In the used farm equipment auction world, 2024 saw an absolute avalanche of late-model equipment hit bidding sheets around the country. Today, supply of 1-to-3-year-old machines has pulled back dramatically.
“Huge drop offs this year on late-model used,” Machinery Pete says. “That’s why, in part, we’re seeing this huge firming up [in the market]. Of course, not much new is being sold. Dealers are working through inventory, of course they’d like those to be lower, but collectively, it’s night-and-day better than where it was.”
Pete and Casey Seymour are anticipating a very busy November and December on the auction circuit. The number of auctions to date is up 15% compared to last year already, but with late-model supplies relatively low, prices solidifying and demand from farmers still trending up, bidding is still very competitive.
“This is one of those years where everyone is waiting until the last possible minute to get things purchased and push things through,” Seymour says. “We’re still seeing combines being sold at this time of the year — that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, right? It’s a last-minute thing.
Last-minute buying by farmers is not necessarily a negative development for equipment dealers. Pete thinks the wave of dealer consolidation over the past couple years has imparted more efficiency into the dealer network, so dealers are setup to handle an increase in volume.
“To me, the used farm equipment space is moving towards the used automotive space and becoming faster,” he adds. “Again, as a farmer I understand if you don’t like that, you lose one of your local dealers because they consolidate, but you have to be aware of these things because this short period to get to solidifying used values just hasn’t happened before like this.”
Pete says the lag in used equipment values that normally follows a market downturn — putting farmer-buyers in position to capitalize on lower-priced equipment — won’t be here for as long as when dad and grandpa were running the show. You should consider buying this winter versus waiting until late 2026 or 2027.
Commodities Update
Shawn Hackett, president and CEO, Hackett Financial Advisors, believes USDA overestimates to yield forecasts signal a corn price jump in January or February, but many farmers won’t be able to sell at the higher price if they didn’t have room to store harvested grain or erroneous yield projections led them to believe it was better to sell early.
“If we have a $4.80 or $5 corn price, but I already sold at $4 or $3.80 or whatever, now I’ve just locked myself into a financial bind,” he says, adding the current government downturn will levy yet another devastating blow to farmers’ bottom lines.
High Plains Update
Aaron Fintel, used equipment specialist, 21st Century Equipment, joins Seymour for an in-depth breakdown of the latest Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) U.S. tractor and combine sales report. You can view the latest data here as you follow along with the discussion.
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