With July right around the corner, there are several trends playing out in the used farm equipment market.
For one, farmers are starting to buy four-wheel drive row crop tractors for fall tillage season. And as hosts Casey Seymour and Greg “Machinery Pete” Peterson always say, high-horsepower row crop tractors are the bell weather for the overall health of the used market. If those workhorses are moving the needle higher value-wise, combines, sprayers and implements will probably soon see an uptick in value as well.
Over the weekend, a 2016 Gold Key John Deere four-wheel drive 9420R “bareback” tractor (pictured above) with only 120 hours sold for $320,000 at the Harry and Lola Blackburn farm auction in Iowa. Machinery Pete says only a handful of those tractors have sold over the $300,000 mark, so it’s a good sign row crop tractor values are strengthening.
“The four-wheel drives eased off last year on auction pricing, but I would say that the pre-DEF ones that are in good condition, we’ll see some of those come through and put up some pretty eye-opening numbers — not quite as high as they were back in ’21 or ’22, but pretty solid,” Pete says.
Another market trend to watch going forward, according to Seymour, is the ratio of farm auctions to consignment sales. While an influx of farms selling off their equipment is generally a harbinger of poor farm balance sheets across the country, these sales can also have a lifting effect on average auction prices.
“It’s not good for anybody if they have to sell under distress, but its good for the marketplace because those farm auctions typically bring more money than a consignment sale,” Seymour says.
And finally, Pete and Seymour remind dealers and auction companies that telling the back stories behind the former farmer-owner and the used equipment you’re trying to move is just as powerful, and sometimes even more motivating for potential buyers, than hard and fast machinery specs.
“The reason auctions are still viable is they are emotional events and we’re humans,” Pete adds. “You can try not to be emotional and say, ‘I’m not going over $100K,’ and I tip my hat to people who can stick to that. But at the same time, when other farmers see you being real talking about your stuff, it’s like you’re grabbing them by the collar and pulling them through the screen, and it makes that person more likely to click on that thing two more times.”
The Rest of the Story
Chip Nellinger, owner of Blue Reef AgriMarketing, gave an update on happenings within the ag commodities trading world. He examines the impact of the U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict on global oil prices and carryover into crop futures.
Eric Halfman, go-to-market manager for riding lawn equipment & Gator UTVs at John Deere, came on to talk about the influx of precision ag technology that John Deere has bolted onto new Gators. Farmers can accurately boundary map fields with Gator UTVs in the Operations Center platform while saving money on fuel. AutoTrac guidance and more ag tech options are also available on 2025 Model Year Gator UTVs.
Aaron Fintel, used equipment specialist with 21st Century Equipment, took on the final segment to hit on the four-wheel drive tractor trend from his viewpoint on the Western Plains.
Head over to YouTube.com to watch the full episode. Hit the “Thumbs Up” button to like the video and the “Subscribe” button to get a notification every week when a new episode drops.
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