Jim Walker

Company

Case IH

Job Title

Vice President, N.A. Case IH Agricultural Business

Location

Racine, WI

Are you a Master or a Maverick?

I think I'm a little of both. Being a Master means being able to contribute by having a deep understanding of the heritage of your industry. After three decades in the Industry and being actively engaged in the market place, I think I can say I have that Master experience. Being a Maverick means going beyond the boundaries of tradition. That means taking risks and creating solutions with ideas that haven’t ever been tried or proven. I think the successes we’ve enjoyed at Case IH certainly have this Maverick thinking as a foundation.

What is your main concern about the ag industry – currently and in the future? What keeps you up at night?

The last few years in North American agriculture will change it forever. Producers today have impeccable balance sheets driven by this time period of extraordinary net farm income. Along with this, input costs have dramatically increased. Producers are handling more money than ever before and the margin for error is slim. Under these economic conditions, there is a finite amount of acreage that will be tilled. Therefore, producers must get every penny of profitability possible out of each and every acre farmed. Assessing their opportunities can be difficult. At Case IH, it’s our job to help producers be ready by offering the most innovative equipment, assisted by value added people in the field and supported by a dealer network that delivers an extraordinary customer experience.

What would you say to policy makers if you had the chance?

They should understand that the payments made directly to producers in the form of crop subsidies is a relatively low portion of the current Farm Bill and that common sentiment is that they are ready to give this up in a new Farm Bill. The real need of producers is catastrophic protection. This year’s drought should make that more clear than ever.