Kinze Product Update from Susanne (Kinzenbaw) Veatch at 2017 Farm Progress Show

Yes, well, we are very excited. There's a number of new things that we've been doing, a number of new products that we've launched here in the last six months, and here at the show. And then, of course, this is a new prototype planner that is not an actual product yet, but a lot of people are asking when will it be, and that was our intent: to understand is the market ready for this type of planner. We've spent a number of years working on this, and then the down market hit where the 24-row values crashed, and we said let's pause. And so now we're just doing some investigation, saying is the time right, is this the right product. If it is, what do farmers want, what do they want in the configuration of it, and how will it help their farms?

The single auger cart has been a great hit for us, and we've really been studying the cart market over the years. We've dominated the dual auger market for many, many years, and we're starting to see the shift where more farmers are intrigued and interested by a single auger cart with the price point and just some of the benefits you get in that cart. And so we said the time is right, and we launched those last year, but there's been a lot of excitement. And of course, this is the first fall that they're in production, and we're very excited to get to harvest when all these farmers are going to be using these carts on their farms.

Yeah, well, we're very excited about the new tracks that we've just launched here at the Farm Progress Show, available on the single auger and the dual auger carts now, when we release them in pricing here this fall. So not for this fall, but for next fall, fall of '18. And we went and felt that it was time to partner with the company out there that does tracks the best. We had a great track system, but we needed the next generation, and we said, you know, we don't do tracks as far as that's not who we are. Let's go partner with who does it the best, and we feel Camso does. And they came back with a great design, state-of-the-art technology. It's very easy to assemble, disassemble. Even our proto shop guys were commenting when they first got the set and put it on a cart, it literally took 15 minutes start to finish by the time they lined it up, put the bolts in, and did both sides. And so that was pretty exciting because that was one of our goals out of it: was one to have the best technology in tracks, but also the ease of being able to install and uninstall, because obviously there are times where a track for whatever reason needs to come off and on, and so be very easy for the farmer or the dealer to do that.

Well, thanks to your help, you got a lot of attention with your social media site on this planner, and not only yourself but others did very similar things, and we were just getting an overwhelming amount of feedback on it. We said, you know, we'd be really remiss to not take it and show it. And again, you know, the point was not are we ready to show it, but our concern was if we show it and then farmers think they can buy it, that can create a problem when it's not to market yet. But at the same time, we said, hey, it's a prototype, we'll make sure the sign is very clear so people know it's a prototype, but we want them to see this and to show, you know, we plan like you said, planners is approximately 90% of what we do, and we're always innovating. And I don't think farmers understand that because they see what they can see publicly and they think are we or aren't we, but to be a player and a major player like we are and have the number to market share here in the US and land, you have to constantly innovate and stay ahead of the game. And that's what we've been doing, and this planner is one that we've used quite a bit. In fact, my dad two years ago planted over a thousand acres with it on his farm and loved it, and the first gen that we had several years ago is actually now on the rotating sign. I thought going so we needed to update that sign. You know, a lot of what we sell today is bulk fill, that was a box hopper planter, and that was one that we just put together for the sign, it wasn't even a production planner. But the one that's up there now is the one that we first started using and testing with, and then we made some tweaks to it. And so then this was the next rendition, and we've used it quite a bit too. And so we'll see where this goes, but there's a lot of excitement and we feel that there's a niche for this product. You know, one of the things that makes Kinze unique when it comes to split rope frame with the pivot planner is having the staggered frame front and back where you've got the row units in the front and the back staggering rather than them very narrow across the back of a frame like you'd have to have with a front fold frame. And so the benefits of this are the trash flow, getting it up, being able to raise it easy to work on, and the farmers that have the 3600s, the 3500, and you know now the 3500 has bulk fill, we released that this last year, and they love them. And so we said, you know, rather than build a front fold frame like everybody else has and be dealing with the trash flow, why not design the frame with what we know works the best for trash flow. And of course, you've got the narrow transport going down the road as well.

Yeah, I think so too, and you know, it again goes back to understanding what does the farmer need to solve his challenges in the field and that he can be the most productive with, because it really is coming down to dollars and cents. And you know, we hope we get back to the $4 corn, I think that that's what everybody is really hoping for to at least get some normality around that. But you know, it is a business and you have to make good sense with what you do with technology and when you buy products and all the things that go along with that. So, you know, from our standpoint, being a family that farms and that uses our own products and understanding the application, we feel that uniquely benefits this as well too, because we get our hands on the products and then if there's a challenge, we get to experience those just like everybody else. Versus, you know, not everybody we compete with can say that same thing, and we think that that makes us unique. So our goal, you know, one of our core values, my dad started the company 52 years ago: innovation and customer focus, and you have to know what the customer needs and then you have to innovate to what those needs are. And that's what we strive to do, and we're just constantly working on new things, and then when the time is right, we bring them to market.

Well, and I would tell you this, it's the core of Kinze, it's we're not going to buy it from somebody else, we're going to just go ahead and do it ourselves, and I think that's the part that resonates with the farmer, you know.

Thank you so much.