Delta New Holland in Charleston celebrating 25 years in business

By David Jenkins

davidj@standard-democrat.com

CHARLESTON -- For the last 25 years a staple of the local farming community has been Delta New Holland in Charleston.

Located at 975 Highway 105 South, Delta New Holland opened in 1989 by what some would say as a stroke of luck and others a stroke of genius.

Floyd Stallings founded the business with his brother Martin Stallings while farming together in Mississippi County. The two farmed together for over 50 years under the name Stallings Brothers Farms. Floyd was serving on the coop board and knew there was going to be a void of parts as a move to hydraulic had began. Knowing that, Stallings was able to obtain some parts and would leave them on the shelf at what would become Delta New Holland.

"People would come and take a part they needed and leave a note," Stallings said. "Then we would send them a bill later. That's kind of how it all started.

"It wasn't a big, laid out plan or anything. We just did the right things at the right time."

Doing the right thing at the right time helped Delta New Holland grow. Seeing a need for the dealership, Stallings opened Delta Ford New Holland in 1989, carrying Ford, New Holland, Versatile and Sunflower equipment and Lockwood Irrigation Systems.

In 1991, Ford sold their holdings to Fiat Industrial and the name of the dealership was changed to Delta New Holland Company, Inc.

In 2012, Delta New Holland undertook a complete renovation of the dealership, led by Stallings' son and daughter, Mark Stallings and Kim French. A 12,000 square foot, state-of-the-art service center was also constructed to help the business keep up with the times.

Over the years Stallings has seen how agriculture has grown and Delta New Holland has been able to adapt every step of the way.

"(Agriculture) is in continuous change,"Stallings said. "With GPS it required us to put antennas every 10 miles so everyone could do precision farming. When it first started it cost about $50,000 but with all things in technology it is down to about $10-15,000 depending how elaborate they want."

Mark Stallings currently runs the business and has been instrumental in getting the GPS in all the machines. With their updated facilities, Delta New Holland has 25 employees including trained technicians that can help farmers get the most from their equipment all season long. Delta New Holland also is backed by 10 part depots throughout North America, allowing Delta New Holland to provide the parts farmers need, when they need them.

Delta New Holland currently carries New Holland, Rhino, Versatile, Apache, Kinze, Remlinger, Landoll, Unverferth and Sunflower lines as well as the Zimmatic Irrigation System.

To honor their 25th anniversary, Delta New Holland will be having a celebration on July 29.

"We will have Cousin Carl and The Glenn will provide the food," Stallings said. "We will have something for the kids and we will have raffles with something from all our suppliers."