Land use and agriculture are changing in Connecticut. Machinery and computers combine to get work done. Yet the need for help with equipment, parts, service and the hands-on knowledge for solutions? That’s timeless.

Ask Tim Slate, general manager at Kahn Tractor & Equipment, in Franklin, Connecticut, who has a front line view for people with rural lifestyles plus agriculture and construction business. Walk over to the parts department and listen to Jim Beckwith, owner, whose grandfather, James Kahn, started the equipment dealership in 1960.

“We are positive, agriculture is alive. Being an equipment dealer is a good thing. From our standpoint, it’s quite simply satisfaction – every day we get to see accomplishments and to help people out.”

The people at Kahn – and there are some 28 individuals who work here – have a passion for helping people. More than a few have 25 years plus of service with the company. That’s field-tested know-how on computerized equipment to older, more mechanical tractors and equipment.

“We really go all out for crop harvesting, like large hay-making operations,” says Slate. Round and square balers, manure spreaders, choppers, and tedders and more.

“Agriculture is very diversified in our region now, fruits, sheep, beef, dairy. The housing boom in 2005 and 2006 has come to an end, so the immediate pressure on the land base has gone away, but it will return. It’s always there. Houses are the final crop for a piece of land. By and large, housing developments are the worst thing that can happen to a town, I feel. They require a lot of services.”

“One thing to remember, is that farming is a business – not a way of life. It takes a lot of business acumen,” he points out.

“We do construction equipment, lawn and garden and turf, agricultural tractors – not many dealerships can do that range. We have a full service department capable of performing everything from regular maintenance to major repairs and can transport to our facility or provide on-the-road service.”

Earth-moving equipment includes excavators, mini-excavators, skidsteers, loaders and backhoes, plus trailers and hitches – in stock, including Interstate, Bri-Mar, and Pequea. Plus Stihl chainsaws, blowers, accessories. Wood splitters and chippers. Cub Cadet and Kubota lawn and garden and New Holland compact tractors. Post-hole diggers, blades and accessories – and RTVs.

“And we have the best parts department in the world,” he says with a smile.

Business In A State

What about doing business in Connecticut? Well, that presents challenges, to put it mildly.

The state of Connecticut should do more to support small businesses than what they are presently doing, which is not much,” he notes bluntly.

“Costs are quite a bit higher here than neighboring states, as far as being in the dairy business or in the tractor and equipment business,” said Slate. “Connecticut, in particular, has one of the highest electrical rates of any of the states in the country. Workers compensation, health and general liability, automobile insurance – all are higher. And when the price of electricity goes up, say for a dairy, that comes right off the bottom line.”

“The way the federal prices are set for milk dates back to the 1930s and it’s probably time to update how dairy farmers are paid. When the New England Dairy Compact was in place, it really helped these guys out. Farmers utilize the land base and provide bucolic views, that all adds value to a town. Farms don’t require a lot of services, and that’s another reason why agriculture is very beneficial to any town that supports it.”

Note: Kahn Tractor is looking for customer photographs (farming, haying, mowing, families with tractors, etc.) for their first-ever 2011 calendar. Photographs will also be featured on the company’s online gallery. For details, visit www.kahntractor.com.