With over 70 years of combined experience in the used farm equipment auction market, hosts Casey Seymour and Machinery Pete have picked up some good ideas to help farmers and dealers get the most out of their auctions.
According to Pete, there’s two schools of thought among most farmers when it comes to choosing an auctioneer: You go with your gut — which often leads straight to the local auction company — or you pick based on the best marketing and social media promotion, which he recommends.
“The auction companies have all lifted their (marketing) games because they have to; it’s such a competitive business,” Pete says. “If they don’t, farmers know they will get left behind.”
Another selling point to emphasize is the level of care that has gone into the machines being sold. If it’s a Gold Key-certified tractor, lead with that. Also, take a ton of pictures and videos, from all different angles, both inside and outside the machine.
Seymour says it also helps to call in your local dealer for support. Let them know the date of your auction and ask them to give a testimonial on how well you take care of your equipment.
“It’s so simple, but nobody’s doing it yet, and it costs zero dollars to do,” Pete adds. “And you already have this great relationship with your dealer. But part of it is, as farmers, God bless ’em, they don’t want to impose on anyone, and they don’t want to say how great their stuff is.”
It can also pay off to list your equipment in a retirement auction instead of a consignment auction, Seymour says. Machinery Pete data shows used equipment often commands higher bids at retirement sales, while consignment auctions tend to bring out the bargain hunters.
Talking Corn Heads
Aaron Fintel, used equipment specialist for 21st Century Equipment, joined Seymour for a deep dive into the evolution of combine harvesting heads.
Fintel says hinged flex draper heads are growing in popularity over rigid corn heads, and even in regions like the High Plains, where topography is mostly flat, farmers are setting aside the rigid corn head in greater numbers.
Due to the average farm size growing with consolidation and farmers having to transport combines longer distances, folding corn heads are seeing higher farmer interest and trade-in value on the used market.
Another trend to note, Fintel and Seymour say, is that more farmers are hanging onto their corn heads longer, often preferring to use the same heads for upward of three to even five or six harvests before trading it in.
“From a dealer standpoint, as weird as this is to say, it’s easier to get rid of the combine than both heads that come with it,” Fintel says. “The next guy doesn’t need heads; he just needs a combine and the heads that he has still work fine.”
Rounding out this week’s episode is a conversation with Ryan Stien, go-to-market manager for digital products, on John Deere’s Operations Center and how farmers are using it to collect, organize and view machine telemetry data in real time. And Rich Posson talks about where the ag economy stands and how cautious consumer behavior is trickling down into the used equipment market.
Watch the full episode of Moving Iron on YouTube by clicking this link.
