Haug Implement saw the reliability of Schweiss liftstrap doors with the first purchase of a 34.10 ft. x 15.7 ft. custom door with a walk-through door and manual latching system. Two years later another 34 ft. x 18.11 ft. door was installed on another building at the Willmar location.

Over the years, "The Long Green Line," of John Deere dealerships have continued to get bigger and more high-tech to serve the needs of farmers, who in many cases are now stewards of much larger tracts of land that produce many more bushels or tons per acre. Haug Implement, a family-owned dealership with locations in Willmar and Litchfield, Minnesota have kept ahead of the times.

The first Haug dealership dates to 1918 when Gunder Haug, originally a manager of a farmer-owned co-op, transitioned from buying and selling cattle and horses to operating a machinery dealership in Pennock, Minnesota. This was at a time when horses were indeed the primary source of horsepower on farms. Long gone are the days of farming with horses that he observed.

With co-owners, CEO Donald "Butch" Haug Jr. and his son, Paal, as General Manager, Haug Implement has since expanded to operating two sizeable John Deere dealerships. The Willmar dealership, opened in 1972, covers 38,900 sq. ft. and the Litchfield dealership acquired in 1996 covers 28,900 sq. ft. Each of these dealerships carry new and used equipment. In addition, customers look to Haug Implement for John Deere Lawn and Garden equipment, Stihl® Power tools, Unverferth grain handling equipment, Westfield augers, Salford tillage products, Felling heavy and utility trailers lines and various other brand products. Haug has 10 service trucks for on-the-farm equipment, repair and delivery, tire work and a bulk engine and hydraulic oil delivery service.

As a young lad, Butch recalled working for his grandfather, Gunder, doing various menial tasks such as sweeping floors to start with, and later as a high schooler working for his dad, Don Sr., setting up machinery.

"Almost every small community had an implement dealer. Dealers never delivered machinery. People came in with their horses or tractor and pulled the machinery home. Later on, when we started to deliver - we didn't have any hydraulics; we had a 2-ton Chevrolet truck with a flatbed that you'd back into the ditch and pull out a couple planks to load up," added Butch.

Butch's lifestyle took a different course following high school graduation in 1956 when he entered college at St. Cloud State. After graduating with a teaching degree in 1961, Butch came home to help his dad at the Kerkhoven location. It was at this time the Superintendent of Schools at Kerkhoven asked Butch if he was interested in a job. He ended up teaching high school science and math there for three years and earned a few more bucks as a coach, with summers off to continue working at the dealership. Not big money, but enough for a comfortable living that included income from his wife. In 1964 Butch decided to work fulltime at the dealership eventually helping his dad to move the dealership to Willmar in 1972.

Paal followed a similar route that nearly kept him out of the family business. After graduating from Southwest State in Marshall with a business degree he also took courses in landscape design and architecture at the University of Minnesota, Waseca. It was about this time that Butch told Paal that an opening came about for a service manager; a job that Paal accepted.

"We've operated a Willmar John Deere location dealership longer than anyone else," noted Butch. "There were a number of John Deere dealership owners in Willmar. There was Lobnetz, Kvam, Bower's, Molenaars and Lindstrand. Burt Lindstrand said early on in his life that he was going to retire and sell out on his 50th birthday, and he did. John Deere asked us if we were interested in taking over. We then closed the Kerkhoven dealership and moved to Willmar."

"We are a little unique in that there aren't many dealerships our size anymore," added Paal. "Most have been bought up and belong to larger groups - we are still an independent dealership with two John Deere stores. Those other dealerships are not necessarily owned as individuals anymore, they've merged and have shareholders; we're still a family operation that allows us to be a little more agile and make decisions a little differently. We've seen that our customers like to deal with a smaller organization with someone that still cares and knows about their specific operation. We try to get close to our customers."

Haug Implement estimates that over half of its business is in used equipment sales. If a customer is looking for a unique piece, Haug will do quite a bit of scouting to fulfill requests. They can trade or buy from another dealer, buy it off an auction or lease returns from John Deere.

Haug bifold doors are built to handle big machinery

Haug Implement saw the reliability of Schweiss liftstrap doors with the first purchase of a 34.10 ft. x 15.7 ft. custom door with a walk-through door and manual latching system. Two years later another 34 ft. x 18.11 ft. door was installed on another building at the Willmar location.

At each end of the set-up and repair shop are Schweiss liftstrap bifold doors. The west end shop door in Willmar is 44.6 ft. x 22 ft. and on the east end is a 37.4 ft. x 22 ft. door. These two fast-opening doors provide a convenient drive-through option for big tractors, combines and other equipment. Each door is equipped with auto latching systems, windows and were reinforced with free-standing headers.

The most recent Schweiss door was installed just this year at the Litchfield location. Big doors at each end of the machinery storage building give it the convenience of drive -through capability. On one end is a 37 ft. x 23 ft. bifold liftstrap door. The opposite end wall has a 34.10 ft. x 18.1 ft. door. The Schweiss bifold liftstrap door is equipped with a freestanding header to give it the full 20 ft. clear opening. It also has an automatic all-strap latching system and emergency back-up system.

"We like the straps; they are low maintenance. We've had very little maintenance with Schweiss Doors. We had Aerolift cable lift doors in the past. I would replace those cables about every six years just because I did not trust them," said Butch. "Another thing is the fact we personally know Mike (Schweiss) and value the advice he has given us. When we were going to put a door on our warehouse Mike came here and said, because of the sidewall height, we should fix that one way or another to gain more headroom. I rebuilt the header so we could get our combines in there. Without his advice, we wouldn't have done that. When we moved our building at Litchfield it had 16 ft. sidewalls. Again, Mike told us we should go to 20 ft., so we lifted the building up four feet. I have a lot of respect for Mike."

Over the years, farming equipment, and one-owner farms for that matter, have increased in size. To keep up with this growing trend, Haug Implement retrofitted an older 60 ft. x 150 ft. cold storage shed in 2009 into a newly insulated, well lighted "Set-up" assembly shop equipped with a 3-ton lift crane on parallel tracks on both sides of the building. A 500,000 BTU capacity heating system burns used tractor and equipment crankcase oil to keep it warm inside as does its insulated concrete floor. Twelve high-pressure air outlets run the full length of both walls. The heated facility is used a lot to set up and assemble equipment for early Spring delivery.

Futuristic farming: Implement dealers are no longer just selling iron

Today, farming has become a high-tech operation and implement dealers are selling precision farming products that require special training of both the dealership personnel as well as farm customers.

"Obviously, technology is a big part of what we do and is a big item for our customers. We do offer special training for the products we sell. We were one of the early dealerships and forerunners to push GPS technology in 1994. It was dad who embraced this technology," noted Paal.

With the advent of the Orbital Satellite GPS (Global Positioning System) in 1994, Haug Implement was one of the earliest implement dealers to pair farmers with specially trained staff and offer classroom training on all aspects of GPS technology. Since that time, they've taken a different approach that now brings them one-on-one, farm-to-farm visits for specific real time instruction on how to operate or introduce a particular system.

Haug Implement developed its own RTK (Real-Time Kinematic) network with a series of 17 RTK towers that permit overlapping GPS accuracy regardless of which field you are farming within a five-county area of its two dealerships. RTK is a technique working off these towers that uses carrier-based very precise ranges and positions. These towers, using complicated RTK techniques were installed at a cost of $20,000 each.

With the RTK guidance system it takes only a few minutes to switch a unit from a tractor doing tillage work to a tractor doing the planting. The RTK guidance system lets farmers preprogram each machine to travel virtually the same wheel tracks each pass through a particular field.

"It's futuristic stuff that's not here yet, but you might see multiple smaller driverless units on a field where you won't see someone in the tractor or combine," explained Butch. "With the guidance, mapping and data systems that some of our farmers have accumulated that show where the tile lines are and the good and bad parts of a field, it's almost overwhelming for farmers trying to keep up and handle it all.

The trend for big equipment continues. But at the same time, with the coming of autonomous (driverless/guided) tractors and equipment Butch and Paal can see equipment needs going smaller at some point in time. Big equipment is getting harder to move around the country on the roadways.

"There is a company that already does autonomous farming using smaller tractors and planters all running on a field at one time. There's so much data out there that can be put together to help farmers manage. At one time we were talking about managing a field by the square foot; today John Deere technology is saying we are going to manage a field by the plant. One that is really coming on and tremendous is 'See & Spray Select.' A sprayer will be able to acknowledge and recognize a plant and determine whether it is a weed or a plant and spray it."

See & Spray Select for 4000 and 6000 Series sprayers can help farmers reduce their non-residual, pre-emerg herbicide use by 77 percent on average by targeting and spraying only weeds on fallow ground. See & Spray Select uses camera technology to detect color differentiation in the field and is ideal for small-grains farmers to achieve a more effective weed kill at a lower cost.

Virtually every new John Deere tractor, and combine, is factory equipped with the wiring and electronic harness to permit plugging into a variety of technology capabilities be it Auto Steer, Yield Mapping, VSR (Variable Seeding Rate), even Row Command on planters.

Butch recalled something his dad said that pretty much sums up what their customer service measures up to.

"My dad had a saying. 'You don't owe a customer one single thing until you sell him something. When you sell him something you owe him the parts and service that go along with it.' That's been one of the things we've strived to do for years, and years and years. Because we take care of them, I think we've built a great customer base."

Keeping memories alive: Tractors run in the family

"We have actually over the years collected and restored tractors that were significant to our family," said Butch. "The first tractors we sold were Model D's. We have the first GP tractor that was sold by my grandfather, a 1929. We have the first Model B that my dad sold, a 1935 and we have one of the first 1935 Model A's that were sold. My grandfather kept very good records noting who these tractors were sold to and resold to. We found the Model GP in the woods by Solomon Lake. I was the one who bought it; my dad really didn't care one way or another. When I bought the Model B; a tractor that he sold - that got him kind of caught up in it. We have the first 3010 and 4010 that we sold."

Paal's son, Charlie, and Butch bought the 1961 Model 4010. Charlie worked on restoring it for three years as a FFA project, getting a Grand Champion award at the Kandiyohi County Fair, advancing him to the Minnesota State Fair where he won Best of Show. It looks like new, and Charlie has run it in tractor pulls; it's been a great project for him. Charlie just graduated from high school and will be going into the Army."

History of Haug Implement Company

Haug Implement is a family-owned authorized John Deere dealership that has been serving the Willmar and Litchfield, Minnesota area since 1972, but its story goes back over 100 years to 1918 when company founder, Gunder Haug started managing a farmer owned cooperative in Pennock, MN. Gunder later purchased the business, renaming it Haug Implement Company.

Donald Haug, Sr. purchased the expanding business in 1955 upon the death of his father. In 1960, Donald relocated the family business to Kerkhoven, MN, along busy Highway 12. His son, Donald Haug, Jr. (Butch), joined the firm on a full-time basis in 1964. In 1972, Donald, Sr. and Butch moved the growing business to a location on Highway 12, east of Willmar, MN, where a new facility was constructed. Butch became the owner/manager upon the death of his father in 1980. Paal Haug, great grandson of Gunder, joined the business on a full-time basis in 1992 as the fourth generation of Haugs.

Always a growing business, Haug Implement Co., has expanded its Willmar location and in 1996, acquired the Litchfield John Deere dealership. In September 2006, Haug Implement Co. purchased the assets of Quality Power and Lawn of Willmar. This acquisition brought the Stihl® Power Equipment line as well as the John Deere Lawn and Garden equipment line to the Willmar location to make it truly a "One Stop Dealership".

To meet the parts needs of its customers, Haug Implement Co. stocks in excess of $3.2 million of repair parts and attachments. Today, after over 100 years after Gunder Haug founded his small establishment, Haug Implement Co. employs 60 experienced and knowledgeable employees in the 38,900 sq. ft. plant in Willmar, and the 28,900 sq. ft. plant in Litchfield.

The Haug Implement dealership in Willmar is located at 3593 E. Hwy. 12, phone 320-235-8115. The Litchfield dealership is located at 62105 MN Hwy. 24, phone 320-693-2438. www.haugimp.com