Family Within Central Illinois Ag: Old Marty & Young Marty

Second and third generation farmers Marty Clementz and Marty Clementz are better known at Central Illinois Ag as Old Marty and Young Marty and at home as Marty & Martin John. This father/son duo has been loyal to the dealership since 1984 and hold a lot of memories and knowledge.

Marty began working for Bill Marcotte at Marcotte International in Lincoln, IL after losing farm ground. The career was right up Marty’s alley as he was a former customer of the dealership. He recalls Marcotte International as being smaller scale with himself and Bill in the sales department and the service department being four men: Joel, Ray, Melvin, and a retired technician.

“Bill was a very good gentleman, easy to talk to and he worked out any situation you had,” said Marty as he described owner of Marcotte International, Bill Marcotte.

Three years into Marty’s career, Marcotte International merged with Schmidt Implement to create Schmidt-Marcotte, Inc. Marty continued his career following the merger, having the opportunity to work under two additional owners, Richard (Dick) E. Schmidt and Steve Schmidt. 

With the same customer base, Marty was able to open up his sales to additional brands that Schmidt Marcotte offered such as Case (at the time, Case and International had not merged). 

Communication was Marty’s drive to success. 

“I like to talk and made a lot of cold calls. My favorite thing was getting out and meeting people, really the farm talk, and the customers were what I looked forward to,” Marty said.

Marty’s main territory included taking care of Mt. Pulaski, Latham, Illiopolis, and anywhere around the surrounding areas.

Some fond memories come to mind when thinking of past customers who helped Marty become successful. Marty reiterated the amount of really good people he met like Harold Strumpf from Lincoln. The Bryson Brothers who he would take oil to often were great customers, too. Cooper Farms would have a meeting every morning in the basement and he would attend when they were interested in buying a piece of equipment.

He was invited to visit Cooper Farms any time. He pulled in one day when Lee Cooper and his brother Gary Cooper were checking over their combine and cornhead before their dad would be driving it that day. 

“We’d buy a new cornhead if you have a new wide row,” offered Gary.

Marty called owner Bill Marcotte to check inventory and sure enough, they had one. “Tell Wayne Lee to put in on the trailer” said Marty, “I’m taking it to Coopers.”

Marty ran up to the dealership in Atlanta, hooked it up, and back to Mt. Pulaski he went. Upon arriving at Cooper Farms, there was a kid in the shop who let Marty know what field they were in. “Go around those building and straight west, down the dirt lane.” Away Marty went out to the cornfield.

“Man, you did have that,” said Gary. “Sure did!” said Marty with a smile on his face. Marty got the heads switched out before driving down the road to Brookers Farm and selling the trade.

Vernon Cooper will still remind him to this day, “You got me parts?” and Marty responds, “I gotta go get them.”...and he would!”

The equipment changed a lot from when Old Marty started at the dealership to retirement. He sold International Harvester 1460’s, 1440’s, and Farmall 86 series tractors. When Case IH merged and came out with the axial-flow combine, he recalls selling his first Case IH 1660 Axial Flow to Melton Welch.

There were several meetings Marty attended and gave feedback, including letting International Harvester know that an additional seat would be a good addition to the cabs. He knew ladies and children that needed to sit and there was no place for them. The company included what is called an ‘instructional seat’ in the cab of the next model.

He had the opportunity to travel to Denver, CO when the Magnum tractor came out. “It didn’t look the same, there were a lot of changes but I knew it would be successful with the modern look and good features,” said Marty. 

His first Magnum tractor was sold to a gentleman who had backed out of the deal when he decided to quit farming. However, the first Magnum sale he had was a Magnum 7120 to a John Deere customer, Perry Kraft in Illiopolis in 1987. He was excited to get a Magnum out in the country and see it run just as well as expected. The next Magnum he sold was to Donnie Riedle in Mt. Pulaski.

Technology has certainly come a long way and he didn’t think it would be where it is today. “I’m not a computer man,” said Marty. During Marty’s days as a salesman, the monitors were simple; you were either planting or you were not. Soon before retirement, the monitors were beginning to show spacing, population, and guidance.

Marty explains how the business is truly family oriented and employees are appreciated. He did a slow retirement, taking off the first of January for Florida and coming back the first of April. When asking owner Steve Schmidt if this would be okay, the response received was, “I don’t blame you!” After a successful salesman career, Marty retired in 2007.

Working Together with Dad

Martin John grew up farming with his father in his younger years and got to see him in the salesman role as an adult. Martin John was interested in agriculture from the beginning and grew up working on equipment with a grain farmer. He didn’t have much to do in the wintertime so his dad mentioned the idea to Bill Marcotte about Martin John setting up machinery at the dealership. Years later, the individual Martin John was working for lost ground so he became full-time employee at Schmidt-Marcotte, Inc.

When Dave Evans of Evans Implement joined Schmidt-Marcotte, Inc., the Kinze brand was brought into the business. Setting up about 15 planters one year, and 40-50 planters the next, Martin John learned a lot about planters, Today, one of Martin John’s specialties is Kinze planters, the other being mid-range combines.

Since 1988, Central Illinois Ag has truly been a lifestyle for Martin John. He left the business in 2008 and came back in 2017. Working together with his father is something Martin John has valued.

“It’s great, you get to see your dad everyday,” Martin John said. 

With Martin John in the service department and Marty being in the sales department, the  two could work beside each other to ensure customers were being taken care of. 

Loading up the service truck in mid-March and unloading it in November, Martin John still serves customers in the field during season and in the shop when not in season. Like his dad, Martin John enjoys meeting individuals and helping communicate efficiently with customers while being a successful top-notch technician at Central Illinois Ag.

The two men certainly have been loyal to Central Illinois Ag. Beginning at the merger of Case and International Harvestor, then merging as a company from Marcotte International to Central Illinois Ag, and adding on additional brands offered to customers, they certainly have a lot of memories stored between the transitions. The father/son duo is certainly thankful to work together and see all the changes in equipment over the years!