Kuhn North America recently awarded Mike Hayen of Cogswell, N.D., with a ceremonial check representing $10,000 off the purchase of a Kuhn GMD 5251 TC center-pivot disc mower. The discount was Hayen’s prize for being randomly selected as the second winner of Kuhn’s Model GMD 280 Golden Giveaway.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Hayen said when recounting the phone call he received from Kuhn informing him he had won. “That kind of call seemed too good to be true. I forgot I even entered the contest.”
But after remembering his conversation at the Big Iron Farm Show with Jon Stephenson, Kuhn’s central regional manager, Hayen remembered Stephenson inviting him to enter and realized the news was completely real.
Hayen has been farming since 1985, when he began with family members on what is now his solely owned farm. He runs a cow-calf operation and also grows around 4,500 acres of crops, including corn and soybeans. He chose the GMD 5251 TC after consultations with Kuhn territory manager Chuck Friedley and sales representatives from Titan Machinery in Lisbon, N.D. Hayen says he likes the machine for its working width and Fast-Fit knives. He plans to take delivery of his new disc mower in March and is hoping it brings a new level of efficiency to his operation.
Present for the award ceremony were Mike and LaJuana Hayen, their children (Garrett, Bridget and Elliott), Jon Stephenson, Chuck Friedley, and Titan Machinery sales representative Wally Radcliffe.
The kuhn Model GMD 280 Golden Giveaway was a promotional contest held in 2017 to celebrate Kuhn’s 50th year of disc mower innovation. Two winners were selected throughout the year after entering a random drawing at various farm shows across the U.S. Each winner was given the choice of a free GMD 280 disc mower or $10,000 toward a higher-priced GMD or FC machine.
Kuhn North America, Inc., headquartered in Brodhead, Wis., is a leading innovator in agricultural and industrial equipment, specializing in spreaders, mixers, hay tools and tillage tools. Kuhn, Kuh Knight and Kuhn Krause products are sold by farm equipment dealers throughout the U.S., Canada and many other countries.