New President for AEA

Richard Johnson of John Deere was elected as President of the Agricultural Engineers Association for 2011/12 at the Annual General Meeting held in London today.

Richard has led the AEA Farm Equipment Council for the last three years and has overseen its resurgence to a well attended and vigorous group.

Studying agricultural engineering at Harper Adams University College Richard became one of the first Work Placement Students to work at John Deere.

A single-company man, Richard started his career  with John Deere as a management trainee and subsequently held a number of key positions. Initially in the UK where he became Business Development Manager, and in Germany where he rose to lead the Parts & Service Marketing group for Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Further promotion in 2004 saw Richard returning to the UK in the role of Agricultural Division Sales Manager for the southern half of the UK and in 2006 he succeeded Alec McKee as Managing Director of the UK Branch of John Deere Ltd, the position he holds today.

In 2009 the Institution of Agricultural Engineers awarded Richard the prestigious Michael Dwyer Memorial Prize which acknowledges a mid-career engineer who has made outstanding progress in the agricultural engineering industry.