Agricultural Series - Introduction and Current Equipment Market

In this episode of Around the Bead Podcast, we dive into the world of agricultural equipment with Mike Welsh, the Strategic Account Manager at East Bay Tire. This episode marks the first in an ongoing series dedicated to agriculture. Mike provides insights into the tire and wheel business in agriculture, focusing on the challenges and innovations in the industry. From the importance of tire specifications to the shift from traditional I-1 tires to flotation tires, this episode covers key trends and technological advancements that are shaping the agricultural equipment market.

🔧 Topics Covered:
- Mike’s role in tire and wheel manufacturing for agricultural equipment
- The rise of flotation tires over traditional I-1 tires in agriculture
- How tire performance varies during harvest and other farming phases
- The importance of tire longevity and forecasting performance
- The shift in the agricultural tire market with new suppliers like BKT and Alliance
- The future of electric tractors and autonomous farming equipment
- Tire availability challenges and how they affect farming operations
- The growing demand for multi-purpose tires in agriculture
- Trends in high-performance tires for custom harvesters
- Impact of AI and autonomous machines in improving agricultural efficiency

Show Notes:

Episode: Agricultural Series - Introduction and Current Equipment Market
Host: Joseph and Mike
Runtime: 39 minutes
Summary: In this episode, Mike Welsh takes listeners through the world of agricultural tire and wheel solutions, discussing everything from the challenges of tire performance and longevity to the evolution of tire technology. The conversation touches on the importance of flotation tires for better soil compaction and efficiency, as well as the challenges faced by farmers in maintaining tire availability during harvest seasons. Mike also highlights how new players in the market like BKT and Alliance are reshaping the landscape of agricultural tire manufacturing. Additionally, discussions about autonomous equipment and its potential to revolutionize the industry offer a glimpse into the future of farming.

What You'll Learn:
- The impact of flotation tires on tire performance and fuel efficiency in agriculture.
- How tire longevity and performance forecasting are managed in agricultural settings.
- The role of tire and wheel specifications in supporting agricultural equipment and enhancing productivity.
- Trends in the agricultural tire market, including the shift away from traditional brands like Firestone
- The rise of multi-purpose tires and their benefits for farmers looking for versatility
- Insights into the future of electric and autonomous tractors and their role in the agricultural industry

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Transcript (Excerpt)

00:01 [Music] around the bead podcast tire talk for trucking mining agriculture and more Your home for fleet solutions Aiming to inform pioneer and entertain the tire world in connected industries Sponsored by East Bay Tire keeping essential industries moving forward

00:34 Good day and welcome back to Around the Bead podcast Today is episode one of an infinite series on agriculture Today we have Mike Welsh strategic account manager for East Bay Tire in the studio head of original equipment and

00:52 equipment dealer business Mike welcome to the podcast Are you ready to kick the tires Absolutely Joe Thank you for having me So Mike that was a mouthful of a of a role there Um what do you actually do when it comes to tires and wheels Well um uh approaching the original equipment manufacturers and

01:16 I when we onboard new customers we go after the wheels and tires and ensure that we can deliver on time and we've got great product and good pricing So this is uh uh what would many would call OE2 which is not the John Deere's the

01:34 case the New Holland of the world but it is a lot of that support equipment the tires and wheels for harvesting equipment for uh tillillage for uh spraying um is that the the core of what you're focused on That's correct Uh typically out here on the west coast there's so many different crops So

01:58 there's different types of manufacturing companies that build equipment to harvest different types of crops And and we talk about this pretty regularly you drive the Midwest you're going to see a lot of the same functions

02:11 for corn and soybeans but the variety in the West Coast just making a list quickly last night um from vineyard vineyard type to row crop uh the produce of the central or of the Selenus Valley in the Yuma Valley all of the tree fruits and nuts they require different

02:31 equipment for different applications Even the difference between Chico California and Bakersfield California in soil types is dramatic Absolutely Do you see requests uh from equipment dealers and original equipment manufacturers to answer those questions with tires Yeah

02:52 it's important um depending on the soil you know that you have in it has a lot to do with the atmosphere I mean the rain that we get constantly um Pacific Northwest West is even different than you know Bakersfield Yeah So yeah Well

03:12 uh before we get into sprayers and soil compaction and all those details uh give us a little bit of history What were you doing before uh uh you had were in this role Well I grew up in the wheel business So I I built wheels years and years ago and

03:30 basically the tires You built wheels I built wheels with my own hands How do you build a wheel Well help help me out here Well basically you know you've got to manufacture the the center plate That's that's the important thing And then uh

03:44 making sure that that you know you get it in the right position for the right equipment Yeah Um I'll go back to a little story that uh that I did back when I was just starting is that uh we had some monster truck guys come into

03:58 the facility that I was working at and said "Hey I need some wheels for this tire that I want to use." And we we actually got started building wheels outside of the company uh by building monster truck wheels w with today's liability That scares me just thinking about it Yeah absolutely

04:17 So uh one things I didn't really realize uh until I met you is there's not really many companies in the world that make what is called the outer of the wheel The rim base the rim the rim base Um you know it's less than a dozen worldwide that make those for a but the center

04:36 plate a lot of people can do that and uh welding or uh cutting bolt holes the centers Um typically done on CNC machines Yeah And um sometimes they can do it by laser Okay But uh typically if you're going to build a wheel you know

04:53 you have to use a flat plate You you a lot of companies that you buy the rim base from also have the formed type plates that you can actually use What's a form type plate It's typically stamped Uh a lot of them are stamped some of them are spun Yeah But um it there's

05:13 there's form to it Okay So and and there's different types of offsets you can create with those types of discs I I often hear in the a industry that people want flat plates versus press form plates Um what what is that Why is that

05:32 I think the mentality of that is for strength Okay is they look at that and they say "I want this wheel and I want a flat plate because I think it's going to be stronger." Typically uh if you talk to engineers that's not the case Um you you don't want something that's just so

05:48 rigid So um you know using a form plate and looking at the thickness of these form plates you might have to go to a thicker disc So uh just hearing the complications of this you work with engineers on a regular basis I do and that's typically

06:06 how we strive to to get more business through these original manufacturers is that we we work with the engineers and they ask a lot of questions They you know typically we have to find the right tire Yeah We have to find the tire that's going to be

06:24 used in their application Then we build the wheel behind it Okay So that's what I was going to ask So an engineer an OE comes to you or maybe even equipment dealer and says this is the tire first and then the wheel comes second Correct

06:37 My mentality is that finding the right tire air pressure capacity OD width I can build any wheel around a tire Okay So it's critical to find the right tire Huh Okay So uh right now this is uh spring of 2025 this episode will release uh midsummer Um what does the market look

07:03 like for OE2 uh the last couple years and how are equipment dealers responding to it On the OE2 side uh business has been uh been down quite a bit Yeah So um in the last probably three months we've seen a little bit of an upturn in

07:22 business Um hopefully that's a good sign for the OE2s um it's going to take a few years before it gets back to its original four or five years ago And and one thing I look back from four or five years ago is when OE2 started to take a a downturn

07:42 Um it was probably a year after that that OE1 started to make changes So if we look the news from the last six months John Deere Case New Holland I don't believe K Cabota um but I'd have to double check that all have posted substantially lower numbers have made plant cut uh plant layoffs um have

08:06 dramatically cut back on their business Absolutely Um so it's very encouraging for me to hear that OE2 is starting to push forward because that could be signs of OE1 coming back around next year and I'm I'm forecasting a 2027 rebound in a we're quite a bit of ways from that And

08:25 if you're in the wine industry or uh other other markets that are really down it's hard to see that Um but the trend would lean that way right now Absolutely So equipment dealers the the support equipment I should say support equipment Um the OE2 support equipment that uh you

08:46 provide tires and wheels to provide council on That's a huge portion of an equipment dealers uh revenue right They sell John Deere tractors but they also sell shakers and sprayers and everything else Um uh naturally their business is going to be down if OE2 is not producing

09:06 How do you help support an equipment dealer with tires and wheels on their tractors Yeah it's um the the equipment dealer program is is difficult because it it it's based off the economic world really and and uh so are farmers buying equipment right now They're not I think

09:27 they're holding on to their money So tractor sales are down quite a bit They are selling tractors Uh California has had a airborne type uh incentive to buy tractors as we know that's helped it

09:41 move along but I don't know if that's continuing Um but I think it's going to be when the economy turns around tractors or sales are probably going to pick up a little bit But uh as it stands now I'm gonna say it's u it's probably

09:55 as low as it's ever been We'll we'll definitely check those numbers on another podcast I'll come back more educated Yeah Um but uh what what I love hearing about what you do every day with an equipment dealer is in large part helping them sell tractors Um it it

10:11 sounds like a crazy job when you really look at the process A farmer comes to an equipment dealer and says "Well I want to do this with my tractor and I want or I want to put these tires on or I want more traction more footprint less soil

10:26 compaction whatever it may be." And then the equipment dealer just throws that that challenge in your lap and you've got to figure it out right Absolutely And that's that's where that business comes is that is all these tractors are

10:40 made in the Midwest and other places and they they stay to the certain wheel and tire uh where they are going to be used in in other applications not the West Coast Yeah So like you say different flotation different air pressure tread

10:56 it all So we go in and we we make wheels and tires for these tractors to fit the farmer's needs You you mentioned the Midwest and we we always talk about that but I don't care where you are in the

11:08 world a farmer is going to want to find another way to do something better Absolutely Whether he wants to run more tanks on the trailer more weight on the trailer or uh excuse me on the tractor um it it's uh it happens day in and day out We get calls Can you think of a a

11:26 moment where you got an ask that you just didn't think you'd ever be able to answer Yeah it it uh it's difficult at times when you talk to these equipment dealer companies and the toughest thing is not having all the information right Okay

11:45 Tractor what model You know what do you want to do with the tractor What is what So you got to ask all these You got to interview somebody Well in large part they haven't sold the equipment yet Correct Right It's still it's in you're you're supporting it in process sale A

11:58 quote Yes Yeah Absolutely I'll I'll I'll share with the with you and the viewers uh one of my favorite uh custom tire and wheel combinations and uh adjustment stories is uh I've got a call uh from a customer He's he's got a a blown out

12:16 tire and he's like "Man this this tire just you know uh it can't handle it You know he's got to warranty it." And we go through this process like three times And I've asked the question you know it's a flotation tire I think it was a 400uh 55225 uh one of the shorter narrower uh 225

12:35 flotation tires out there And um I finally he sent in three separate tires and I said "Well I want to I want to come out and see this." I've asked the questions you know is it overloaded How fast are they running Uh where are they running Um every No everything's fine

12:52 don't worry about it I'm like I got to see this You know I I want to see what the equipment is Come on site And it was a uh a hay mixer at a dairy So we we go out to the dairy and they have a scale right there And what what they have done is they have replaced two DS 175s on a

13:13 on a standard hay mixer They put a flotation tire on it which is really common nowadays and really has if done right um has a lot of advantages uh for soil compaction for overall wear for running at high speeds um a bunch We throw it on the scale right there and

13:33 they're running 10 to 12,000 pounds overweight capacity on it It's no wonder they're blowing out Um but it just goes to show really how much these tires can handle because they're out of spec for an entire year before they really start to fail right Um and that's something

13:52 that there's not necessarily hey as soon as this hits one pound overweight that the tire just blows up or the wheel blows up There's there's tons of components that go into that whole application succeeding Yep Speed capacity air pressure Yeah You have to

14:10 put it all into there's there's a lot there's a lot of components Yeah So um I I want to break down uh a little bit of the equipment today for the viewers how you and I tend to look at it um in different categories Uh you have really pre preh harvest

14:28 right So your planting um tillage uh then spraying which is a huge component to to West Coast business a lot of pull behind sprayers Not a ton of self-propelled sprayers in in the West Um and then uh you've got harvest right which is a short time frame in which

14:49 equipment generally specialized equipment is there to get the job done literally as fast as possible Exactly Um and then you have all per allpurpose tractors Um for you which one of those areas really brings the most attention to tires and wheels Well it it it happens to be all of them

15:09 really is that the spraying business is really um I think we've done a good job in the spraying pull type sprayer business when we've uh eliminated a little bit of the um I1 tires and we've

15:22 gone to the flotation type tires I think I think you're being pretty humble on that you know I I I really wanted to bring you on the show to admit this that you've really changed uh the entire industry from 161 I1 tires into flotation tires Yeah Yeah And I I love

15:40 this story because 161 flotation 161 I1 tires have been produced in the United States for better part of 80 years at this point Um but uh what you were seeing is those volumes were getting less and less and there was less

15:59 manufacturers making those tires So the price of that tire kept going up incrementally Same thing with the wheels So that assembly was getting more expensive for not only farmers but the the OE manufacturers who are producing the equipment and you came up with replacing those I1 tires with common

16:20 flotation tires that are used every single day in Europe and wheels that are produced in higher production runs that come at a lower cost and now you're seeing a lower cost higher performing option coming to OE2 and coming to those farmers Yes Yeah And just the the one

16:45 problem that they were having uh punctures you know citrus they were puncturing tires left and right Yeah Um I got a little story that uh a customer had told me and we put these flotation

16:60 tires on his machine And it's a pull type sprayer and he had to uh get it delivered Saturday morning We're talking Friday now is that we delivered the wheels and tires on Friday and he bolts them on the pull type sprayer and he has

17:12 to have the machine in Arizona Saturday morning Yeah You Arizona Uh it was uh Phoenix Phoenix Okay And so he can't find a truck to put it on So he pulls it in the middle of the night to Phoenix Arizona which is a a real real life scenario That's what you would do right

17:32 That's what a farmer would do Yeah Take care of the customer right So he gets about halfway he says he gets out feels the tires they're not even a a little bit warm you know and it's probably 80 90° and yeah at night and uh he gets to Phoenix Arizona in the morning and uh he says

17:51 tires still had the little tits on the tire and they were not warm at all I don't think a flotation I mean I don't think an I1 tire would have lasted No I really don't You know I I I know I know

18:04 the gentleman you're talking about uh uh the first time you told that story I was blown away and I end up running into him at the farm show uh World A Expo in Taller California many many years ago Um and uh his uh his other bragging part of it was the fuel economy they got out of

18:25 his truck Not only that but the bouncing of the the bias 161 he would have been death gripping that truck the whole way there right Yeah Yeah We've um I would have to say 80% of the PE customers that we do have that build pull type sprayers

18:42 have gone to the flotation tire At least have an option for it nowadays And it it when it all comes out in the wash it's it's about the farmer Yeah if if he wants to change the tires change his fleet over Well and and and what can't

18:59 be articulated is that maybe the supply chain has changed but the farmer isn't familiar with that right So I use that example is uh yes 161 large implement tires are still pretty well known for those in the industry Um but the inventory there would be thousands of

19:18 those tires available in tire dealers and tire distributors inventories just in one state Now there's less than half a dozen Right Right And flotation true flotation modern flotation uh as we would call it has really taken over that

19:36 whole market And now the supply chain is there So when when a farmer runs into a blowout um and this is what's so exciting to me about what you do is you're influencing OE2 um while also supporting the replacement market So when you put on that flotation tire and that farmer two years down the

19:56 road has a blowout well that tire is already in stock on the West Coast Absolutely Right as opposed to specking something that doesn't really exist in the replacement market and then a farmer has equipment down for a day two days a

20:09 month That's that's really true because when you're working with engineers too and they say "I like this tire." It's like you kind of try to steer them away for something that's not available not readily available So you know that's one

20:22 thing to keep in mind when you're specking tires and wheels Yeah So talking about specking tires and wheels on the show we talk a lot about total cost of ownership you know cost per hour cost per mile I saw something the other day uh posted by Pacific A Reynolds And

20:41 I don't think I shared this with you but they uh they posted that on average farm equipment sits for 40% of the year And that's completely contrary to a lot of the stuff we talk about on this podcast which is okay how do you get the

20:59 most out of it Um and one of the questions I have for farmers is what matters most to you Is it is it hours Is it years Is it traction Is it soil compaction Is it all of those things But if you're not using the equipment for 40% of the year it's hard to say "Hey I

21:19 want to put on the most expensive tire that gets the most amount of hours that gets the best soil that has the lowest soil compaction most traction." It's hard to have that conversation It is And

21:31 I think the more farmers you talk to the more answers you're going to get right Not everybody's going to be the same because it's going to be a different part of the state you know um different soils Absolutely Different pocketbooks Yeah So is I I use the example is I I

21:50 think that radial turf tires make a lot of sense for the nut industry out there but at the cost point and when a lot of that turf equipment is basically only used for maybe 30% of the year performance-wise it would be great but

22:07 you can't justify the cost at least for most farmers unless they're harvesting companies which is a thing I'd love to get into with you Um but it's hard to justify that cost if they're only using

22:18 it for 30% of the year Yeah it definitely it's it's all about money you know when it comes down to the end Well and availability of of the uh the parts right So that that farmer can get up and

22:31 running because downtime is certainly worth a lot to them Yeah A lot of these companies carry spare parts and extra tires just for that case because when they're harvesting they don't stop right you know they'll run on flat tires or

22:44 try to Sure So uh let's delve right into harvesting equipment since it's top of mind Um I think I looked up what a a John Deere cotton picker costs uh nowadays and we're like well beyond seven figures Um harvesting equipment has gotten dramatically expensive Uh cloth choppers for silage

23:08 um these these are almost not realistic for uh farmers in lower acreages to justify that cost right And it seems like it's brought this buoy of custom harvesters uh companies that are focusing just on harvesting and run harvesting a lot of the year Mhm Um are

23:28 you seeing any any high performance trends with that where somebody who's using harvesting equipment more than your average farmer They're have their whole business dedicated to it are asking for high performance tires or roing tires uh newer solutions now that they use them uh more Yeah You know you

23:48 have these manufacturers that are building equipment that actually do the harvesting Mhm So those guys are really important to get the feedback to find out Oh I see OE2 that also has a harvesting company Yes So they're harvesting year not year round but they do the the shaking during harvest and

24:10 then you know there's shaking to do afterwards too and and taking the mummies off the kind of kind of like us with a tire company but we also have a logistics company to test the test the truck tires Right Exactly Yeah So so how

24:24 often So you put a tire in test Let's use this as an example Um in trucking uh we can basically forecast the mileage in you know a month two months three months We can start to get an idea Maybe a year at most Um I would think that'd be much

24:40 more challenging in agg to place a custom tire and wheel in OE2 and then it's got to wait till harvest in order to get tested and then how many years worth of harvest is it you feel like

24:53 we're confident to run that tire Yeah we've we've had test tires out there in the Central Valley and uh they've ran through the harvesting process and with no problems no issues but uh you know do

25:06 they really want to go through a second term you know the tires are still good Sometimes these tires will last you know five seasons Yeah So um it's difficult to manage that and and find the performance of them I I would I would love to get some surveys from from farmers and equipment dealers on how

25:24 important longevity of a tire in years is is to them when they're making that purchase Yeah I think that's real important Yeah So uh uh talking different types of tread designs Um recent years uh we've seen the

25:41 multi-purpose tread become really really popular I shouldn't say really popular That's a dramatization U but certainly more popular Feels like almost every uh manufacturer is making one Alliance more or less pioneered it with the 550 Um Michelin makes a road bib Um now you see uh a variety of other

26:03 manufacturers uh uh build build it and it's it's supposed to be a roading answer a multi-purpose answer um a more fuel efficient uh answer Are we going to see this take off or is it still going to be niche I I think it's something we need to keep pushing on because of the

26:22 fact that the the parcels are so much smaller here in California Yeah it's it's a perfect tire for out here in the West right Um so you know you're running from parcel to parcel You sometimes have to road these machines and it's it's a great tire to be roeded Sure So I I I

26:41 you say that and then I still don't feel like it's gained enough traction pun intended uh on the west coast but we see it in uh uh like the Paloo area in the Pacific Northwest right where there's uh a lot of hilly range Um I think it would do great in vineyard applications right

27:01 you you tend to have steep inclines on on vineyards and we're still seeing it in the Midwest uh from a roading perspective but it's almost like the West is the one that's that's pushing back on it Exactly They haven't really come to grips to to go to that type of tread So I think it just needs to be

27:20 brought to these farmers attention I don't know if uh really the tire dealers are really getting out there talking to these farmers I I don't I don't think that's I don't think there's enough education out there on it And then at the same token OE influences so much Um

27:40 there it's not an option from an OE perspective You're not going to go on to the John Deere website and be able to drop down that menu Um most of the OES I I love going on the websites and seeing what they charge for tires Um it's not realistic or financially

27:59 uh uh smart for a farmer to go say I'll take the premium package uh uh from any OE on on whatever tires are being offered They might as well take the cheapest option which is tends to be a Goodyear or a Firestone um and then just sell those tires and upgrade

28:17 them later Right But my point is is that multi-purpose tires are not available on an on an OE builder No that that's true And a lot of that is true throughout all the different manufacturers Yeah You know K Cabota has probably done the best job in their uh

28:36 100% Yeah Having different types of tread patterns Yeah Yeah They're a lot more customizable uh from a a building perspective A lot more flexible Um they're just a lot more open to adjusting their tractors uh to fit the

28:52 application Right And it uh that the story comes up about trying to buy these tractors on slaves you know on on just pieces of uh steel you know to get them out here and u and then buy the wheels and tires once they get out here

29:07 depending on what kind of application that goes to It's it's something that is is really common in other parts of the world Um there's a lot of custom tires and wheels that get done in Europe for that purpose Is OES have said "Okay hey

29:21 there's so many customizations It's not worth it for us to try and satisfy everybody There's no money in it right Not for the manufacturers No No And they they have to charge the premium that they charge in the OE builder because it

29:35 it uh changes the supply chain for them It makes it less efficient Right Right Um but it'd be certain it'd be interesting to see as whether or not the United States follows Europe in that in

29:48 that way to say hey we're going to allow custom and tires and wheels to be done by the aftermarket like OE2 has already done Um and we're starting to see that from equipment dealers where okay I want to buy John Deere five and six series

30:01 We're going to buy 100 and 100 have them shipped in and then we're going to customize them for carrots We're going to customize them for broccoli We're going to customize them for the Yuma market versus this lenus Yeah Yeah Yeah

30:16 Well um uh switching gears here a little bit brands out there Um I want to touch on just a little bit of everything today since it's our intro pod for A Um we've really seen Titan Goodyear uh Alliance and BKT uh take up a ton of market share in Agg Um Titan Goodyear certainly on the OE

30:40 side Um and Alliance and BKT on the replacement side but who seems to be leaving the market in terms of a leading Leaving Oh leaving Um you know I'm not sure Not sure I can answer that one I'm so focused in on the the the five that we just talked about you know

31:03 BKT and Alliance and and Goodyear One of the ones that always comes to mind for me is the 23°ree Firestone right If you look back 20 years ago Firestone was a huge component of of a 50 years ago most certainly um and isn't anymore And that

31:23 23° used to be a favorite tread design A ton of traction Um was the OE tire out there Um and a lot of people felt like it was going to disappear based off of fuel economy And so fuel economy is an interesting component as today California exceeds $6 a gallon in

31:43 regular diesel I have no idea what red diesel is going for Um but in other parts of the country it's dropping below $2 right Um so uh there's there has been a lot of changes and we can we can delve into it on a whole other podcast but if you look at the mix of brands out there

32:02 a lot has changed in a quietly over the last 30 years Oh absolutely And you you bring up Firestone you know they've reduced SKUs uh tremendously And so we years ago we used to run into it quite a

32:15 bit People would request Firestone but it's Oh it was a mustave Yeah And it's nowadays it's just not it's not there You know the the BKTs and the Alliances and the Galaxies have taken over Yeah And um Firestones just aren't there It

32:30 it's so hard on a production side And of course we're talking about this mid tariffs Um so a lot could absolutely change in the long term It's not going to change overnight It's not easy just to turn on a factory and say we're going to produce a thousand SKUs Um but we did

32:46 see that from other manufacturers who really focused on a a this is going to be our lead This is what we're going to be focused on This is what we're going to be specialized in And I have a lot of

32:58 respect for those manufacturers who've done that They said this is going to be our all-encompassing mission Um and there are huge changes in a and that's not not pointing any fingers That's dramatically that's very challenging for

33:11 big corp to do when they have to report to shareholders every single quarter right To stay dedicated to an industry that goes like this Yeah There's no consistency No there's no consistency So and historically it's been the same way for 50 60 years right

33:32 Absolutely It's not for the faint of heart Right So uh let's pivot a little bit uh to AI uh uh u uh zero emission tractors um and driverless Um Monarch Tractor is one of the tractor makers out there They're actually uh assembled in California on the West

33:55 Coast Um they've got the electric tractor Do we think that we're going to see any changes in in engines based off of where diesel prices are right now You know um it has to do with the overall uh economy you know and I don't see electric tractors making a big push

34:21 quickly It's going to be a long-term situation So yeah Will it happen Yes eventually You say the overall economy I don't know if I'd agree with that Um I I would say a lot of it has to do with compliance and where where the government sits on it The restrictions

34:39 through California I think California is going to be leading that Um will there ever be a you know electric uh 9R John Deere running soybean and corn I don't think so Yeah we'll I think we'll know if any of the major manufacturers come out with a zero emission option Um they've all been

35:02 pretty quiet on it Um from a social media perspective I try and follow and keep up with it right Uh I don't hear whispers of a hydrogen engine an electric engine Um and John Deere a lot of these guys are making investments into small these smaller upcoming

35:22 companies uh to make sure that they're ahead of it Um but without some serious regulation it's hard to imagine with or without $6 diesel right Yeah Very expensive Now driverless and AI um with the current uh concerns of labor

35:40 shortages out there That's certainly that something that everybody's pushing John Deere announced it in the last couple of years as far as uh them putting together automated uh tractors Gus Automation based out of the Central Valley has driverless uh sprayers Where

35:57 do you see this going Well I see it surpassing the zero emissions You're going to see the autonomous stuff more and more all the time Yeah And um it's it's it's coming now We we deal with uh a lot of c customers that uh that have these machines Yeah I'd love to see the numbers on it on on how fast

36:19 that is progressing Um and which farmers are actually using them Um are they bigger farms Are they smaller farms Uh is there is there anybody out there that's doing calculations on okay this

36:33 is what we think our long-term savings can be on it And how the equipment still has to be built well driverless or not right If you're going to spend that much money and you're going to reduce your headcount and try and make some cost

36:46 savings there that equipment has to last And there's last Yeah And the other thing too is the ability to uh minimize your your chemicals Mhm You know they're they're they're spraying They're you know they have cameras on them They go off and on at times when the

37:05 efficiencies of efficiency Yeah So um and that's probably their biggest expense on it when it comes to farming Is this the spring Spring You think so Oh absolutely Really I would have to think so Yeah I would love to look at that Mhm Okay All right So crop crop markets We're getting close to our time

37:24 here Um do we see any changes in the crop markets this year I mean as you talked to OE2 um does nuts seem like they're going to come up I think last I checked almonds were sitting a little above two Nothing dramatic They've come up a little bit from where they were but uh it's nothing

37:43 substantial Yeah I I I'm with you I think it's status quo for the year might be some fluctuations but next year is really going to be a telling year If it's a if it's a challenging year um I

37:55 think people are going to have to pull acreage Yes I think people are just holding on and trying to make it Yeah Okay All right Mike Well I loved having you on the show Thank you for having me Joe for our listeners out there uh and those that are viewing Um if you've got ad

38:13 questions if you have certain topics that you want to hear from us put them in the comments and we will tackle them one episode at a time For now let's air this one up Thank you [Music] Around the bead podcast tire talk for trucking mining agriculture and more Your home for fleet

38:41 solutions aiming to inform pioneer and entertain the tire world in connected industries Sponsored by East Bay Tire keeping essential industries moving forward

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This episode of Around the Bead gives a comprehensive overview of the current and future landscape of agricultural tire solutions. With valuable insights from Mike Welsh, it’s clear that tire technology is evolving to meet the unique demands of modern agriculture, from the rise of flotation tires to the integration of autonomous equipment. As we look ahead, the tire industry’s role in agriculture will continue to grow, innovate, and adapt.

Stay tuned for more episodes as we continue to explore the challenges, trends, and innovations that keep the tire world rolling. Feel free to reach out with any questions or comments — we’d love to hear your thoughts on today’s discussion.

Thanks for listening, and be sure to check back for future episodes on Around the Bead!