An open letter to John Deere (Deere & Co)

Zero Commission Livestock Selling - Agents and Private sellers, you can now sell your Livestock for free on Farm Tender. Check out how it works here.

To receive this newsletter in your inbox each day, just register with Farm Tender here.

By Dwain Duxson

An open letter to John Deere (Deere & Co) - Firstly, I don't mean to pick on you guys, but we needed an example, and you guys were the first that came to mind. But this subject applies to your competitors as well. I wrote something similar to the Case IH (CNH Industrial) guys a few months back, and I think it fell on deaf ears. 

We have a problem. You're overcomplicating your Machines, and it's probably not affecting you at this point, but it's affecting your supply chain. By that, I mean your Dealers, the Mechanics and, more importantly, your customers.

The problem is there is too much technology in your products. I can only speak from an Australian point of view, but I'm sure it's universal. We talk to alot of Farmers, and many have indicated that it's very unnerving and overwhelming (exciting, too) to take ownership of the latest model of something.

Your dealers are under pressure. They are struggling to find Mechanics (you might call them Technicians) because they are confused too. Mechanics love fixing stuff, but it's no longer about that. It's been taken away from them with these modern Machines, the computers now do the fixing. Hence the reason why many Mechanics are leaving these complex jobs and going back to simple ones. It's also the reason why Dealers are struggling to find new Mechanics. 

One Farmer said that it's not about buying a brand (eg John Deere) anymore. They will buy off a Dealer that has the most capable back-up service. The colour (brand) is secondary now. The wonderful data you collect is telling you "x", so you are pursuing that (more technology), but the customer is saying "y" (less technology), which you might not be aware of. I think your data is biasing you in your unwavering pursuit of technology above all. Talk to the Dealers, the Mechanics, the Farmer's, I think you'll find there are parts of your chain that are breaking, and that might catch up with you one day. I write this only to be constructive and helpful. 

End of message