Changing with the times

When Ed Glode’s great-grandfather, E.J. Shively, bought Tilton & Son Hardware Store in December 1925 it came with a list of vendors.

“The top vendor was International Harvester,” said Glode, who is the fourth-generation to own and run the business. “When they settled the West from Chicago to San Francisco, next to every other rail hub was an International Harvester dealer. We were the product of one of those. Most of those are closed in the western United States. We’re one of the few that’s still there.”

For nearly a century, Shively Hardware has done business with the local ranchers of the Platte Valley by selling them the ranching equipment they’ve needed. It hasn’t been easy and there have been many changes in that time.

“We went through a major merger in the 60s and 70s. International Harvester was just on fire with everything they were doing and then we went through an economic downturn in the early 80s. In 1985, that’s when Case and International Harvester merged,” said Glode. “That happened in ‘85 and we worked through it. Then we built this building and moved here on March 4, 2000 and, right after that, they announced the New Holland and Case IH merger becoming CNH.”

As part of this merger, Shively Hardware was required to sell hay tools for New Holland equipment. Having spent decades selling hay tools from International Harvester, the business also took on AgCo as a vendor to continue selling tools which were able to work the Case IH equipment already sold in the Valley.

One of the biggest changes in recent history, said Glode, has been the rapid inflation seen in the past four years. According to Glode, while manufacturers of farm equipment would increase prices by approximately two percent each year to keep up with inflation, that number was “exponentially higher” the last four years.

“If we were selling a $100,000 piece five years ago, now that piece is $180,000. The problem with us is all we’re trying to do is raise grass in the summer to feed our cattle in the winter,” said Glode. “It’s a pretty simple diagram and that’s how all these families have increased their equity. It’s very easy. When that equipment doubles in price, it changes that equation.”

It’s not always this way. According to Glode, the curves of supply and demand met at just the right time during 2014 and 2015.

“Calves were selling for three times their average value, so all these family ranches had money they hadn’t had for 20 years,” said Glode. “So, we sold a lot of equipment in those two years.”

A common saying among most family ranches in the Valley is that they’re working all year for that one big payday when their calves go to market. As the market fluctuates, it can determine whether producers will stay in the black or go in the red that year. Glode said his business also keeps an eye on that market.

“We watch it a lot. We know if calves are selling high around October or November, some people are going to have some year end money they’re going to have to spend one way or another. Be it on ranch equipment or irrigation systems or whatever they’re doing, they’ve got to spend that money or they’re paying big taxes,” said Glode. “That’s an opportunity for us if we have enough time to respond to it.”

The increased cost of machinery isn’t the only change Shively Hardware has seen over the decades. As technology has advanced, so has what this machinery is capable of doing.

“The big key word would be productivity. With that increase in price comes an increase in production,” said Glode. “(We) Had a large account in Walden that hayed about half of the North Park Basin and they had five teams to get all that hay put up. In one swoop, we changed to the newer technology and replaced five teams with two to do the same amount of production.”

With every benefit, however, are some disadvantages. The newer machinery can, ideally, increase productivity with less labor but it can sometimes provide more headaches. One example given by Glode was with the emissions technology. Older machines don’t have this technology and are less likely to stall while haying, while newer machines could stall due to the technology detecting higher emissions.

Despite the ups and downs and number of changes over the decades, though, Shively Hardware is still around to service the Platte Valley and surrounding areas.