With strong farm commodity demand and high crop prices, confident farmers attending the National Farm Machinery Show (NFMS) at Louisville, Kentucky in February look to be eager to replace equipment and upgrade technology.
In this interview from the floor of the NFMS, Kurt Coffey, Case IH vice president for North America, tells RealAgriculture’s Bernard Tobin that the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) continues to report robust sales across many farm equipment categories.
Coffey, however, confirms farmers continue to ask questions about the state of supply chains and manufacturers’ ability to deliver equipment in the face of semiconductor shortages and other production challenges.
When describing the situation, Coffey likes to add perspective noting that in the face of production challenges, companies like Case IH are dealing with exponential demand increases moving through 2022. He feels his company is doing a good job to deliver customer equipment demands, but it’s a complicated situation and working to manage farmers’ expectations is critical. “We’re communicating early and often and the situation changes every day,” says Coffey. “If something moves or slips we’re just partnering to make sure customers get the solutions they need.”
Coffey, who’s been coming to NFMS since 2008, describes the current demand for farm equipment as “superb… I would say confidence is as high as I’ve seen it and I’ve been in ag my whole life. There’s a lot of positivity and a lot of customer demand. It’s a great time to be in agriculture here in North America.” (Story continues after the video.)
Coffey also comments on what farmers can expect from Case IH on the equipment and technology front. It all comes down to optimizing productivity for the producer — that’s what put the 180 year old company on the map, he says.
At the 2022 NFMS, the company launched its new 2150S Early Riser planter and Precision Disk 550 series air drill. Coffey notes that these new offerings are built with a focus on agronomic design to help growers be more efficient and sustainable. He also touts the step up in sprayer technology Case has brought to the market segment with its Patriot 50 Series sprayers.
Coffey says the new design, technology and connectivity offered in the Patriot is really a glimpse at future advancements growers will see across the company’s platform. He expects Case IH to take another step up in the near future as autonomous and precision agriculture technology from Raven Industries — acquired by parent company CNH Industrial in 2021 — is integrated into the company’s product offerings.
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