About
Great Plains Manufacturing, Inc. was started on April 1, 1976. Roy Applequist, founder and president, has lead the company during these many years. The company has succeeded in becoming one of the largest privately held agricultural equipment manufacturers in the United States. For the first 2 1/2 years the company was located in a small shop in Salina, Kansas. In 1979, it moved its operations to Assaria, Kansas. Today, Great Plains maintains its corporate headquarters in Salina, and has manufacturing facilities in Assaria, Kipp, Abilene, Lucas, Salina, Ellsworth, and Tipton, Kansas.
The Great Plains Division manufactures agricultural seed planting equipment, tillage equipment, and crop sprayers. In 1986, the Land Pride Division was started. This diversified the company’s product mix to include finish mowers, rotary tillers, rotary cutters, landscape seeding equipment, zero-turn mowers, and a number of dirt-working implements. The company’s products are sold through over 2,000 independent dealerships across the United States and are exported worldwide. Two other important subsidiaries of Great Plains Mfg., Inc. are: Great Plains Trucking which operates over 60 trucks, delivering products to our North American dealers, and Great Plains Acceptance Corporation, which provides product financing. Great Plains Manufacturing encompasses eight manufacturing facilities with a total of approximately 1,250,000 square feet. The majority of the company’s 1,000 employees live in central Kansas.
Computerization combined with automated manufacturing systems provide an environment that ensures high quality products made with precision and efficiency. Great Plains workers are well trained and even more, they practice a family-oriented mid-western work ethic, where quality is attached to personal pride.