Used machinery values are still picking up steam while sales of new equipment are spiraling downward. May’s AEM U.S. Ag Tractor and Combine Sales flash report shows new 4WD tractor sales down almost 40% compared with May 2024, and combine sales are down 21%.
Yet farmer buying sentiment when it comes to equipment is more positive now than it was at this time last year, and that’s helping used equipment auctioneers and dealers get solid returns.
“The pricing we’re seeing is solid,” Machinery Pete says. “And if you drift into anything with a little age on it, that’s in good condition, the pricing is actually almost going up.”
He says a pair of 2020 John Deere 9RX tractors that sold this week (pictured below) show farmers are getting back into the buying mindset.
“One 9620 RX had 1,105 hours, and it brought $348,000. The other 9620 RX with 1,623 hours sold for $341,750,” Pete says. The average auction price for that model is only down 6% from last year, which Machinery Pete anticipated would be lower.
Casey Seymour hopes the rise in used values is a sign that better times for dealers and machinery manufacturers are right around the corner.
“We’re coming out of a downturn, and we’re leveling out,” he says. “It’s also that time of the year where we’re setting the tone, we’re setting up for what the rest of year looks like. What it feels like now is in line with what we’ve talked about here so far this year. So, fingers crossed.”
When it comes auction format, Machinery Pete and Seymour continue to see a shift in the market to more online auctions. They agree the lines are starting to blur between dealer consignment, retirement auctions and estate sales. That makes building trust with farmers and buyers crucial.
“I think these days, even more so than ever, it’s super important for auctioneers and the dealers to just be super, super upfront and honest,” Pete says.
How well is hay equipment selling?
Out on the western Plains, hay season is right around the corner.
Aaron Fintel, CEO of High Plains Wholesale and used equipment specialist, 21st Century Equipment, says he isn’t seeing a big push on baling equipment in his area just yet, but it’s coming soon.
As with most farm machinery types, new baler prices are elevated, so Fintel is comfortable predicting a wave of used buying activity. Once producers start firing up those balers and something inevitably breaks that isn’t an easy, cheap fix, that’s another driving force for upgrades. That’s often how a lot of hay operations will end up running multiple balers at the same time, Fintel adds.
“Once you fall under that $15K mark on balers, I mean, there’s just hundreds of them,” he says. “You get up to the middle of the alphabet and up level of buyer, and those guys go ‘We gotta go get that baler. Let’s roll.’”
Hay rakes are another story completely, Seymour adds. It’s often an impulse buy, and buyer beware when picking up a used one.
“My running joke with what that kind of stuff is, if someone’s trading one of those in, it’s used up or they’ve bounced it off of the bridge for the eighth time,” he jokes.
Swathers are another machine that farmers will run until the wheels fall off before they decide to upgrade. Basically, if you’re a dealer looking to move some used hay equipment, keep your expectations in check, because the buying cycle is nothing like it is in the row crop world.
“it’s just so wild how all the different parts of hay land operate compared to in the crop world,” Fintel adds.
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