Farming is “All in the Family” for Deere fans

Vermont is famous for its fall colors and beautiful countryside. Now, a farming family in Colchester, Vermont, is creating a new niche.

Every year, the Gonyeaus get together for a family portrait. Instead of dressing up, they wear Deere hats to honor their grandfather.

He has, by the way, 16 tractors and 40 vintage John Deere hats.

According to the Burlington Free Press, the family continues to farm and restore classic Deere tractors.

Grandpa isn’t ready to slow down. He continues to work on restorations. That includes a 1927 John Deere Model D. It’s the first tractor he ever drove.

Deere program trains future farmers and professionals

A Kansas-based program sponsored by Deere & Company is helping to provide training for careers with farm equipment.

Located at Fort Scott Community College, 30 students are enrolled in the competitive program. Instructors are stringent in their expectations and requirements.

It’s one way to train the next generation of skilled employees in the farm equipment industry. And it might help to keep more younger people in rural areas instead of moving away for better paying jobs.

Deere and quality control issues

The costs of failed quality are enormous. That’s the assessment from George Kalemkarian, director of quality services from Deere & Company.

He recently addressed business students and community leaders at Olivet Nazarene University.

Kalemkarian says that many large companies estimate they spend 2 to 3% of their sales to fix quality control issues. He added that the real cost is usually four times that.

In a story published in The Daily Journal, quality is a basic survival issue in the global economy.

While statistics are important, Kalemkarian comes to an interesting conclusion that data without knowledge is useless.

Bottom line, autograph your work with excellence.

Western Illinois University Riverfront Campus is on the way

I was curious about all the activity along Moline’s River Drive in early November. That’s why I wound up paying a visit to the former John Deere Tech Center on Thursday.

Once we arrived at the site, WIU architect Bill Brewer gave us an inside look at the new campus. On this day, there were nearly 50 construction workers on the job. They were working on a variety of projects.

Some were drilling geothermal wells. Others were applying metal on the first floor. Masons were busy building walls, and the new parking lot was taking shape very quickly.

This work in progress will become the College of Business and Technology. And WIU isn’t stopping there. Design work for the second phase should begin very shortly.

All of this is very exciting for future students, faculty members and campus administrators. It will become the region’s first four-year public university.

Quite a new life for the old John Deere Tech Center.

Deere introduces two-speed skid steer loaders

Customers who have the need for speed should be happy with some new Deere innovations. The ag-giant is releasing a two-speed option to its midframe 318D and 320D skid steer loader models.

The new option should be available by the end of the year. It will step-up ground speed by up to 62%, from 6.8 mph to 11 mph.

These machines will do a variety of work: landscaping, highway and bridge, municipal and more.

Deere experts say that faster travel means more productivity. And smooth shifting helps to eliminate spillage, allowing more loads to be spread or dumped in the right places.

Deere me, it’s Election Day!

As I write this on Tuesday afternoon, we’re all getting ready to fan out and cover the elections in Illinois and Iowa.

There are plenty of interesting races. While it looks like Rep. Bruce Braley may be safe in Iowa’s 1st District, across the Mississippi, there’s the possiblity of a major upset win for Republican challenger Bobby Schilling over Rep. Phil Hare.

You know the old saying about the only poll that counts is the one on Election Day. It will be interesting to see how the totals add up tonight.

There could be a lot of changes. Stay tuned!