Featured Stories
As planting gets under way in some regions and rapidly approaches in others, you’re probably thinking about how to optimize your plant stands and maximize your profit potential this year. When the Case IH planter team first set out to improve its lineup, they knew farmers wanted to plant more rows in one pass, but they also knew they needed to hear from planter owners about what they would like to have on a 90-foot planter.
Last week, our Case IH expert, Bill Preller, explained the five steps of Case IH’s Customer Driven Product Development (CDPD) process and how it helps Case IH gain insights on new trends or up and coming equipment needs from producers. This week, Alan Forbes, Case IH planter marketing manager, is going to explain how the CDPD process influenced the development of new Case IH Early Riser® planter toolbars.
The first step of the CDPD process is one-on-one customer interviews. It played a critical role in uncovering the unmet and even unspoken wants and needs farmers had when it came to their current planters.
Tom Dorr, together with Dan Basse, headlined the BE READY Discussion on Global Markets in the Case IH booth at Ag Connect Expo. Dorr is CEO of the U.S. Grains Council, an organization that develops export markets for U.S. corn, barley, and sorghum. In his remarks, he addressed trade relations with China, including the current anti-dumping claim that China filed against U.S. dried distillers grain producers. “The Chinese have to be willing to sit down with us and send solid signals that give us the assurance that we can invest in the infrastructure to provide what they need,” said Dorr.
Every manufacturer talks about “customer focus,” but at Case IH we believe we can really back up that claim. Why?
One example is our Customer Driven Product Development process, or CDPD. This week I’ve invited another Case IH expert, Bill Preller, to introduce you to CDPD. Bill has spent more than 10 years in various leadership roles in Case IH North America, and has been involved with the development and implementation of the CDPD process.
Case IH first employed the Customer Driven Product Development (CDPD) process in 2001. We had some ideas on how to improve our current crop production products, but we knew we needed to get to the root of producers’ needs, and who better to speak on the challenges producers face than the producers themselves?
Case IH is committed to helping farmers “Be Ready” and embrace the challenges and opportunities of agriculture. We also recognize that there are new generations of farmers entering the industry every day, and we want to encourage their involvement and leadership within the industry.
One way Case IH is demonstrating our commitment to preparing young people for careers in production agriculture is by sponsoring the National FFA’s New Century Farmer Conference. This conference is an intensive, five-day event held in Des Moines, Iowa, where youths’ entrepreneurial spirit and professional growth is nurtured. Participants have the opportunity to network with industry experts, including some of our Case IH team, while increasing their practical knowledge, global perspective, and personal growth.
Check out Case IH’s behind-the-scenes interview with Tom Buis of Growth Energy
In his comments during the Case IH Be Ready VIP Discussion at Ag Connect Expo, Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy, contributed his insights on a range of topics influencing farmers’ decision-making, including public policy, global market influences, and the future of ethanol. Buis made note of ethanol’s importance as an economic driver for farms and rural America: “The development of ethanol has been the greatest single economic development for rural America in my lifetime. It created new demand – domestic demand. It allowed farmers to collect together …to add value to an otherwise surplus commodity.”
Before your days fill up with fieldwork, I invite you to visit one of Case IH’s three state-of-the-art agricultural equipment manufacturing facilities located throughout the Midwest for a behind-the-scenes look of what it takes to breathe life into your favorite Case IH equipment.
Plant tours are free and each facility offers something different on the assembly line. Visit the Case IH Plant Tours section for more information about each plant and scheduling tours, but in the meantime, here is a quick preview of what you’ll find at each facility:
Check out Case IH’s one-on-one, behind-the-scenes interview with Rep. Jim Nussle
As a panelist for the Case IH Be Ready VIP Discussion at Ag Connect Expo, Jim Nussle, former U.S. House of Representatives, contributed his insights on a range of topics influencing farmers’ decision-making, including public policy, global market influences, and the future of ethanol. In his comments, Nussle emphasized the importance of farmers connecting with policy makers to explain how long-term policies will impact agriculture operations and their bottom lines: “Engagement in the process is probably the most important factor that producers can take advantage of now more than ever before.”
Case IH high-horsepower diesel engines feature the world-class design innovation of Fiat Powertrain Technologies, a global company that makes more than 2.6 million engines every year and is a sister company of Case IH.
In last week’s blog post, “Engine Ed: What’s the 4-1-1 on Case IH’s 2011 Lineup?” David Stark walked us through some key features of the new Case IH engines and explained how they work together to provide Case IH’s 2011 lineup of Steiger®, Magnum™, and Puma™ tractors with the power, performance, and fuel efficiency you need to get the job done.
With that said, I know many of you are curious about Case IH’s partnership with Fiat Powertrain Technologies (FPT), so I wanted to provide some background about this partnership and what it means for you.
Dan Basse, together with Tom Dorr, headlined the BE READY Discussion on Global Markets in the Case IH booth at Ag Connect Expo. Basse is President of AgResource Company, a domestic and international agricultural research firm that forecasts domestic and world agricultural price trends. In his remarks, he expressed the need for farmers to understand how political concerns and food safety issues, both in the U.S. and abroad, influence trade relationships, in order to make sound marketing decisions and control how agricultural commodities compete in the global marketplace. “All of a sudden you all have to be embroiled in this world market and understand relationships of grain prices, not only at your local elevator, but what they’re trading in Dalian, Australia, Europe, and Russia,” Basse explained. “These are all big factors that will drive your profitability.”
General Wesley K. Clark drew a record crowd in the Case IH booth at Ag Connect Expo. General Clark’s comments focused on the national security implications of the United States’ foreign oil dependence and agriculture’s role for providing alternative energy sources, such as ethanol. “In the agricultural business, you are the most productive sector of America. You’re the sector that made America great,” he declared. “Now we’ve got to take that productivity out of agriculture and move it to the next level. And that is to produce a liquid fuel that will free us from dependence on imported oil in the near term.”
