It’s been interesting to watch the data revolution unfold in our ag space over the years. Back in 1989, I was 23 years old and set sail building a business around the idea of compiling sale price data on all types of equipment sold at auction. This was actual sale price data that would help folks figure out the real value of a piece of equipment when it came to buying, selling, trading or appraising.
Big data became the term as the 1990s began to unfold, but no one told me, “Ah, young Machinery Pete, you are building a big-data business.” I was simply and solely focused on creating a better, more trusted source for accurate and current used equipment valuations.
But data doesn’t happen all at once. It took me two full years to find a company that could make the website I was wanting and needing in order to move away from the auction price books we were publishing. I finally found Inetium Inc. in Minneapolis and we turned the lights on at MachineryPete.com the first week of March 2000. It cost me $25,000 to do the website. I didn’t have $25,000. I had two young daughters and wasn’t that far removed from working two part-time jobs to make ends meet. It was just one of those moments in life where you have to decide whether you want to take that chance or not. I think age teaches us, and in most cases, we look back and are glad we took that chance.
Build Your Oil Well
Around 10 years ago, a farm equipment dealer principal I know was at a national meeting, and the keynote speaker was the CEO of Intel at the time. His message to dealers was “data is the new oil.” Bingo.
As the data revolution in ag continues to accelerate, my increasingly grayed noggin has been thinking about the ways to utilize the mind-boggling flow of data into and through your equipment that would help you buy, sell and trade it.
Data exhaust is helpful to guide you in making more informed agronomic decisions about your fields and farms, but I see gold in your data exhaust when it comes to making your tractor, combine, planter and sprayer worth more money.
There’s a game-changing opportunity ahead to use your data exhaust to help “tell the story” of your equipment. Potential buyers are coming from farther away and have grown accustomed to clicking the bid button on both online-only auctions and live sales with online bidding.
When I look at the near future, I don’t think anecdotal descriptions of used equipment for sale will be good enough. “One owner, always shedded,” is helpful, but you need more. Tell them and show them specifically how your tractor was used the past three years. Show them your machine’s data exhaust trail of use and care/maintenance.
Our Machinery Pete auction price data screams that when buyers have a higher degree of trust on the condition of the piece of equipment they’re looking at, they value it accordingly and bid more aggressively. As they should. Higher trust equals higher prices, and it always will — even long after Machinery Pete is gone.
Like it or not, data is our new shared language. Don’t fight it. Embrace it. Opportunity is ahead in more ways than you think.
