In March, the company was recognized by Agco as one of its top 20 North American dealership chains, coming in at number 15. It’s the second consecutive year the dealership has received that recognition.

“Agco is grateful to have such a great dealership body to sell and service our products across North America,” Mike Long, Agco’s vice-president of marketing, said in a press release.

“We are thankful to work with each of these dealerships, and we appreciate their dedication and hard work throughout 2025.”

Agco’s Circle of Excellence award program recognizes dealers’ performance based on annual retail equipment and parts sales.

“Being named to Agco’s Circle of Excellence is a great recognition for our entire organization,” said AgWest chief executive officer Neil Douglas.

“It reflects the hard work of our teams across every department and our commitment to supporting farmers with the equipment, parts and service they rely on. We’re proud to represent Agco brands in our region and grateful to our customers for the trust they place in AgWest every day.”

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“I’m hoping that you would have had your planter in the shop over winter … and you would have done your inspections on gauge wheel arms, gauge wheels, things like that,” said Eric Bossuyt, account manager with AgWest at Russell, Man.

Ideally, storing a planter in a shop makes inspections easier and keeps it out of the weather, but that’s not always possible.

WHY IT MATTERS: As we very recently noted elsewhere here, involuntary downtime due to malfunctions can be costly for farmers beyond just the the repair bill.

Bossuyt added that operators should also inspect meter units to make sure seals are intact. Adding some graphite lube to the seed disc while they’re in there also helps to keep them spinning smoothly.

Hose connections should be given a close look to make sure they are secure and that no splits have occurred while in storage, especially if the planter was stored outside.

Bossuyt said ultraviolet light weakens plastic hoses over time when exposed to the sun and can lead to holes, resulting in vacuum loss within the system.

Preparing for downtime

No matter how well prepared you may be when planting season begins, malfunctions or breakdowns can happen in the blink of an eye.

Bossuyt said that a common trouble spot for growers at planting season is poor singulation.

This is often caused by a hole in a hose causing vacuum loss or worn internal parts on the meters themselves, whether your doubles eliminator is worn or the seed disc is having some issues if it’s too tight.”

“Maybe you’re getting surging with the V-drive. Stuff like that can cause missed singulation.”

It may end up being as simple as a misplaced wire or poor contact point, but it’s better to protect your seeding time in the field and check components later.

“That’s going to cause you downtime to try and diagnose what’s going on in the field,” added Bossuyt.

To prepare for these situations, he recommended having at least one spare row for the row unit to swap out individual parts if they malfunction.

“Every module, you should have one spare. That way, you’re not running to the dealership for one little finicky module,” said Bossuyt.

It’s easier to do a quick swap to keep running and the producer can always check on it later if the part is dead or if a contact point wasn’t connecting properly.

Bossuyt also said operators should check their on and off times every season to avoid misses in the field.

These can be caused by technology changes, such as a guidance system, which can lead to poor communication between equipment.

“The hertz might change and you might have frequency issues,” said Bossuyt.

Getting started, setups

Before hitting the field, a test run closer to home is always a good idea in case a repair or a part swap-out is needed.

“Pull out the planter and simulate planting,” said Bossuyt.

“Run a few seeds out in the yard, fill it up, do whatever. You just want to make sure all your sensors are working, all your meters are running.”

READ MORE: Seed costs spark new interest in planters for canola

Bossuyt said this is also a good time to check singulation and GPS timing and to ensure the on and offs are operating as intended.

Any fine tuning can be done in the field once you’ve confirmed everything is in good working order.

Ensuring good seed-to-soil contact should also be done once you’re in the field.

Bossuyt said the biggest thing equipment operators can do in this instance is to get out of the tractor cab.

“Not everybody wants to hear that, but we’ve got to get out,” said Bossuyt,

“We’ve got to be checking if the sun’s beating down and soil is drying up. We might need to adjust our depth or adjust our closing pressure, things like that.”

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However, Massey fell on hard times in the 1980s and many dealerships didn’t survive.

In the late 1990s, AGCO came into the picture. It bought Massey and eventually brought Fendt into its corporate fold as well. It then took over Caterpillar’s Challenger brand and merged those yellow-belted tractors into the Fendt line.

AGCO has since acknowledged that re-establishing a broad dealer network to effectively sell all that equipment has been a top priority — and a challenge.

One Prairie dealership chain that has been evolving and growing with AGCO is AgWest. It had been part of the Toromont Cat dealership chain until Dutch investment firm Zweegers Equipment Group bought it in 2023.

Under that new ownership, AgWest has expanded its market presence.

“We expanded to Saskatchewan,” says Derrick Webster, AgWest’s director of finance.

“We acquired two AGCO locations, one in Yorkton and one in Weyburn. They used to be Agriterra. It was a natural fit for us.”

This summer, AgWest announced it was building two new dealership buildings in Manitoba to better service its expanding market area — one in Brandon and the other in Russell.

“In Brandon, we were still operating inside the same building as Toromont,” he says.

“There was a collaborative agreement to allow us to do that, but we need to be out on our own. We didn’t have enough service bays. We’ll be up to six, plus wash bays, in the new location.”

The Russell and Brandon buildings will look nearly identical, with the Brandon location becoming fully operational by February and the Russell store roughly two months after that.

“We’ve also opened a small location in Benito,” Webster adds.

“There’s a lot of market there that needs service. Part of that long-term plan is to increase facilities, increase parts stock on hand and have more technicians available.”

Besides the Agco brands, AgWest has been selling Claas combines, which until a few years ago were marketed in North America wearing the Caterpillar name on their flanks as a result of a marketing agreement between the two companies.

However, Cat has since exited that deal, removing itself entirely from the ag equipment market. Claas has since taken over North American distribution of its equipment under its own banner.

However, that has left a mixed-up dealership landscape as original equipment manufacturers establish — or re-establish — themselves in the Canadian market.

It has also affected AgWest’s business. It sells only Claas combines in its Morden store, with a competing AGCO dealer nearby. On the other side of the province, in Russell, it sells a full lineup of Claas equipment. Its two Saskatchewan stores sell only Agco equipment.

Webster acknowledges that isn’t an ideal situation because it would be easier to have one consistent market approach across all outlets. However, other legacy dealerships exist, and AgWest, along with the OEMs, has decided to respect those existing business relationships.

Over time, AgWest’s association with Claas may expand further, Webster said.

“Claas is interested in supporting our growth into full product line support. Obviously, there’s a lot of balancing because there are other players at stake. They’re trying to balance their obligations as well.”

Last year, Agco revealed a plan to help further expand its North American dealership reach through mobile service and a stronger online presence, rather than expecting dealers to invest in brick-and-mortar locations. However, Webster says that decision hasn’t really had an impact on AgWest’s plans to have a permanent presence in more communities.

“For anyone in a small community, it’s a positive feeling that you’re putting roots down. We believe that will pay dividends with our customers. As we invest in their communities, we hope they’ll invest in our equipment.

“Right now, we run 15 heavy-spec service trucks plus light service trucks. That’s always been part of the service offering we have.”

In all, the total cost of the new buildings is approximately $11 million. As well, AgWest will need to add more staff to its roster as it increases its parts inventory to better serve the regions, and it expects to add to its sales staff as it grows its position in the market.

“It goes to show the commitment the (Dutch) ownership group has in coming here,” Webster says.

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“This is a natural extension of our current presence in Elie, Neepawa, Brandon, Russell and the Swan River region in Manitoba,” AgWest’s CEO Ronald Slaats says in a release. “This expansion brings us closer to Prairie farmers, enabling us to provide the localized support and premium solutions they rely on to succeed.”

AgWest, which is based at Elie and operates six shops across Manitoba, is certainly geographically closer to the Yorkton and Weyburn shops, while Agriterra’s footprint is otherwise all in Alberta.

Agriterra’s current staff at the two Saskatchewan shops “will be retained to ensure a seamless transition and maintain uninterrupted service for customers,” AgWest says.

Apart from the Agco roster of brands such as Massey Ferguson and Fendt, AgWest also deals in Claas, MacDon, Schulte, RoGator and TerraGator.

AgWest got formed in a merger of two other Manitoba dealership chains that were taken over back in 2014 by Toromont, which in turn sold the AgWest business to Dutch equipment distributor Mechan International in 2023.

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Toromont Industries announced Monday it will sell its AgWest Ltd. arm to Dutch equipment distributor Mechan International, effective May 1.

Neither company would disclose the financial terms of the deal Monday, except that it will be in cash and “is not expected to have a material impact on Toromont’s overall future operations, revenue or earnings.”

AgWest operates three dealerships and three parts-and-service satellite locations in the province, handling all Agco’s product lines including Fendt, Massey Ferguson, Challenger, Sunflower, White, Rogator, TerraGator and Wilmar. It also holds exclusive rights to distribute Claas combines in the entire province.

The AgWest network includes its head office location at Elie, about 30 km west of Winnipeg, plus its dealerships at Brandon and Neepawa and satellite locations at Swan River, Morden and Russell.

Mechan plans to continue to operate the business under the AgWest brand and retain the current management, staff and number of sites, Toromont said.

“Mechan’s global presence, deep agricultural knowledge, and solid distribution reputation offer a strategic fit with AgWest’s people, customers and suppliers,” Toromont said.

“Thanks to the dedicated AgWest team, loyal customers and strong supplier support, the AgWest business has improved consistently over the past few years,” Toromont CEO Scott Medhurst said in a release.

Concord, Ont.-based, publicly traded Toromont created AgWest in 2014, when it bought two Manitoba ag dealership chains and merged them under the one banner.

In its 2022 annual report, Toromont said AgWest “benefitted from a recovery in commodity prices and strong execution leading to higher market penetration and growth in combine and tractor market shares.

“Improved operational execution and added customer deliverables contributed to much improved overall performance,” the company said.

Mechan is an arm of Zweegers Equipment Group, a Dutch investment firm focused on equipment. Toromont noted Zweegers has a “long association with agricultural equipment including the distribution of Agco and Claas products worldwide.”

“This acquisition aligns with our aim to expand the geographical footprint and add new equipment brands,” Mechan board member Ronald Slaats said in that company’s release.

“For us, people, and local entrepreneurship are paramount, we share our ‘boots on the ground’ approach and deep-rooted passion for equipment, working towards a sustainable future. We are convinced that AgWest’s culture and working methods are in complete harmony with this,” Zweegers CEO Gerrit van der Scheer said in the same release.

Agco’s Americas vice-president for distribution, Bill Hurley, said in a separate release Monday that Mechan’s ownership of AgWest would bring “expanded capabilities, investment and international perspective to the table.”

Mechan’s resources, he said, offer “substantial growth opportunities for Agco products in Manitoba, especially for our Fendt brand as it continues its very successful expansion into the region.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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