"I need a PTO shaft for a 569 baler. Your guy told me it's discontinued. I know that's not true."
Kurt looked at his computer, clicked a few keys. "Hmm. Yeah, looks like we can get it, but it's special order now. 4-week lead time." "4 weeks for a PTO shaft?"
"Supply chain issues. You know how it is." Rick stared at him. "Kurt, I've bought parts from you for 15 years. You've never made me wait 4 weeks for a shaft."
Kurt shrugged. "Things change." Rick felt the message loud and clear. He left without ordering.
And he called the AGCO parts supplier in Kansas. They had the shaft in stock. It arrived in 3 days. The retaliation didn't stop there. 2 weeks later, Rick's 8R tractor, one of the last Deere machines he'd kept for finish mowing, developed a hydraulic leak.
Small issue, quick fix, but it needed a seal kit. He called Huxley and Sons. The service manager told him they couldn't schedule him for 2 weeks. "I just need a seal kit," Rick said. "I'll install it myself."
"We don't have it in stock." "Can you overnight it?" "We don't do rush orders anymore."
Rick hung up. He called a Deere dealer in Kansas. They had the kit. Shipped it same day, but the pattern was forming.
Every time Rick needed something from Huxley and Sons, it was suddenly unavailable, delayed, special order, back-ordered. His phone calls started going to voicemail. Service appointments got rescheduled. At the co-op in McCook, Rick started hearing whispers. "Heard you went full red."
"Tom Huxley's not happy about it." "You really think those Massey Fergusons are going to hold up?" Rick didn't respond. He just kept working.
October came, corn harvest. Rick ran both Ideal 9 combines through 800 acres of irrigated corn, cutting at 5.1 mph, with grain loss under 0.4% and fuel consumption 22% better than his old S-series Deeres. The machines didn't miss a beat. No breakdowns, no delays, no 3-week parts waits.
When he needed a concave adjustment kit, he called Johnston Ag at 7:00 a.m. Dale had it couriered to Rick's farm by 2:00 p.m. the same day. "That's how we do it," Dale said.
Rick started doing the math. In a normal year, he'd spend $18,000 in parts and service with Huxley and Sons. Emergency calls, preventive maintenance, filters, belts, fluids. Now, he was spending it with Johnston Ag and getting faster responses.
Huxley and Sons had lost an $18,000-a-year customer. And they knew it. November, Rick was at the McCook Farm Bureau meeting. Monthly gathering, 30 guys, coffee and gossip in a community center basement. Tom Huxley was there.
He didn't sit near Rick, didn't acknowledge him. But halfway through the meeting, during open discussion, Tom stood up. "I just want to say something," Tom said. "There's been a lot of talk lately about brand loyalty, about who supports local businesses and who doesn't."
The room went quiet. Tom didn't look at Rick, but everyone else did.
"We've been here for 50 years," Tom continued. "We've supported this community. We financed guys when banks wouldn't. We've kept people running when parts were scarce. And I think it's worth remembering that loyalty goes both ways."