still going to be there immediately. right. I have one more for you, Stephen. And then we got to wrap this up because we're running out of time. What is the thing that annoys you the most when people sit in a vent? And now we've gotten to the point to where I'd say 95 % of our guys all want the tandem axle balers. Now they've realized that the expense for that tandem axle is justified, not only on the trade value, but during your usage, know, ⁓ it's a lot smoother. sir. Well, I'll say he just spoke about the trade cycle and that's one thing that we try to do is educate our customers.
speaker-0: Greg and I share a customer back when Greg first started selling in the 60s, he had sold this customer. Easy, easy, boy. But before I was out here, Greg actually had sold this customer a Swarthor and a Big Baler. And then when in 2016, I took over this customer, he actually purchased the first 1042 that retailed in North America.
speaker-2: ⁓ 10 o'clock at night, but we're also there for you, ⁓ after 10 with after hours parts and things like that. So just, ⁓ we'd like them to know that we are, we could set ourselves a true partner in your organization and we'll try to always be there to, ⁓ help you through anything that comes up. And there was a lot, a lot of hay put up out there. Well, as these dairies and these feed yards start coming in, mostly dairies in the West Texas moving in from out West, more cattle, more feed. And a lot of the silage was always a good deal that I was always out there, you know, throughout my years, spent a lot of time selling windrowers to those guys chasing the silage deal. But it's so much bigger now than what it was because of the amount of cattle that has come into the Panhandle area.
The Parallel Path: What's the first thing they come out of their mouth? Keep in mind, we are going to publish this. It looks like a spaceship. Oh, hey, Salem. Didn't you say that on the first step? Listen, that was the first thing, I think it was my dad, was the first thing. Granted, he had genuinely never been in a tractor that had technology in it. I mean, we ran a 44-40, we had nothing. so that's the first thing they said was... on the products that we are selling to almost what we're seeing on the backside. We want to be able to sell them to something that we can help them get out up and down the road. If they trade one year, they want to trade in two years. Well, if this particular, the trend is moving this way, then we want to, you know, step them up for what that trend is happening in order to give them the lowest value coming back to us on the use side. It's got to be something with market.
speaker-3: And Alicia didn't ask me, but-
speaker-0: And that's not relevant to this conversation, but he's just, he's became a really good customer, a really good friend of mine. ⁓ But in 2017, he, I'm trying to think of exactly how it happened, but, but, back, back then it wasn't common to pull small square balers behind steamers. And it wasn't common to pull multiple, multiple small square balers behind steamers. So one of our technicians at the time and I.
speaker-1: I was going to say, sale, do you got?
speaker-3: ⁓ No, I was actually also going to say the 24-7 service thing, but to build on that, you know, we're starting to see some of our competitors pop up and also provide a 24-7 service option. However, the thing that really continues to set us apart is our 24-7 service. If we have to show up to your place at two o'clock in the morning, because in Oklahoma, sometimes that's when you're bailing, hey, if that's what you got to do, we don't charge an after-hour service fee for that. We just show up. There's a lot of these places out there.
speaker-2: And so we're seeing the silage deal really, really take off and the windrower deal still being really good for us. The big butter deal is kind of a hit or miss depending on the year. And like Stephen said, with the droughts and you know, these guys are, you know, they may have to turn on a dime depending on what the weather does or they may be planning on doing one thing and then based on weather, weather conditions or quality change directions of what they're going to do.
The Parallel Path: It looks like a spaceship in here. I was like, well, yeah. So we deal, we, that is, I deal with that immediately every time with a new customer. Hey, but you got to understand Fint color codes. You're really going to use five of these, but the rest are available for customization. You know, it looks a little bit intimidating potentially, but it's not. It's really easy. Give me an hour. I've got a, I've got a 70 plus year old customer who's four and a half hours from me. He. As we're seeing those trends move, that's we're talking to these customers and trying to say, know, hey, as far as the baler or the windrower, they do the same thing, right? It's just features on them that people are wanting this. So let's try to get them in that machine so that we can help them out on the backside. a marketable unit. the last couple of years kind of being harder on farmers, especially, have you guys seen kind of a, probably a big uptick?
speaker-0: We find a hitch, we find a steamer, we go to the local machine shop and have them build us a reducer to take, know, those steamers at that time, you only had the big one available, the 6110. So we found a way, we built pretty much a, there's gotta be a better word for it, but I'm trying to think of it. Regardless, we'll call it a reducer that took these four large hoses and split them out because those four large hoses go to the big baler. But we reduced it and changed the
speaker-3: that it's a $250 fee just for them to show up, know, not for them to do anything once they get there, just for them to show up. that's something that really Earl Livingston set that into play back in the 80s, you know, when he started things. We show up when we need to be there. If you need us, we're there. You call me at home, whatever. And, you know, we're 30, 40 years down the road and we're still doing that. And it's awesome that everyone in the area, no matter who you know, who you talk to, they know the name and they know that we're going to be there middle of the night if we have to to help you out.
speaker-2: And so a lot of that hay and chicken shit, like I said, still produced, still sent down to some dairy areas in Texas. You know, this year we're in a position where basically from, you know, 81 Highway and West, it's spotty on where we have any weed at all or whether it was grazed out. The cattle market of us, you know, is really good right now. So a lot of this short weed is going, we're just turning cattle in on it.
The Parallel Path: I went down there started that tractor up for him four years ago. And from then every day, you know, he'll call the question, Hey, how do I do this? How do I do that? But if he can grasp it, you can grasp it. But so with that, you know, ⁓ that, that spaceship comment, ⁓ there was a, there was a country music, I guess, so to speak superstar who took on the line in the first video I saw of him on social media. and used equipment instead of new equipment purchases. ⁓ Over the last year and a half, we've seen quite a bit of stuff. We're starting to see a little bit of the uptick coming back on the new stuff. And a lot of it depends the area. Like Steve was talking about with these commercial operators, these bigger guys, it's about cashflow. So they're rolling this new stuff every year. They're keeping it under warranty. It's a different look for them, whereas the folks that want to keep it a five-year turn.
speaker-0: the flow of it to where we can now run these hoses to two small square balers. But for instance, like in the efficiency aspect, the year prior, this customer baled 14,000 small square bales in three months. This next year, when we had this steamer with the hitch and two small square balers behind it, he baled 35,000 bales in 10 days and pumped his baler and steamer for the rest of the year. I think I would too. Relevance of that 1042, They know that they... Sorry. Bye Greg. Bye. Why's he froze on her? Is he froze on y'all screen? ⁓ yeah. He's froze on mine. There we go. There, now he's dead. Gone. She gone.
speaker-1: Thank you.
speaker-3: Greg.
speaker-2: love y'all, bye. See you, bye.
speaker-3: Love you, bye!
speaker-2: enough volume to bail. We're getting far enough along. The rain's probably come a little bit too late. We will have a harvest, wheat harvest. It's just going to be really spotty, really thin. And so a lot of the wheat hay that we normally would put up here in Western Oklahoma is not going to be put up. The volume won't be there this year. So.
The Parallel Path: He hops in that thing and says, looks like a spaceship. I about threw my phone through my windshield. I was like, oh, we battle like that's a battle. Why would we market that as far as scent marketing? But that in a lot of, a lot of competitive brand customers immediately get in and it's not a statement, but it's a movement. They grab their throttle and they crank their throttle up because on these other manufacturers with their
speaker-3: Don't.
The Parallel Path: You know, they may put a little money into it, keep it another year or two, wait for things to come around. then, you know, then we're, we're kind of be there for parts and service to help keep them going until they feel comfortable making that change. So it all depends on the operator and what they do. And, ⁓ you know, this year's been a little challenging with, with mother nature. ⁓ we're looking at fertilizer prices. They continue to go up, fuel's been up. So these guys, ⁓
speaker-0: That's why we bounce him into this 1042. Now he owns one tractor capable of doing both. right out of the back, he went from two tractor payments to a singular tractor payment. So immediately that cut is cut that cost in half, so to speak. And later that year, he signed paperwork on that 1042 and it was either, it was in between, I can't remember if it was
speaker-1: ⁓ goodness.
speaker-3: Is there anything before we get too far into wrapping this up, Alicia, is there anything you want to go back and try to hit?
speaker-0: So... Sorry, the tail end of that, like in this region, we know the wheat hay is not going to be there this year for us ⁓ as far as the tonnage. So this is a very unique part of our industry. And Greg and I have had conversations over the last two weeks on years like this, not only from the commercial operator aspect, but from the feedstuff aspect.
speaker-1: I don't know. We didn't just.
speaker-3: We didn't get too much into the cutting window itself, I feel like.
The Parallel Path: DPF and their death systems, you have to maintain X amount of exhaust gas temperatures and heat. So you have to create RPMs to develop that. the FENT SCR system and the way our tractors operate, you do not touch that throttle. You leave it down and let it run at minimum RPM. so, I mean, I'll be on demos with guys that, you know, new customers I don't know I've talked to twice on the phone and I'll see their hand, I'll slap them like...
speaker-1: feel like we kind of did because at the beginning we talked about the different operations and the times.
speaker-3: I didn't know if you wanted to it in more depth.
The Parallel Path: you know, it's kind like a budget. know, my bank was always, you what's your budget? Well, you tell me what the wheat price is going to do. You tell me what, when it's going to rain and I to tell you what your budget is going to be. And so these guys are adjusting. And so they may have been planning on wanting to, you know, upgrade to new, but instead we're going to roll it another year and see what happens and get them, get them fixed up for another year with parts and service. And, ⁓ where some of these other guys, they're going to roll every year, every two years, staying warranty.
speaker-1: No, I feel like we have, I feel like we've talked enough. I mean, we're already an hour and 10 minutes into this and there's not very much cutting I'm gonna have to do.
speaker-0: right at the end of December or the first of January. I think it was like January 6th. But he had essentially a full year by the time we got to Amarillo Farm Show, which is what the week after Thanksgiving. He'd come walking up to me at Amarillo Farm Show that year and he'd kind of grin and laugh and he's a good people. He's funny. And he said, you'll never get this. You'll never believe this. And I said, what is the deal? And he said, well, I just run into the guy I buy all of my fuel from. And I said, well, how was that? And he said, well, he actually We're trying to anticipate what, and this gets very, if you talk to an actual hay guy who all he bails is hay, know, baling straw, baling corn stalks, those aren't hay guys, but from our viewpoint, they're buying commercial hay equipment, they're baling, it's all kind of lumped into a category, but a lot of these commercial hay guys, ⁓ this year they'll turn to baling more wheat straw over on the other side of the panhandle, because that's where they combine a lot more.
speaker-3: What's your point?
speaker-1: My point is, Steven, I told you to bring your yapp game and boy did you deliver.
speaker-3: He did.
speaker-0: And I tried to not just yap, but I tried to yap in line.
The Parallel Path: Don't touch, do not touch that. Like, you know, leave it alone. Do you see this button that says TMS? That's Tractor Management System. You tell it what speed you want to go and the transmission controls that. You know, it speaks to the engine when it requires power, but your transmission and our true CVT controls that. We don't need to wide open this thing.
speaker-3: high quality yapping.
speaker-0: Yes. Right-A yapping. ⁓
The Parallel Path: And that's one of the biggest things with the Fent Tractor is the factory warranty, three year, 3000 hours that these guys have some options. And then we have the extended warranties that we can move in just as a factory warranty and you get them into five year type warranty situations. So there's an answer for everyone out there. have a system that will plug and play and move to fit each operation according to their needs.
speaker-1: Actually, I've got one for you, Stephen. What's the worst breakdown you've ever seen?
speaker-0: He led into the conversation, did I do something upset you? And the customer said, well, no, what do you mean by that? And he said, well, you know, looking at your numbers last year, spent $86,000 in died diesel fuel. And he said, this year you only spent like $38,000 in died diesel fuel. And our customer kind of laughed and he said, no, he said, I promise you, he said, every gallon of clear and died diesel fuel that I bought this year, I bought through you. Ooh, the worst breakdown. ⁓ I've seen some absolute catastrophes. ⁓ I'll say the most memorable breakdown was the first set of big balers I sold. ⁓ You know, we had a technician who was relatively new. This was back in very much in our growth stage in the early years. At WarrantCat, even though we were the Agco line, we didn't sell a lot of hay equipment. to where, you know, ours will be chopped off at the ground and there's no straw left to bail. But a lot of these guys will try to contract some wheat straw over there to produce bedding and a little bit of a feed source. You know, they'll lay down and the calves will lay down and nibble on that. But then the same thing when we get into the corn stock deal, our guys, that's what we're trying to anticipate. Do we order equipment that we traditionally don't keep as much of in anticipation of corn stocks being greater this year?
The Parallel Path: 730 in the morning at 10 degrees outside, you know, let it warm up for a second and then we'll tell it how fast we want to go. But just act like that throttle is not there, you know. Those are my two, the two biggest, I guess my number one vocal and my number one physical that I battle the most in this setting. We can usually make that happen from a rotation point and inventory ⁓ or warranty point, anything like that. Yeah. As you're looking at switching competitive customers in, one thing I like to hit on is a big sticking point is John Deere and their True North. What is our option for if we have someone coming from a John Deere swather or a John Deere ⁓
speaker-0: But I switched tractors and that FENT 1042 as opposed to running his big four wheel drive of the other brand that he had, you know, that tractor even pulling that big sweep pile was burning 28 and 29 gallons an hour. Well, we bounce it onto that FENT 1042 with, you know, the low RPM setup and just the true CBT efficiencies. I mean, he immediately saved just on that sweep plow 12 gallons an hour in diesel usage. So, and this was actually, I'll say this was at the tail end, we were still technically employed at WarrantCat. I had a customer who had never done big squares, ⁓ but got a big corn stock contract. And this is November. ⁓ we actually, Maddie had just been born. We had a newborn. ⁓ You can play stick-tastic on a time. to A, help the custom hay guys generate revenue, but at the same time with hay markets down, quantities down, tonnages down, at some point we're going to need more feedstuffs. So it's a very hard game of guessing. As a company, we don't want to order in a lot of the very specific stuff, say for example, for corn stocks.
The Parallel Path: I just had to ask, because like I said, Salem said that on the first episode and I don't know if you've listened to that episode yet. better have. I absolutely have. absolutely have. And totally middle named her and said, Steven Roberts is going to hate that you said that. It was hilarious. It was Oh yes. Yes. Yes. All right. That was a fantastic episode. I want to thank you for spending some quality time with us today, Steven. A plus yapping game. Baylor tractor setup, what can we do so that they, cause they're going to want to keep their guidance lines cause they've been running those guidance lines for years. What's our option there? So we actually have, we have a few different options. ⁓ There's a few different companies that make bridge kits that are available for tractors and swathers, you know, specific to the custom hay operation. Where essentially we run the bridge kit. ⁓ They take their existing.
speaker-3: That'll really make it more cool.
speaker-0: So, you know, it's a crazy deal. He went from two tractor payments to one. You know, say he went from $150,000 in tractor payments to $75,000 in tractor payment. Cut his diesel usage in half. Obviously, you know, then you don't think about all the other efficiencies. His road speed, getting between all these things, went from 22.5 to 34 miles an hour. ⁓ With the Gold Star plan, we came out there and did every service. He didn't pay for the oil changes. He didn't pay for any of that. Of course, we go out there to get these bailers started. We don't show up out there until midnight to get these bailers started. ⁓ It's so cold. My phone has the little thermometer on there and says like, we're not going to work today. I mean, my phone is in my jeans under my coveralls and it's still that cold. So I just remember the whole time, we're trying to, me and this technician,
The Parallel Path: And this wrap up wraps up this episode of The Parallel Path. If you enjoyed the conversation, make sure to follow the podcast wherever you listen so you don't miss the next episode. And if there's a guest or a topic you would like us to cover, we'd love to hear from you. We'll see you next time on The Parallel Path.
speaker-0: A lot of them are what we would consider our short line guys. They're not ag co-produced equipment. They're different shredders and different things like that. So from our company standpoint, you know, that's not a floor plan type deal. That's something that we've got a lot of cash tied up in, but it's all a gamble. We're guessing, do we want to spend this cash to get this equipment rolling to be here in time for corn stocks with the anticipation that the corn stock market is going to be relevant this year and people are going to need corn stocks.
The Parallel Path: John Deere Glober monitor and run it in our equipment. And we have had great success. We've been doing that since the early kits. The first kits I used were in 2014. And there were some bugs to work out back then. then really over the last, oh man, really since 2017, it's been a very, very quick install and setup.
speaker-0: Um, and then that, that, was 2016, 2017. Well, then we immediately roll in and give him this, this efficiency with the steamer and this two-barrel setup. mean, it was, it's one of the greatest, one of the greatest success stories since our United States hockey team beat Russia. you know, I mean, it was like, everything has gone perfect with, with, this aspect. Neither of know anything about big balers in this moment. Like we're figuring this out on the fly at zero degrees with 40 mile an hour wind. I got a newborn at the house. I can't communicate with my wife because my phone has got this thermometer on it and says it's too cold to operate. ⁓ It was the most memorable, not even necessarily breakdown, but they were two used balers. So we're trying to figure out big baling as a whole. And there's going to be more bailed than last year. But if we stay throughout this drought, same thing, are the corn stock tonnage is going to be there? ⁓ So it's a tough, it's a tough deal on every aspect. You know, the custom producer is trying to decide how he's going to generate cash flow and income by trying to guess what crops are going to look like. We might get to October and the dairies say, you know, we actually had
The Parallel Path: You know, we had one, well, I'll answer that question completely first. So that's option A, is we can run a bridge kit and actually use your deer guidance and monitor. ⁓ We could also extract if they were okay with, you know, if they wanted to run with our factory tremble, we can extract their waylines, run through a wayline converter and then upload it into our guidance system. ⁓
speaker-0: Um, it was, it was great. And like I said, with that first 1042, we, we initially had an issue. Um, I it was the first 1042 retailed North America. Um, we're about a hundred hours in and he's like, Hey, I keep getting some air filter coats pop up. So we call, we of course put in a TechConnect case and go through those processes. We get a phone call in, in there is a plane of, of not only as well as what is wrong with these bailers because they were used. There was a lot to that night. it was probably one of the... In hindsight, it was one of the funner days because we learned a lot. We got a lot of crazy stories out of the deal. But at the same time, know, doing those unknowns and those uncomfortables have created... More solids than we anticipated. We don't need as many corn stocks as we thought and they might shut the custom hay guys off. Well, then that directly affects the equipment we're selling, but also their income and their bill count. There's a lot that goes into it and there's a lot of guessing and there's a lot of, you know, we can try to communicate. know, Greg and I sent out probably 10 texts last week to a couple of our different custom hay guys around here.
The Parallel Path: And so that is a possibility as well. ⁓ But for example, we just, I just sold a 1042 down in Groom in December and we ran a bridge kit on it. ⁓ Because for example, this guy is a custom farmer. ⁓ Everything he does is on somebody else's farm. He does a lot of ripping, a lot of strip tilling. So A, a lot of times with that, he'll pull onto their farm.
speaker-0: engineers, ⁓ corporate personnel as well, not only from Fint Germany, but from Adco Fint North America and from Man Engine Germany in North America. We have four different groups of people, know, two different companies, so to speak, but two sets of engineers and two sets of corporate guys. And we go to this field and I'll say we're in Vega, Texas in the middle of nowhere. And we got a lot of German. You know, it was the beginning of the domino effect for the custom hay deal for us up here. ⁓ So it was, or I say custom, but commercial hay. ⁓ So it ⁓ led to a lot of sales. It led to a lot of, when these big catastrophic breakdowns did happen, like they don't compare to that night. this isn't, I know it looks like a catastrophe and it is, but... Hey, what are we thinking? I can put shredders on order now to get them started September. Any guess is what it's going to look like. And everybody just kind of says, you know, we don't know yet, you know? So, ⁓ I said, it's a hard guessing game. And with that, know, years like that when corn stocks are a big game for us, ⁓ you know, that's a...
The Parallel Path: and they'll say, hey, I've already got my waylines in my Globe and Monitor. He'll take customer A's Globe and Monitor out of their barn, put it on his tractor, and he's got all of their waylines in there. And then it also feeds to that customer's John Deere Ops Center, which a lot of people are kind of married to. They love that deal. Trimble, we have our own comparable system.
speaker-0: If we could handle that, we're gonna be able to get you through, you don't worry. So it created a lot of comfort and a lot of ease in, you know, in an uncomfortable situation where not only did you not know what you were doing, there's other factors to where it kind of created a crazy situation, you know. A lot of ⁓ West Texas, a lot of corporate North America lingo. You talk about talking in circles. I mean, we're all over the place. And the Germans, you know, the German guys at this point, they're like, it's dry and dusty and windy and there's just crap in the air. And we're like, exactly, you know, we don't see this. We don't see this, you know? And we went to Gronemund. great year for us on used hay equipment. Because a lot of times anybody who's kind of slow in that moment, not only our traditional custom hay operators, but anybody who's got a tractor laying around, if they can pick up three circles of corn stalks, they want to use Baylor. They want to get out there. They want to use shredder. They want to able to lay these stalks down and knock out two, three circles. Same thing. It's a gamble on their end too, because they're taking these finances out on a used Baylor and a shredder.
The Parallel Path: ⁓ through Trimble and PTX, but a lot of guys who have been running this Deere, this Deere Ops Center, ⁓ or like I said, this customer operator operating on customers who run John Deere Ops Center, know, he can translate immediately to them. ⁓ And then, you know, like I said, even on different guys, they just keep their Globe and Monitor on there the whole time.
speaker-0: And they know that now at this point, you know, they can get in at say, just their down payment and they don't have another payment for another year. So doing the math, the math looks great. Yeah, we're going to be able to generate plenty of income off of these corn stocks to make it relevant this year. But a lot of times then we'll get to next year and they're like, Hey, we're normal row crop guys. Now we've got all this corn stock equipment. We've got a payment coming due and corn stocks aren't doing anything this year. We want to get out of these now.
The Parallel Path: But same thing, they load that customer's circle or wayline, then it's in there indefinitely. So we have multiple options that have proven theirself over and over. We get a lot of questions. But with that 1042, we showed up in there and he was running a craft strip till that was not only putting, it's putting down liquid fertilizer as well as anhydrous.
speaker-0: Yep, my counter's counting. Perfect. Okay, where you reckon I ought to start back at? I don't know where it quit recording at. ⁓
speaker-1: Perfect.
speaker-0: two times rolled used pieces of equipment. it creates excitement. I'll say that, you know, then now all of a sudden you're like, all right, this is my customer. I want to figure out somewhere to remarket his used equipment. But at the same time, corn stalks are down. That's why he wants out of it. So you got to find these different holes, these little honey holes and these different, you know, different places to be able to make that happen. And a lot of times even in that aspect, you know, now you're with this customer and he's saying, Yeah, so this group of engineers and I and ⁓ AGCO ⁓ product specialists, we go to the part store, we buy generic weatherstrip and weatherstrip adhesive, get boxes, and we go back and create this aspirator kit to deflect the air induction to where it doesn't go straight into the air filter. Within six months, AGCO has now created a field campaign to where they send out an actual aspirator kit for all of these 1000 series tractors.
The Parallel Path: So we run that bridge, run the deer glove and monitor on a custom, you know, field. It's not his field. So not only do we have that farmer standing there saying, Hey, I just got to make sure this goes right for my operation. But we've got this custom farmer who I've just sold this new 1042 to. we go over there, we put the bridge on in it at our shop here at Dalhart, hauled it over there. Within 30 minutes, we had his John Deere guidance.
speaker-0: I don't need this baler or this used flail shredder. Well, you know, in that situation, of course, we don't just go out and buy them from them. You know, we've either got to find somebody to consign it or pre-sell that. But a lot of times, you know, what you try to do with your customers generate a new idea, a ⁓ new game plan, which I've heard my entire career, a lot of these customers don't care. which has now evolved into the self-cleaning air filter system. ⁓ All of that started in a combination of Vega Texas and Hartley Texas with us just showing these guys, ⁓ hey, this is what we deal with. And Fent's response and Man Engine's response was just incredible, you know? And with that, it's really neat to see that evolve from standing in field with...
The Parallel Path: plugged in all of our rates set on the liquid fertilizer as well as the anhydrous, we're testing, had all the way lines, you know, right there in both the custom, well, both the farmer and the custom operator. Guys, we planned on this being an absolute wreck. We had faith in you, but we did not think that this was going to be, you know, they both even said we're so used to even when we get our, have gotten our new
speaker-0: how shiny your building is, this and that, as long as you got the parts on the shelf to fix it when I'm broke, that's all they care about. And there's a lot of truth in that. You're in a customer service spot. You're not always dealing with them on their best day. You know, he calls in, he's frustrated, he's yelling at the parts team. This bearing just went to Jupiter. I need a brand new one. And the parts team doesn't know, like, hey, we have never even seen one of these. We don't know what that looks like. Where's this bearing? That's not the right answer. with one of the most down to earth funny customers that we have in this group of engineers from Germany to now it's something that we use daily in increasing our efficiency.
The Parallel Path: other manufacturer's equipment, even when they show up running their guidance and this and that, like sometimes it's a day or two before we're even able to operate because they didn't bring this fitting or they didn't do this or they didn't do that.