With the growing demand for farm products, agriculture in the United States and elsewhere is booming, driven in part by demand for biofuels. This boom in products, such as corn, soybeans, and wheat translates into big profits for farmers and many others in related industries, which builds demand for aftermarket suppliers of oil filters, bearings, belts, and hoses.
"Agriculture business is good," said Jeff Dust, president of Dust & Son Auto Supply in Effingham, Ill., who owns nine jobber stores in central Illinois. "Prices starting to go up last year, and that helped business. I expect this year to be even better."
This year, Dust held a Farmer Appreciation Day at all his stores and said all nine events were well attended.
"Here at the main store, we had over 130 people attend," he said. "We served a hot lunch and set up special pricing on bearings and seals, belts and hoses, and Wix filters. We also had on display equipment that a farmer would use, like Karcher Power Washer, Stihl Chain Saw and accessories, along with Campbell Hausfeld air compressors.
"When farmers have money, they update their equipment," Dust said. "This makes up for the shortfall we had with the rising cost of fuel, delivery, and the other markets tightening up."
Jim Fisher, owner of Independent Ag and Auto in Atkinson, Neb., has held Customer Appreciation Days for about 20 years. Fisher said he typically holds the events in late February or early March, depending on the weather.
"Our events last for two days, and we offer fleet pricing on batteries, belts, hoses, and Wix filters," Fisher said, adding that he had about a 10 percent increase on the sale of those items this year. He said he is supplied by a nearby warehouse, Specialty Sales of Omaha.
Barron Motor Supply of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been holding a Farm Fleet Day for about the last 20 years, said Dave Welter, marketing manager and inside sales manager for Barron.
"We started out with all the stores having a special day in February or March catering to the needs of our fleet businesses such as farmers and industrial accounts," Welter said. "Now, about nine of the 13 stores we own have a day set in early spring for this type of event." This year, he said he saw an increase of about 8 percent in overall attendance.