Announcement Remarks

Remarks prepared for delivery at July 28, 2008 announcement of AG CONNECT Expo 2010

Dennis Slater
President & Secretary
Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM)

Good afternoon and thank you for allowing me to say hello to everyone. My name is Dennis Slater and I'm the president of AEM, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. We have some staff on hand I am sure most of you will meet, including our vice president for Ag Services, Charlie O'Brien. By now you probably know we are looking forward to sharing an important announcement with you in a little while. We're very excited about it – we hope you will be too. As we look toward the announcement, I would like to share one piece of historical information with you – it has to do with AEM's long-standing commitment to the Ag Industry.

AEM's member companies manufacture equipment for agriculture, construction, forestry, mining and utilities. We are very proud of our long-term support and involvement with agricultural productivity - our members make the machines and implements that contribute to agriculture being the modern and dynamic business that it is. AEM has been deeply supportive of agriculture for a long time. And here's that bit of history I mentioned. Our roots in agriculture go back to 1894 when our members formed as the National Association of Agricultural Implement and Vehicle Manufacturers to provide the equipment to support farmers and the Ag industry.

That association has evolved over the years to become AEM, which now provides services on a global basis. AEM manufacturers produce the equipment that helps the Ag industry feed and now fuel the world. On a final note, we will have a special guest with us to make our announcement at 2:45 and I hope you will interested to hear from him. Thank you and we look forward to speaking further with you today and in the future.

Dennis Slater introduces Martin Richenhagen
We appreciate you all being here. We are honored to have Martin Richenhagen, CEO, Chairman of the Board and President of AGCO Corporation with us this afternoon. He flew in a little while ago and we appreciate that he made time in his busy schedule to be with us. Mr. Richenhagen serves on our Board of Directors and is also the First Chair of AEM. Without further from me, I will turn the floor over to Mr. Richenhagen.

Martin Richenhagen
President, Chairman & CEO
AGCO Corp.
AEM First Vice Chairman

Good afternoon. I am pleased to be here at the Ag Media Summit. I hope I can be counted as a member of the agriculture family – we all speak the language of agriculture, after all.

I am sure you agree this is a very exciting time to be in agriculture. As I say at AGCO, progress and change are necessary, and we hope to make it even more exciting.

But first I congratulate you on the 10 anniversary of the Ag Media Summit. One thing agriculture always depends on is the agriculture media. Without you, the communicators, so much useful information would not reach the producers who value it the most. Those of you in Ag media and AEM have something in common with my company – you see growth, new opportunities, and value the positive aspects of change where many don't. This is one reason I came to make this announcement today. You are leaders in agriculture, as AEM is a leader representing agriculture equipment manufacturers, and we are all here today to give you the opportunity to run with a story of something both new and positive.

I am here today to announce that our association, AEM, is, as of this moment, initiating AG CONNECT Expo, a brand new global agriculture trade show here in North America. The inaugural show will be in this great state of Florida, in Orlando January 12-15 in 2010.

My company is very excited about AG CONNECT Expo, and so are the other agriculture companies that are members of AEM many of which are also here today to show their support for this show. Let me tell you why I am excited about this and why we hope you will all attend for the sake of your readers – it is going to be THE North American international ag trade show, and you probably know what that means.

For you AG CONNECT Expo means great stories and contacts for future stories. It means new product launches and lots of innovative prototype technology seen for the first time. For attendees it means a great trade show with great value like the huge international trade shows in Europe. It means a world-class event for innovative technology, networking and education. It means experts in all technology areas will be available to the attendee.

For companies like mine, it means the best opportunity in North America to meet thousands of our customers in new way in North America. It means that we have a global association running a global trade show for us right here in North America, and that is very good news indeed.

AEM is innovative, knowledgeable and accomplished in the arena of global trade shows, and the association has our complete confidence and support for AG CONNECT Expo. AEM has a reputation for staging award winning shows, including the record-breaking CONEXPO-CON/AGG & IFPE 2008 in Las Vegas this past March. If you saw that show you'd know why we are so pleased to support AEM and its new show, AG CONNECT Expo.

My company believes that high-tech ag solutions feed the world. AEM has the perspective on trade shows to help us achieve our business goals with a professionally managed trade show by the Ag industry and for the Ag industry, with the revenues earned being reinvested to support the industry. The companies involved are part of show management committee that makes the decisions about how the trade show will be managed. We very much like planning a show that will fully support the results of our research to deliver what the customer wants and to provide it an end product for the benefit of the industry.

What else can the farmer expect when he or she attends AG CONNECT Expo? Well, he will have the opportunity to talk at length with equipment designers and engineers. He can ask the tough questions he has not been able to have adequately answered. He will be able to make recommendations to designers and engineers, and I can promise, at least with my company, that the designers and engineers will listen attentively.

I have been in business a long time and I don't think what we are attempting with AG CONNECT Expo has been attempted in North America – if that doesn't excite you editors I can't imagine what would. I will not detain you any longer. Thank you for having me today.

We will have many people in our booth for you to talk to from various AEM member companies and AEM staff that has been involved in the planning of this world class event.

And now we will hear from Bob Schnell, the Executive Vice President of the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association.

Bob Schnell
Executive Vice President
Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association

Thank you, Mr. Richenhagen. It's great to be here at the Ag Media Summit. I would like to echo Mr. Richenhagen's comments about the importance of ag media, which is why we're announcing FEMA's support of AG CONNECT Expo here today. We believe this show will be a great opportunity for the international ag community to come together in North America and showcase the best products from around the world. We are excited about the prospects for AG CONNECT Expo and look forward to the launch in 2010. Look forward to talking to you about this exciting show and enjoying our time here in Tampa.