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Should Nebraska Tractor Tests Be Powered Down?
12/6/2003
Charlene Finck
After two bad experiences with tractors not delivering what the manufacturers had promised, Nebraska farmer Wilmot F. Crozier was fed up. Using his power as a state legislator, he pushed through a law to see that it didn’t happen again.
“I began wondering if there wasn’t some way to induce all tractor companies to tell the truth,” he wrote in Implement & Tractor, a machinery industry magazine, in 1920. His plan continues to induce companies to test today.
The Nebraska law requires all tractors 40 hp and above sold in the state to have a permit confirming they were tested by a third party. Because manufacturers want to sell tractors in Nebraska, and therefore must test at an independent lab, the state law has ad hoc responsibility for protecting farm tractor buyers in every state. Because of this law, you can trust that tractors will do what manufacturers promise.
Eighty-three years after Crozier’s law was passed, “the Nebraska test” is synonymous with independent tractor test—here in the U.S. and around the globe. One reason is the phenomenal success of the Nebraska Tractor Test Lab at the University of Nebraska. Born of the need to fulfill the state’s permit requirements, the independent lab is now a highly regarded provider of tractor data respected worldwide.
Now the Iowa–Nebraska Farm Equipment Dealers Association is leading a charge that will change that. The group wants the permit law repealed. “We don’t think we should have to have a permit to sell something,” says Andy Goodman, executive vice president. “We don’t want to restrict the tractors available for Nebraska farmers to buy.”
The group’s lobbyists are working hard to get a holdover 2003 bill (LB212) headed down the fast track when the Nebraska legislature goes into session January 8.
Goodman argues that the industry has changed so much since 1920 that the law is no longer needed. The executive points out that the dealer group isn’t disputing the value of tractor tests but is simply trying to eliminate the permit process. When listening to the group’s arguments, it would be easy to oversimplify the issue. You can’t talk about the permit process autonomous of third-party tests and the Nebraska lab. They are tightly woven together.
Without the permit requirement, tractor makers won’t test tractors. Already, every major manufacturer but one has told Farm Journal that they won’t test if the law is repealed.
In your best interest. Many things have changed in the industry since 1920, but one thing hasn’t: Farmers in Nebraska—and every state—deserve to have independent tractor testing to prove that the machines do what manufacturers claim they do. The more consolidated and competitive the tractor business becomes, the more important objective testing is to the buyer.
The Nebraska lab is self-funded through testing fees paid by tractor companies. Lab fees average $24,000 per tractor; the permit costs another $50. On top of that, the company has the expense of shipping the tractor and paying in-house engineers to be on site to coax out each machine’s best performance. Each test lasts at least a week.
The chance to cut that kind of overall expense is too enticing to ignore in this world of cut-throat margins. In fact, tractor manufacturers have told Farm Journal that if the repeal goes through with a delayed implementation, as is being discussed by Nebraska lawmakers, they will jockey tractor introductions so they don’t have to test new models before the repeal kicks in.
Another argument favoring the law’s dismissal is that today’s truth-in-advertising laws will keep manufacturers in line. You only need to look at the auto industry to lose confidence on this front. So many auto makers are cheating on horsepower claims that the Society of Automotive Engineers, which sets standards for the auto industry, is working on tighter testing procedures. They say there is a huge variation between advertised and actual horsepower in some cases. Horsepower claims are exaggerated 7%, when 2% is considered acceptable.
The auto industry is a bit like the tractor world in that there are a few big domestic players and a handful of global players dominating the market. A chief difference is that horsepower is more important to tractors. With the higher stakes, it is hard to believe that tractor makers wouldn’t fall into the same exaggeration habits.
If you doubt that horsepower and the bragging rights that come with it are important, watch tractor introductions. Often within weeks of one company rolling out a new “highest horsepower tractor of its size,” a chief competitor leapfrogs ahead to capture bragging rights.
Thank goodness, farm tractor buyers are protected by third-party testing. And most of the testing is done in a way lawmakers usually applaud—without tax dollars.
None of that discounts that a permit-to-sell process is an odd way of protecting tractor buyers. This alone makes it easy for lawmakers and dealers to take a micro look at a macro situation. It is impossible to focus on the permit and not consider the valuable things the process achieves.
While it’s easy to argue that there should be a federal mandate for testing tractors rather than a one-state law, proponents on both sides of the issue say that is unlikely. As unusual as it is, we have Nebraska’s permit to lean on. Is that fair to the state’s dealers who can’t market tractors that company’s refuse to test—while dealers in neighboring states can sell the same models? Of course not.
Of the 194 current models 40 hp and above, 23 have not been permitted to be sold in Nebraska (see “Current Ag Tractor Models Without Permits”).
Is the law in the best interest of Nebraska farmers and all farmers in the U.S.? Absolutely.
Even when he wrote the law, Crozier was wise enough to say, “If there are any defects in the way the present law works out, if it is shown to be unfair in any way to the manufacturer, I shall be glad to receive suggestions.”
Crozier was right. We need to think in terms of remedies or improvements. If a better mechanism can’t be identified for insuring that tractors are third-party tested, the permit should stand.
Hats off to Crozier and his leadership decades ago. Here’s hoping the same forward-thinking leadership prevails in the Nebraska legislature.
Current Ag Tractor Models Without Permits
A recent count of 40 hp and above farm tractors made by major manufacturers that are not permitted in Nebraska includes these 23 models, many of which are small. Clearly, the most notable ag models not permitted are from Case IH, which has tested the largest Quadtrac but not the smaller two. Kubota refuses to participate in the process.
Case IH: STX375 Quadtrac, STX425, STX425 Quadtrac
John Deere: 8120T, 8220T
Kubota: M110, M120, M9000, M8200, M6800, M5700, M4900, M5000, M4800
McCormick: MC90, MC100, MC115, GX50
New Holland: 3010S, 5610, 6610, 7610, TJ425
Speak Up
If you believe independent farm tractor tests are valuable, now is the time to let your voice be heard. We’re collecting opinions from farmers and will forward them to Nebraska lawmakers. Write: Nebraska Tractor Law, Farm Journal, P.O. Box 958, Mexico, MO 65265, or send an e-mail to FJLetters@farmjournal.comFJLetters@farmjournal.com. Be sure to include your name and address.
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