Ag Equipment Intelligence editors were on the ground at the 2023 National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Ky., and noticed that 2 manufacturers had brought in dealers to run their booths.

John Deere’s booth was run by — and branded as — Wright Implement, a 15-store dealer with locations in Indiana and Kentucky. AGCO’s booth was staffed by AgRevolution, a 7-store dealer in Indiana and Kentucky. AGCO announced its intent to establish AgRevolution as a company-owned dealership in October 2020, following Caterpillar dealer Boyd Cat’s decision to exit its AGCO business in the region.

In its September 2022 newsletter, Ag Equipment Intelligence noted that at the 2022 Husker Harvest Days in Grand Island, Neb., several large manufacturers were notably absent from the trade show maps. AGCO and Claas deferred their traditional corporate show presence to dealers Butler Machinery and Nebraska Harvest Center, while John Deere was absent altogether, apparently due to a lack of consensus among the area’s dealer groups, to which John Deere assigned the decision and responsibility.