About Us
Word gets 'round.
The Ayres Company began in January 1938 when William Emmitt Ayres and his son, Victor Leo Ayres of Leland, Mississippi accepted a farm equipment dealership from J.I. Case Company of Racine, Wisconsin. William Emmitt Ayres had recently retired from his 17 years (1920-1937) serving as the superintendent of Mississippi State University’s research center at Stoneville, MS to become the President of the National Soybean Growers Association. William used this experience and his reputation as the leading soybean authority and outstanding cotton breeder to form the farm equipment dealership and seed company, Ayres Company. The company’s goal was to serve the farmers of the Mississippi Delta with quality goods and honest service. In September 1938, William Emmitt Ayres passed away leaving his son Victor to continue operating the dealership under the same principles in which they had founded it. For many years the company was revered by local farmers as a company
with integrity and outstanding service. Making it one of the most prosperous in the
Mississippi and Arkansas Delta.
In 1957 the company accepted a construction contract with J.I. Case Company and began selling loader/backhoes to local contractors and farmers. This opened the door to allow the Ayres Company to develop a growing construction market and expand their product line to include sales of loader/backhoes, small crawlers, rough terrain forklifts and skid steers. The two markets allowed the Ayres Company the versatility to grow over the next decade.
In 1964 Victor Ayres bought 16 acres of land on highway 82 one mile west of Leland, MS and built a new facility for the dealership. The new facility gave the company room to expand the dealership far into the future. The Ayres Company continued to grow in the 1960’s. However in 1968, J.I. Case Company began to struggle – Tenneco Corporation purchased Kern County Land Company which gave Case Company great financial strength entering the 1970’s. This brought prosperous times
for both farmers and farm equipment dealerships.
In December 1973 Victor’s son, Stanley Ayres, graduated from Mississippi State University and returned to Leland, MS to work with his Father. He began selling equipment for the Ayres Company in 1976 and quickly became sales manager.
In 1979, Victor’s son-in-law, Richard Cousino, joined the Ayres Company as service manager. He was quickly recognized by customers for superior service and the Ayres Company enjoyed record sales and profits.
The early 1980’s were difficult times for farmers and farm equipment dealerships. International Harvester Company was among them and in 1985 the Tenneco Corporation bought the agricultural assets of International Harvester. Tenneco combined International Harvester and J.I. Case Company and create the Case IH brand.
In March 1987, the Ayres Company and Delta Implement Company, a long time International Harvester dealer merged operations and established the current farm equipment corporation, Ayres-Delta Implement, Inc. Which has four locations in Leland, Greenwood, Belzoni and Yazoo City, Mississippi.
Ayres-Delta Implement, Inc. is owned and managed by four third-generation family members of the original founders: Stanley Ayres, Richard Cousino, Joe Nah, and Terry Gibbs.
