Horizon Ag and Turf combine to form 13-store network to increase the specialization capacity for customers
Farms have grown significantly in recent years, and so have most machinery dealerships that supply them.
In June, Alberta-based John Deere dealers Martin Deerline and Agland announced they will merge operations effective July 31, creating a 13-store network.
“From the Agland standpoint, we hadn’t grown in a long time,” says current general manager Cam Kay. “We’ve been stagnant for a while. We’ve had good internal growth, but no expansion. We decided to rebrand, just to have a fresh start for both companies. We’re renaming it Horizon Ag and Turf.”
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Kay will become CEO of the new entity.
The increased number of locations are expected to offer greater economies of scale, which Kay says has become increasingly important in today’s market.
“There’s a lot of really good small dealers out there but it is getting more challenging for a small dealer. For example, with all the technology out there these days, you need to have a lot of specialized people right now to add great value to farming operations.
“You need a higher calibre of dealership staff to take care of them. It’s important to provide those services. The trouble is, it costs money.
“When you hire specialized people, you need to have some sort of scale so it makes sense. That’s part of it. Part of it is the cost of equipment and stocking parts these days. If you have a large organization, it makes it that much more practical to stock a lot more parts and equipment that can take care of those customers.”
Supporting ag equipment will likely become more complicated as new technology is implemented. Deere has committed to offering a complete line of fully autonomous equipment by 2030.
“We definitely need to bring more to the table on that end,” says Kay. “When we talk about autonomy, that’s definitely something that’s coming.
“The focus these days when we’re selling equipment, the sales transaction is getting to be a smaller piece of the puzzle. The big thing is on the back end when we need to send specialized people out to really optimize that equipment so it’s efficient and working well and making them (farmers) a return on their investment. That’s become more of a focus.”
To do that, Kay says dealers have had to look for people who can supply a whole new set of skills to keep dealerships up to speed with producers’ needs.
“Our hiring practices have changed a lot over the years. We didn’t necessarily require a whole bunch of education for a lot of our jobs. But these days it’s a little different. Producers need more out of us. So, we need more out of our people.
“We’ve been hiring people out of colleges, people with agronomy degrees or two-year diplomas out of places like Olds or Lakeland College. People that have some skills coming out of the gate.”
Having a larger dealership organization allows the company to offer more to employees. That helps attract new hires.
“It’s always a challenge to find good people, but we’ve been doing really well,” says Kay.
“I think that’s what’s driving this (merger) decision as well. We’ve got a great team of people and I want them to have a great place to work. And I want to be able to attract good people.”
As for why Agland and Martin Deerline looked to each other for a merger, Kay says the two businesses had a long history of friendly cooperation.
“We figured Martin Deerline was a company we’ve been friends with for 60 years and seen different generations grow up there. And we kind of had the same philosophy, and it’s basically an extended family-run operation that focuses on those important things.”
All staff at the two dealerships will remain, and Horizon Ag and Turf will remain a privately owned organization.
“Everyone on staff is needed for the new organization,” says Kay. “There’s lots to do, Everyone will be required going forward.
“We’ve always wanted to run a very simple but very good business that focuses on our staff and customers, and does it with local ownership and local decision making. We’re really excited about the next 50 years, running a good operation and taking care of our customers.”
