OUR STORY
Built by farmers, for farmers
Farm Equipment USA started with one man, a bad economy and a decision to sell farm equipment anyway. Ben Nelson made that call at his kitchen table, sold the first machine a month later, and built a dealership out of it. Two Idaho locations now, in Fruitland and Jerome, with sales, parts and service teams in both and a delivery range that runs from eastern Oregon to the Nevada line.
What has not changed is the thing the business was founded on. Farmers do not need another vendor. They need somebody who answers the phone, knows the machine, and can get a part on a truck when a baler goes down in the middle of a cutting. That is the whole job, and we have organized the company around it.
It was 2008, the economy had just crashed. We didn't know how we were going to pay our bills. I woke up one morning, and my wife asked what I was doing. I told her I was going to sell farm equipment. We sold our first piece of equipment a month later on New Year's Day, and that's how it all started.
- Ben Nelson, President
What we do
We sell new and used agricultural equipment, and we support it after the sale. That second half is the part that matters.
Sales.
New and used tractors, hay and forage equipment, tillage, material handling and implements across the brands we carry.
Parts.
Stocked at both locations, with the wear items that actually fail during the season on the shelf rather than on order.
Service.
Shop work and field service. If the machine cannot come to us, in most cases we can come to it.
Brokering.
Buyer and seller brokering for equipment we do not have on the lot.
Delivery.
Across southern Idaho, eastern Oregon and into Nevada.
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IN THE COMMUNITY
Rooted in Idaho Agriculture
Farm Equipment USA is part of the places it operates in, and not only during business hours.
We are an annual sponsor of the Snake River Stampede in Nampa. Every winter you will find us at Agri-Action at the CSI Expo Center in Twin Falls, billed as Southern Idaho's largest ag show, and at the Western Idaho Ag Expo in Caldwell, along with other shows around the state. It is worth the drive for us because that is where farmers come to see what is new before the season starts, and because standing next to the equipment answering questions is a better use of a day than most things we could be doing.
When the Jerome store opened, local farmers went to the county on our behalf to get the property rezoned so the build could happen. The lot is anchored by a 120 foot lighted flagpole flying a 30 by 40 foot American flag, the second largest in the county. That was a priority for Ben, and it says most of what needs saying about how the place is run.
If you are at a show this winter, come find the booth.
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It starts on the side.
Ben Nelson begins buying and selling farm machinery. No lot, no shop, no staff. One man who knows equipment and is willing to make the calls.
It becomes the whole job.
The economy comes apart. Ben decides at his kitchen table that he is going all in on selling farm equipment, and sells the first machine of the new chapter a month later, on New Year's Day. Starting a capital equipment business in the worst market in a generation is either very bad timing or very good instincts, and it turned out to be the second one.
From brokering to a dealership.
What began as buying and selling becomes a real operation in Fruitland, with inventory on the lot, the first employees, and sales, parts and service under one roof. Authorized dealer agreements follow as manufacturers start taking the business seriously. This is the point where Farm Equipment USA stops being a seller and becomes somebody a farmer can rely on through a season.
A second home in Jerome.
Farm Equipment USA opens a 6,400 square foot office and shop along I-84 in Jerome, putting the company in the middle of the Magic Valley dairy belt. Local farmers advocate with the county to get the ground rezoned from agricultural to commercial so the build can go forward, which tells you something about how the company was already regarded here. The grand opening is marked with a community barbecue and a flag raising, and the lot gets a 120 foot lighted flagpole flying a 30 by 40 foot American flag.
Two locations, seven brands, one job.
Farm Equipment USA serves farmers, dairies and ranches from Fruitland to Jerome, east to Ashton and south into Nevada, with the same thing it started with: knowing the equipment and answering the phone.
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Ben
President
Rich
Sales Manager
Jess
Manager
Andrew
Shop Foreman
Jim
Parts Manager
Natalie
Parts Manager
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Fruitland, ID
6110 Auto Drive Fruitland, ID 83619
(208) 941-6000