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Note to Editors: Adapted from the Kansas Profile radio series, this column profiles a different Kansan, Kansas community or Kansas-based company every Wednesday, as a regular feature of the K-State Research and Extension News lineup. A photo of Ron Wilson is available at http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/news/sty/RonWilson.htm. Released: February 20, 2008 Kansas Profile – Now, That’s Rural  Food and fiber. That’s what we get from agriculture. But today there is another element added to the list: Fuel. Agriculture provides us food, fiber, and fuel for our daily lives. Yet none of these could be produced as quickly and efficiently as they are today without farm equipment. This is another in our series on national farm organization leaders from rural Kansas. Unlike others in our series, the man we will feature in our Kansas Profile today is not the president of a group of farmers, but rather led an association of those who produce equipment for those farmers. Rick Heiniger is the immediate past president of the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association. The Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association is the national organization of manufacturers, suppliers, and wholesalers of specialized farm equipment. Rick says, “Other than local dealers, we represent the specialized farm equipment manufacturing industry from beginning to end.” Rick has deep roots in rural Kansas and the farm equipment industry. He came from Brown County, graduated from K-State with a degree in Agricultural Mechanization and then sold farm spray equipment. In 1979, he founded his own company to sell and distribute supplies for fertilizing and spraying. At that time, he operated out of a farmhouse five miles south of the rural community of Fairview, Kansas, population 269 people. Now, that’s rural. Over time, Rick’s company expanded and built a headquarters and manufacturing plant in Hiawatha. Today, his company RHS produces and markets Bestway sprayers. Rick remains CEO of this company, but he selected Pat Meenen to serve as President of Bestway Inc. In the late 1990s, Rick branched out his business even further. He went into designing and marketing equipment which would use Global Positioning Satellites - known as GPS - technology for guidance of farm equipment. Today his company is part of one of the world’s leaders in such technology. Meanwhile, Rick had gotten involved in the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association, which is the national trade association of specialized farm equipment makers like himself. The association includes 650 members from coast to coast throughout North America. These are companies which are wholesalers, component suppliers, or manufacturers of specialized farm equipment. Many of these companies are relatively small compared to the mega-corporations. Because their specializations are so focused, these companies have found they can work together for mutual benefit. In other words, these smaller companies can band together to build distribution networks or find supply channels in ways they could not do by themselves. Rick says, “Our goal is to provide a networking role so that independent manufacturers can come together in a collaborating environment to help meet their needs. We help our members create a chain of separate businesses to make it work for all of them.” For example, Rick had customers that were wanting his equipment to have an advanced painting process which Rick did not have available to him. Rick was at a Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association meeting with Don Landoll from the Landoll Corporation in Marysville. Rick found that Don’s company does use that paint process, and they worked out an arrangement so Rick would have access to it. It was a win-win situation, thanks to the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association. Don Landoll, in fact, was President of the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association in 1990-91. In November 2006, Rick Heiniger was elected to the same position. When asked the highlight of his year, Rick said it was to see an agricultural renaissance. Rick says, “The agriculture industry is changing from being a source of food and fiber to food, fiber and fuel, which affects equipment needs for crop production. Innovation is starting to engage, and farm equipment needs to do more.” Food and fiber. That’s what we get from agriculture, but now fuel is added to that list, and the farm equipment industry is working hard to keep the pace. We commend Rick Heiniger for making a difference by giving leadership to this industry. Their work helps consumers to enjoy the benefits of abundant fuel, fiber and food. And
there’s more. We’ll learn about that world-leading GPS company in our next
column. K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus in Manhattan. For more
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