Category Archives: Case IH

Case IH Talks “So God Made a Farmer” Ad at NFMS

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It’s possibly one of the best Super Bowl commercials of all time … Dodge Ram Trucks’ spot featuring the voice of Paul Harvey, reading in his characteristic way the moving poem, “So God Made a Farmer,” set to stirring images of the people who make possible our daily bread (and milk and meat and fuel). At the recent National Farm Machinery Show, Case IH’s Dan Danford explained his company’s role in their sister company’s memorable commercial.

“It’s been amazing what kind of spotlight this has put on U.S. agriculture,” Dan said, adding that in just a short time, it helped raise $1 million in donations for FFA. He considers it an absolute gift for Case IH to be part of this successful program to highlight the importance of agriculture in 2013, what the company calls The Year of the Farmer. “They included us because of our long relationship with FFA… 65 years as a supporting partner. And we are taking this torch and running with it!”

Dan said there’ll be more to come, including possibly a photo book. And Case IH wants to be a part of it all. “We are working with them to say, ‘What can we do to keep this going?’ Because the more people ask questions, the more they’re going want to know and be involved.”

You can listen to Chuck’s interview with Dan here: Interview with Dan Danford

And just in case you’d like to see it one more time.

2013 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album

Agronomic Design Shows How Case IH Listens

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nfms-13-case-robGiving the customers what they want is a hallmark of good business, and Case IH practices that with every piece of equipment they roll out.

“Before we lay down the product definition for any future design, we go out and visit with the customers at length,” explained Case IH’s Rob Zemenchik during an interview with Chuck at the National Farm Machinery Show. Rob calls their approach of taking an in-depth survey of their customers’ needs “agronomic design,” rather than assuming what the customers need. “With the investments our growers are making today in seed and fertilizer and land, we want to be sure our equipment is able to meet those needs and deliver on the best opportunities for high yield.”

He pointed to one example of Case IH’s application of this agronomic design principle with his company’s 500T Seed Drill, a product that features an industry-first parallel linkage in the row units. “That was identified by our customers.”

You can listen to Chuck’s interview with Rob here: Interview with Rob Zemenchik

2013 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album

Case IH Has Networking Session at AG CONNECT

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agconnect-13-caseihInformation is power, but TOO MUCH information is, well, overwhelming. During the recent AG CONNECT Expo, our friends from Case IH sponsored a a morning networking breakfast on how to manage all the information farmers are faced with in precision agriculture.

“One of the things we find is this overabundance of information with data, and how do we control it, package it, bring it back down to a level that is simple to use, easy to store, easy to transfer, and how do we get a collaborative effort [between all parties],” said Trevor Mecham, Case IH AFS Marketing Manager. His company offers a variety of products to help manage that information more effectively on tools already in most people’s hands. “We want to be able to get from point A to point B in an efficient manner where our people are able to utilize it as easily as they use their cell phone today,” and do it seamlessly.

Trevor said the information you put in is only effective if you can get good information out of it, and he admits there can be a lot to manage out there. He believes the key is creating collaborations that produce good information, transfer it effectively while protecting proprietary information and deliver something usable. “This is really defining how we spell logic out of digital chaos. It really is a digi-cation, not an education.”

You can listen to Chuck’s interview with Trevor here: Interview with Trevor Mecham

2013 AG CONNECT Expo Photo Album

The Mobile Office Combine From Case IH

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Case IH equipment provided a few media opportunities at the Farm Progress Show. This combine doing a field demo is just one of them. Nathan Weinkauf, Global Marketing Manager, gave me a run down of what’s new.

Nathan says their new Axial-Flow Combines for 2013 have completely redesigned cabs that are common across all models. He says it’s a true mobile office. It even has its own portable refrigerator. You’ll hear him describe a number of other features that set these combines apart from others. In addition to the new combines Nathan says that in 2013 Steiger Quadtrac will be available in the Steiger Rowtrac machines.

Listen to my interview with Nathan here: Interview with Nathan Weinkauf

2012 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Amazing Maize: The exhibit

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After over five years in development the Indiana State Museum opened its Amazing Maize: The Science, History and Culture of Corn Saturday.  The exhibit will run for the next 16 months at the museum located in the heart of Indianapolis.  In those 16 months, Indianapolis will play host to two National FFA Conventions AND the Super Bowl.  Talk about the potential to reach out to the consumer.

A lot of companies came together to make this exhibit possible.  The Presenting Sponsors are Dow Agrosciences, Ford Motor Company and Case IH and National Starch is the Contributing Sponsor.  Not only was the exhibit supported nationally, but on the local level as well.  Locally, the Presenting Sponsor is the Indiana Corn Marketing Council; the Contributing Sponsor is Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance and the Supporting Sponsor is Brock Grain Systems.

The exhibit highlights the 10,000 year “genetic journey” that highlights the evolution of maize to our modern day corn.  Speaking of technological advancements, in one part of the exhibit they highlight the corn husking competitions that were held.  I was particularly proud – while the exhibit focused on the 1940’s, I thought about my family tree. My great-grandfather, Simon Oltman, was the Illinois Corn Husking champion in 1934.  With a total of just over 23 bushels of corn harvested he was named the “Dark Horse Husker from Woodford County”. 

If you’re ever in Indianapolis, take time to visit the Indiana State Museum and check out the Amazing Maize exhibit and take a walk through the history of a product that is a part of our everyday lives.

Jane Ade Stevens is the executive director of the Indiana Corn Marketing Council and talks about why being a part of the Amazing Maize exhibit was important.  You can read more about Amazing Maize here.

Jane Ade Stevens

 

Case IH Web Press Room

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During InfoExpo at the Ag Media Summit I visited with Case IH to learn what’s new. I spoke with Kristina Hopkins.

Kristina says that they are promoting their Web Press Room to ag media. It’s where you can find news releases as well as video, images and a media kit. So ag journalists make sure you bookmark this website.

You can listen to my conversation with Kristina here: Kristina Hopkins Interview

2011 Ag Media Summit Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Ag Media Summit is sponsored by BASF and AgHaven

Case IH Features “Efficiency” During AG CONNECT

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CashIH2I spent quite a bit of time in the Case IH booth during AG CONNECT Expo last week – AgriTalk broadcast live one day and the next AgDay TV taped its show. However, my education didn’t end there. I spent a few minutes learning about Case IH’s dedication to helping farmers gain more efficiency from John Bohnker.

“A lot of farming is based upon efficiency. We’ve got to get more efficient operations. There are fewer farmers farming more acres. So we deal a lot with efficiency. If you look at our combines, we’re getting bigger and bigger combines. Bigger heads, wider operations, so we can do more operations with less manpower and get the process done faster,” said Bohnker.

CaseIH3Case IH is focusing strongly on its CDT technology where they are “doing a better job of finding the sweetspot” with energy efficiency. “We’re doing a better job of getting the energy to the ground, power to the ground where we need it,” said Bohnker.

I asked Bohnker about the growing concerns over sustainability and profitability and he stressed that they have to go together. “Farmers are really the truest green people on the earth. They have to earn a living on the land, and long-term they have to keep the farm economical but they understand the environment is the right place.”

The company is developing some new equipment that pares sustainability and profitability together, in particular, a prototype baler that is being designed to pick up corn cobs and stover for cellulosic ethanol production. By enabling the farmer to harvest this biomass, he can get more revenue off the same amount of land. The equipment is not quite ready for production yet, but it’s close; however, their other equipment is in the pipeline and ready to go for the upcoming planting season.

AG CONNECT Expo Photo Album

Listen to my interview with John here.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Case IH Floor Show at AG CONNECT Expo

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Case IHThe exhibitors at AG CONNECT Expo really invested a lot in their presentations and none more than Case IH in my opinion. I watched a couple of their floor shows and thought you might enjoy a look at one of them.

Centered in the exhibit is a whole command console to control lights and sound. It really is well done and attendees loved it. I heard that the whole thing was put together in 90 days. If that’s so, then whoever did it should get some real kudos.

AG CONNECT Expo Photo Album