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by Janea Danuser

I’ve been thinking about a conversation I had at the marketing meeting in St. Louis with someone who is a few years older than them me. She was at a convention nearly 30 years ago, listening to a speaker talk about workforce development, and she remembers a collective gasp in the room when the speaker said that babies born that year would graduate from high school in the year 2010. Folks left that session with thoughts of a future in which we’d be traveling in flying saucer-like cars as George and Jane Jetson did.

In some ways, the way we operate our plants today, and the way farmers manage their fields, is indeed George Jetson-like compared to the early 1990s.

In other ways, little has changed. The ups and downs of this industry continue. Mother Nature still decides the fates of farmers, which in turn influences our fates. Politics still gets in the way of our getting our jobs done. And, workforce development is still a timely and pressing topic. (See tips on attracting Generation Z employees starting on page 6.)

I think that combination of mind-spinning technological progress and the-more-things-change-the-more-they-stay-the-same reality is exactly why we can raise our glasses to the arrival of 2020. We can count on this year to bring breakthrough moments and likely a few setbacks.

We improve our odds of learning from those setbacks, and perhaps using them to get to our next breakthrough, by actively engaging in this Association. Our membership gives us opportunities to connect with one another, learn from one another, and share our insights with one another.

You cannot fully grasp the potential of this network if you have not yet experienced it, so please, make it a priority to be in Albuquerque in March for the 2020 Supply Summit. It is an outstanding opportunity to meet suppliers—existing and prospective—and to learn. (See preliminary plans for the Summit on pages 16 and 17.)

I want to send a special invitation to companies that are new to the Association, executives who are new to their companies, and folks who feel like this is a club for long-established family businesses. That’s a misperception.

I am part of the fourth generation of my family-owned business. The Association has long been part of my life, and personal friendships have formed from this professional network. But I have no interest in talking only to the people I already know. The Association will not thrive if it receives input only from the businesses that have been part of it for generations. I could argue that Association staff and members of the Board of Directors prefer to hear from executives who bring a fresh set of eyes to the organization and the industry.

This can happen on several levels. The Association’s two annual meetings are the best points of connection for members, but the staff and leadership are always open to hearing your feedback.

Kristi Ruggles (Kristi@FarmEquip.org), who manages publications and finds speakers for conventions, would be thrilled to hear your ideas on what issues are most relevant to members.

Executive Vice President Vernon Schmidt (Vernon@FarmEquip.org) is always monitoring legislation and regulation; he values the insights of members who have boots-on-the-ground experiences of those laws and regulations. Every staff member strives to make Association membership as valuable as possible and is always available to hear what you need. Call the office at (314) 878-2304.

Janea Danuser |2020 Association President