There’s just no getting around it: 2025 is a tough time for the farm equipment manufacturing sector. Overall demand for new machines is down to Great Recession-era levels, and most farmers are tightly grasping the bankroll they’ve built up over the past couple years.
There is a silver lining though, according to Moving Iron Podcast hosts Casey Seymour and Greg “Machinery Pete” Peterson. Bargains on late-model, used equipment are out there, you just have to know where to look.
“If you’re looking to do some buying used equipment-wise, I don’t think you’re going to be able to find it cheaper than right now,” Seymour says.
“My advice is, you know, call your dealer,” Machinery Pete adds. “Go and have a talk with them because that late-model stuff on the lot, you know, they’re still motivated to move it. You can get yourself some good deals.”
Farm Truck of Tomorrow?
One very good deal Seymour and Peterson are watching is a new, American-made electric pickup truck brand, Slate Truck (shown above). The company plans to offer a base model starting at $25,000 that can also be converted into a SUV.
“They’re still testing it, but they’re saying we are going to give you a cheap, low cost, but solid and reliable $25K pickup truck,” Seymour says. “Now, it’s not the prettiest truck out there, but it’ll be fascinating to see how it sells. Personally, I think it might do well.”
Pete agrees there might be some appeal for a low cost, electric pickup around the Corn Belt. Recently, a 2023 GMC Denali Diesel Duramax with over 30,000 miles sold at auction for $78,000. And a brand-new, heavy-duty pickup today can easily run you over $100,000.
“Now, will you get out your checkbook and write that check for $25K? We’ll see, but with the price of everything rising so high, that’s America, that’s capitalism,” Pete says. “If you can build something at a different price point and make it appealing and it still gets the job done, you might have the next Apple computer, who knows?”
Used Equipment Migration 101
Aaron Fintel, used equipment specialist, 21st Century Equipment, joined the podcast this week and went down a used equipment migration flow rabbit hole with Seymour.
A few major trends in farm equipment migration across the U.S. today are most notably:
- North to South Migration: In general, farming equipment in the North is often of a higher spec (more horsepower, more technology) compared to the equipment found across much of the South. This flow of used equipment is driven by southern farmers seeking to upgrade machinery.
- Shifts in Crop Demand: As cotton prices decline, farmers in the South are switching to corn and soybeans, which leads to higher demand for high horsepower used equipment coming down from up North.
- Dealer Lot Differences: There are more tractors and used farm machinery moving into the South than leaving it, and many dealers in the South are dealing with an oversupply of certain types of tractors, like mid-horsepower loader tractors. That means you might be able to find some bargains if you’re in the market for a used utility tractor.
“You’re going to start seeing more of this migration of equipment out of bigger farms in the North and into the specialty crop and livestock farms in the South,” Seymour says.
Fintel and Seymour also discussed where spring planting progress stands today, the advent of adjustable power bins on large combines, and how tillage practices that vary by region impact the movement of used tillage tools in the farm equipment auction world.
Chip Nellinger, co-owner of Blue Reef Agri-Marketing, also joined this week’s episode to give an update on commodities and markets.
Watch the full version of this week’s Moving Iron Podcast over at YouTube.
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