Page 217 - Peterson 85 Years and Going Strong

As long as harvest goes, I’ve got keys to a truck, and that truck moves at whatever hour they call.
– Justin Moote, field technician, Peterson Machinery, Albany store (2013—19)
Justin Moote/Albany ag tech from 2013–19
In California, Peterson’s single largest ag customer is Knight Ranches. They deal in walnuts, crop seed, corn, and wheat. During planting and harvest sea- son, Peterson mechanics are on-call 24/7. “If they have a machine down, and we don’t have the part at our Willows store, somebody will go down to the parts depot in Stockton and bring it back to the mechanic who’s waiting to get the machine up and going,” says Grove. “That’s happened several times. Not only for Knight but for several other customers in the Willows area. We go out of our way to make sure that we get the customer’s ma- chine fixed in a timely fashion.” That story can be repeated up and down Peterson’s territory.
LIVING THE FUTURE WITH SMART TECHNOLOGY
Peterson’s ag business has more than tripled since its recommitment to the industry back in 2003. In 2009, Peterson stepped into the high-tech arena with SITECH and Trimble technology geared for the agriculture and construction industries. Farm-
ers can now increase their efficiency and yields with technology their grandfathers never would have dreamed of in a million years. Today, the ag indus- try is living the future with GPS machine-guid- ance systems. Farmers can now predict their crop yields five years out based on historical harvest data gleaned from factors like chemical application and water retention in the soil. “Manufacturers started driving this technology back in 2010 when ma- chines started coming out with GPS-type controls and mapping software that tied them directly to the piece of ground they were operating on,” says Grimes. “It’s not really the hardware or even the software that gives customers the edge because ev- erybody has it now. It’s the support and training that SITECH gives these customers that really makes the difference.”
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