The editors of Farm Equipment published 2 articles on the Dealer Executive Panel held at the 2025 Farm Equipment Manufacturers Assn. (FEMA) Convention in Las Vegas, which was moderated by Mike Lessiter, editor/publisher of Farm Equipment and Precision Farming Dealer.

The first article was called “Dealers Address Shortline Executives on Their Shortfalls, Opportunities,” and the second “Dealer Execs on Shortline Equipment’s Place in Their Business, Part 2."

This Precision Farming Dealer article stems from a question from the audience posed to the dealers from the perspective of an independent tillage manufacturer.

Q: A lot of shortline manufacturers are pushing for more automated applications that the operator can control from inside the tractor. What have you seen most successful with your customers that we should be pushing — through ISOBUS and on tractor screens, or something separate that could be compatible with every tractor line?

Cami Erickson (North Star Ag, Tower City, N.D.): Right now, we deal with a lot of different tractor lines and a lot of different issues. And sometimes they talk really well with John Deere and they don't talk well with Case IH screens, and then you don't get the support from the mainline or whoever's servicing that side of it. It's always the shortline's problem. But it should communicate with all. So on that end of it, the more we can make it universal, which is going to be hard, because Case IH has their updates and John Deere has their updates. How do we stay on top of that?

And then warranty and service aren't covering that on the manufacturer's side because they say that's an aftermarket afterthought. You're putting on this technology. It's not the machine breaking down, it's not the manufacturer's defect. Now, it's technology. Who pays for the technology? Subscriptions, all that kind of stuff, on the Case IH side, John Deere side, whoever the majors are is built into their ... "You buy this, you have to buy all these subscriptions." Shortlines, that's not really a thing yet. So that's the thing I see in the future, where we're going to struggle with, "Hey, how do we service this? How do we get up with technology? But who covers it?" Right now as a dealer, we've been covering a lot of it or 90% of everything on that side of it.

Eric Reuterskiold (Johnson Tractor, Janesville, Wis.): Five years ago when ISO had became popular, we all learned in a hurry that ISO didn't mean ISO. It wasn't an international standard at all. And I don't know who first came up with that. But anyhow, I fast-forward to today and I think things are a lot better. I think our precision team, our data team, I think they would prefer ISO. I think that interfaces with multiple types of displays and different versions of displays. Five years ago, we just said, "Stick your own box in there and control your own equipment." That keeps things simple. But I think now we've swung the other way and guys want less streams, and ISO actually seems to work great often.

David Orr (Intermountain New Holland, Twin Falls, Idaho): Early ISO was tough. Friday, we plugged a Claas into a tractor, we all said, "Oh, let's plug it in real quick. Let's give it 15 minutes to think." The more you can accept good technology (the better), don't reinvent the wheel, don't try to make it different than everybody else. But with the ISO technology, we have to clean up the cab and not have all this stuff draping over the back of the fender and down through the hydraulic hoses and everything, I think you're on the right path.

Tim Brannon (B&G Equipment Inc., Paris, Tenn.): I would spend more money keeping it simple and just (focus on) the very basics. As a shortline manufacturer, just keep it simple. Yeah, plug it in. I'd put my money in engineering somewhere else. Just make it function basic. Don't load it up with all kind of stuff that could go wrong.