Two men who have been fixtures in central Iowa ag business for decades will be stepping aside for new owners.

Dick and Larry Southard, of Marshalltown, owners of Southard Implement Co., with stores in Grinnell, Marshalltown and Tama, are expected to finalize the sale of their farm implement business to the Van Wall Group of Perry Dec. 31, according to Larry.

Each Southard location offers a full line of John Deere agricultural, lawn and garden equipment products and service.

Van Wall owns eight Deere stores in central Iowa and one each in Illinois, Kansas and Nebraska.

It has been in partnership with Deere since 1944.

Larry said he is not looking forward to leaving, but he knew sometime ago that change was inevitable.

Agriculture is the only business he has known.

Larry is in his 61st year of serving customers, a vocation he has relished.

Larry said he and Dick have been blessed to work with so many honest and hard working customers over the years and hopes to stay on after the sale is finalized to help the new owners.

“I know I could be helpful in the transition,” he said.

The Southard family has been in the farm implement sales and service business since 1951, when the brothers’ parents, Boyd and Grace Southard, opened a Massey-Harris dealership in Albion.

In 1960, the family attained two major milestones which resonate today. The Southards moved the business to its current location – 3006 S. Center St., Marshalltown – and began a partnership with Deere – an arrangement that made the family proud.

“John Deere has been good to our family for many, many years,” Larry said.

In 1975, Boyd and Grace turned the business over to Larry and Dick.

To best serve their many Tama County customers, the brothers bought the Deere dealership in 1991, at 1702 E.5th St.

They opened a Grinnell store in 1998, and in 2001, moved it to the present location on Highway 146, one mile north of Interstate 80.

“I’ve known Larry for years,” said Joe Griffiths, of Marshalltown, a long-time friend and customer. “He’s always been a straight-up guy.”