Area Resident A Finalist For AGCO Operator Of Year
By SARA NIX
PR Director, Crabb Radermacher LLC
ROCHESTER — Dennis Rigney, a custom agriculture operator with Crop Production Services, Rochester, has been named one of four finalists to be honored as 2015 Operator of the Year.
Conducted by AGCO Application Equipment, the annual program recognizes the top professional applicators throughout North America based on their skills, dedication, customer service and community involvement.
“Dennis is the definition of a professional applicator,” stated Jeff Parry of Crop Production Services. “He is continually expanding his knowledge of agricultural practices and equipment by attending training events and learning new ways to improve efficiencies and results.”
Covering 50,000 acres a year with skill, precision and speed, Rigney has experience with a wide variety of crops and farming practices, making him the go-to-guy at his branch. “I was astonished when I found out that I am a finalist,” said Rigney. “I learned of the award several years ago in a magazine, but I never thought I would have a chance of winning it.”
Rigney also is active with his grandsons’ sports teams and volunteers at the local community building.
Rigney and the other three finalists will be guests of AGCO at the 2015 Agricultural Retailers Association Conference and Expo, Dec. 1-3, Palm Desert, Calif., where one will be announced Operator of the Year.
The winner will receive the grand prize of a new Harley-Davidson motorcycle and the retailer who nominated the winner will receive 100 hours free use of their choice of an AGCO TerraGator self-propelled, high-floatation applicator or RoGator self-propelled sprayer.
The other three finalists are Curtis Fick, Carpenter, S.D., Tom Kestel, Alta, Iowa, and Brian Manolovits, Mott, N.D.
These custom applicators spend hundreds of hours in the field every season, using technologically advanced application machinery, like a RoGator or a TerraGator, to apply fertilizer and crop protection products on millions of acres of crops, allowing farmers to achieve their best possible yield.
For the 10th anniversary of Operator of the Year, AGCO created an original song and music video in honor of these unsung heroes of agriculture, “Watch Him Go,” that celebrates these professionals’ diligence and hard work. To view the video, click here.