The media group will also film, edit and produce a video documentary that will entertain, educate and inspire the industry about the accomplishments and mission of FEMA. Both projects will debut to attendees at the 2025 Marketing & Distribution Convention, and later to the entire industry through Lessiter Media鈥檚 ag division properties.

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This special edition features:
A dedicated article on FEMA鈥檚 75-year legacy
Member tributes and industry reflections
Debut distribution at the FEMA Convention in Las Vegas this October
Mailed circulation to 12,400+ industry professionals

Reserve your ad space by August 29! Contact Mike Lessiter at mlessiter@lessitermedia.com or call 262-777-4403.

In this role, Owens will lead strategic planning, audience engagement, brand development, and marketing initiatives across Lessiter Media鈥檚 core ag grower properties, including No-Till Farmer, Strip-Till Farmer, Cover Crop Strategies, and the company’s related events and digital platforms.

鈥淭eresa is a results-driven leader with a unique blend of strategic vision and executional precision,鈥� said Patrick Sharpe, Chief Operating Officer at Lessiter Media. Owens will be attending Lessiter Media鈥檚 upcoming Dealership Minds Summit and the National Strip-Tillage Conference in Iowa City, Iowa, later this month where she will have the opportunity to connect with farmers, equipment dealers, agribusiness professionals, and industry partners.

She is looking forward to engaging with the agriculture community and exploring new ways to grow and serve the Ag-Grower Division鈥檚 highly engaged audience.

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| Member since 1970

Blog by Bill Schmidtgall, former FEMA Board Member and Past President (1995-1996) 鈥� reprinted with permission from Lessiter Media.

Today鈥檚 industry owes to those who perceived the need and took the actions to create the template that has transformed agriculture innovation in ways that are unable to be measured. Like so many other things, it can be taken for granted until it’s lacking.

I’ll lend a perspective from having grown up on a farm before entering the equipment industry with DMI Inc. (1976-1998) as CFO after years with Price Waterhouse auditing Fortune 500 companies. We all did what we would do given the chance 鈥� protect our dealer organizations, but we also hated it when trying to shoe-horn budding ideas into a skeptical distribution channel and asking them to swim upstream against their bread-and-butter major line.

I joined FEMA to network and learn the who, what and how of the specialty farm equipment industry. Participating as a member was invaluable.

FEMA created the environment of a 鈥渓oose team of independents鈥� who, while often competing with each other, loved agriculture and shared the common interests and complexity of gaining traction for budding innovation, communicating marketing information, finding affordable distribution channels, developing business practices and supplier relationships, and scaling critical affordable functions such as insurance, transportation and legislative engagement, to survive, and for some, to thrive.

The member companies often competed, but we all also had a common purpose 鈥� to thrive as the minnows among the sharks.

‘Heartbeat of Commercial Innovation Success’

FEMA was the “lifeblood interrelated circulatory system” of so much innovation that it’s impossible to conceive of what agriculture would look like today had FEMA not provided the template.

Innovation was conceived locally and, over time, spread regionally. Manufacturers built upon their successes and became the catalyst whereby majors eventually adopted and “legitimized” practices that have proven economically and environmentally critical to all involved in crop production. And for that matter, all of us in consumption, too 鈥� all of us who eat. We all benefited from the proverbial 20 years of hard work for what was perceived as overnight success.

Business principles education enabled those budding companies to survive, finding affordable distribution networks to work with dealers to provide and launch innovations that bolstered the dealer鈥檚 and customer’s bottom lines as proof of concepts long before the 鈥�’critical mass’鈥� adoption by the major lines, raising the bar of agronomic practices and knowledge.

Supplier and distribution networking; the people-to-people relationships enabled practical, efficient and effective forums to find partners willing to 鈥減ush new ideas鈥� long before they were of scalable interest to the major lines. This was in no small part because the people were as driven by their love of agriculture as they were for profits, especially in the idea infancy stage.

The Associate Section worked to optimize much of the 鈥渂ack room鈥� practices such as insurance, safety, transportation and legislative interaction that benefited the whole. And the networking councils helped create industry standards.

FEMA became THE place for people who created agriculture innovation, not because it was easy, or immensely profitable, but because they loved agriculture. And we competed together as a 鈥渓oose team of independents鈥� to discover and nurture the future, which would not have otherwise existed as we know it today.

Join the Conversation! Email your answer to the question: “What would be the industry impact had FEMA never come to exist or perhaps failed to find traction and permanence?” to MLessiter@lessitermedia.com.

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Key pieces of this special collaboration include a comprehensive history book on the association that highlights the significance of the organization and its independent shortline members and their innovations. The media group will also film, edit and produce a video documentary that will entertain, educate and inspire the industry about the accomplishments and mission of FEMA. Both projects will debut to attendees at the 2025 Fall Convention, and later to the entire industry through Lessiter Media鈥檚 ag division properties.

For FEMA president Craig Harthoorn, this opportunity is about honoring the Association鈥檚 past, present and future.

鈥淎s we continue celebrating the 75th Anniversary of our association, we wanted to do something special to honor our past and those that have come before us, while also energizing current and prospective members as we look to the future,鈥� said Harthoorn. 鈥淎nd with Lessiter Media鈥檚 Farm Equipment, who鈥檝e been members since the magazine鈥檚 founding in 1970, FEMA has a trusted partner to create a lasting tribute that our members, and the entire industry, can forever enjoy.鈥�

Having already worked with numerous FEMA members to chronicle their company beginnings in the award-winning podcast series, 鈥�,鈥� a full-scale historical look at FEMA鈥檚 past 75 years 鈥� and the accomplishments of the independent, shortline manufacturers 鈥� is a passionate undertaking for Mike Lessiter, President of Lessiter Media.

鈥淲e are thrilled to be working with FEMA on this special project,鈥� said Lessiter, 鈥渁nd we understand the importance that comes with taking on a project of this significance and magnitude. As one who has served on the Board of Governors as well as the FEMA board, I鈥檝e seen first-hand the impact the Association has had, and continues to have, on the ag equipment industry. Our entire Custom Media Services team is excited to share this legacy content with the association, its members and the rest of the industry.鈥�

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Vice President Marketing & Audience Development Patrick Sharpe has assumed the position of Chief Operating Officer. In addition, the 15-year Lessiter Media veteran continues as Executive Director duties of the nonprofit entity, Conservation Ag Foundation, that was created in January of 2024.

Scott Names has been hired as Vice President of Finance & Administration, replacing Storts, who is retiring after 14 years. Names holds an MBA from Marquette Univ and his professional experience includes, but is not limited to, financial management and analysis, operations and information technologies. He and his wife, Sarah, were both raised in Brookfield. 

Both positions serve on the 44-year-old niche publisher鈥檚 Leadership Team, which in addition to the Lessiters, Sharpe and Names, also includes: Michael Ellis, Kim Schmidt, Adam Wright and Bree Greenawalt.

鈥淲e want to express our gratitude to Michael Storts, who communicated his plans 10 months ago but stayed until we found the right fit for his successor,鈥� says Mike Lessiter, president of Lessiter Media since 2007.

鈥淔rank, the Leadership and I are confident that these appointments will provide additional vision-oriented capacity while further driving excellence in a more structured, accountable, and efficient organization that supports our performance and future growth objectives.鈥�

| Member since 1970

Farm Equipment received:
Silver in Special Section for Dealership Minds 鈥� Vanderloop Equipment (Oct/Nov 2024), Bronze in Feature Series for Boots on the Ground by Noah Newman and Bronze in Special Issue for the September Shortline Edition.

Ag Equipment Intelligence received:
Bronze in Data Journalism for the 2025 Dealer Business Outlook & Trends Report.

No-Till Farmer and American Farriers Journal also were named finalists.

| Member since 1970

This prestigious international competition, organized by Trade, Association, and Business Publications International (TABPI), honors outstanding editorial and design achievements in B2B and trade media.

鈥淥ur family-run business remains rooted in content, and this recognition confirms that editors鈥� and designers鈥� commitment to excellence is alive and well in the niche knowledge markets,” said Mike Lessiter, president of Lessiter Media.

| Member since 1970

And, as an added twist, Tim surprised Mike with an unexpected ad in Farm Equipment Magazine, announcing his defeat.

Fun Facts

• England has Stonehenge, the famous mystical circle of stones. Alliance, Nebraska has Carhenge, a Stonehenge replica made from old cars!
• The name 鈥淣ebraska鈥� originated with the Otoe Tribe. The word 鈥淣ebraska鈥� means 鈥渇lat water鈥� and refers to the Platte River that flows throughout the state.
• The largest porch swing in the world is in Hebron, Nebraska and it can sit 25 adults.

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