Rodney Miller – Founder/Host of “Small Town Big Deal” TV Show and Big IHC Collector

02/12/24 • 79 min

Machinery Pete chats with Rodney Miller, host of the well-loved TV show “Small Town Big Deal” on RFD-TV and 300 other TV stations across the country. Rodney has deep farming and farm equipment roots, being from Benton, IL where he still has a farming operation. He was also a force behind the growth of Montana Tractors from $3M in annual revenue to $80M+ back in the day, before moving on to CEO position with McCormick. Rodney is a huge IHC tractor and equipment collector and shares many wonderful stories with Pete on all things Red equipment, including a Fire Truck that was actually at Ground Zero on 9/11.

[:34] - Machinery Pete’s gives background on today’s guest
[5:31] - Interview with Rodney Miller begins
[11:46] - About Rodney’s show “Small Town Big Deal”
[22:11] - The first episode, importance of telling stories of veterans
[26:15] - Positivity in media
[31:56] - Rodney’s tractor collection
[45:09] - Growing up in Benton, IL, farm roots
[1:14:02] - Final words from Machinery Pete

Machinery Pete was founded in 1989 and has grown from its humble beginnings to a full-fledged marketplace for farming equipment. Greg Peterson, founder and host, has also released Machinery Pete content across platforms including YouTube with his long-running Machinery Pete TV show.

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[:34] - Machinery Pete’s gives background on today’s guest
[5:31] - Interview with Rodney Miller begins
[11:46] - About Rodney’s show “Small Town Big Deal”
[22:11] - The first episode, importance of telling stories of veterans
[26:15] - Positivity in media
[31:56] - Rodney’s tractor collection
[45:09] - Growing up in Benton, IL, farm roots
[1:14:02] - Final words from Machinery Pete

Previous Episode

Conversation with Aaron McKee – Founder/CEO Purplewave.com

Machinery Pete talks fast-moving changes in the auction industry with recent notable consolidations and rapid technological advances. Pete chats with Aaron McKee, Founder/CEO of Purplewave.com, a long time leader in the online only auction space, about their big news last month (Oct. ’23) of a new partnership with Copart, Inc., a worldwide leader in the online auto auction space.

[:35] - Machinery Pete’s talks consolidation
[11:06] - Interview with Aaron McKee begins
[11:45] - Purple Wave and CoPart’s partnership
[15:25] - Finding the right sellers to work with
[20:24] - Early days of Purple Wave
[26:03] - Why Purple Wave believes in no-reserve auctions
[34:27] - Helping people make big decisions
[47:09] - How Aaron got into the auction business
[59:04] - Final words from Machinery Pete

Next Episode

Kansas Farmer to Nationwide Restauranteur – Jason Ingermanson of Solomon, KS

Machinery Pete chats with Jason Ingermanson of Solomon, KS whose beautiful line of farm equipment, including a ’22 John Deere X9 1100 combine with only 107 sep. hours, is selling on March 20, 2024 online auction by www.PurpleWave.com. Beyond the auction, we learn of the amazing growing restaurant biz Ingermanson has built since 2011, with 100 locations in 15 states with 3 strong growing brands. We also learn about how Ingermanson is giving back in a HUGE way with a program in cooperation with Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina, KS, aimed at helping motivated young people gain an actual vibrant entry way into a career farming.

[:34] - Machinery Pete previews today’s guest
[5:25] - Interview with Jason Ingermanson begins
[6:05] - Jason’s items in March 20th sale, how he’s maintained his machinery
[14:30] - Growing up and why Jason wanted to become a farmer
[20:20] - How Jason got into the restaurant business
[33:30] - Philosophy and process of running successful restaurants
[39:07] - Advice to young people
[47:48] - Initiatives to get young people into farming
[1:00:30] - How to get in touch with Jason, final remarks
[1:08:08] - Final words from Machinery Pete