The used hay tool market – that includes windrowers, square and round balers, mowers, rakes and tedders – has shown strength with some nice upside. That’s because the cost of brand-new hay and forage implements remain on the high side, so more farmers are looking to buy used.
“It’s amazing what a new round baler costs these days, when you sit down with the dealer and start looking at pricing,” says Casey Seymour, who was practically bonked over the head with a case of sticker shock looking at new hay machines for a client this week. Seymour has over 20 years of experience in the used equipment market
“I was completely shocked,” he adds.
For Machinery Pete that recalled a two day stretch recently when two New Holland RB560 round balers sold back-to-back and set the all-time record for used baler prices.
“One went for about $56,500, the other was right around that $55,000 neighborhood,” Pete says. “Once you start getting up into $50,000 people will say ‘Yeah, well, what’s a new one cost?’ so that high price on new keeps demand strong on the really nice, good condition used machines.”
It doesn’t seem to matter whether we’re talking balers, pickup trucks, or a dozen eggs down at the local supermarket – the cost of everything is higher today than one year ago.
Another factor keeping auction pricing strong is how interconnected buyers and sellers are today with online auctions being so commonplace. Farmers aren’t just shopping locally for used equipment anymore. If it’s a deal, farmers can track it down and bid on it from practically anywhere in the world and then get it back to the farm.
“Now I’m going to click the button and buy it, and you guys are going to ship it whether that’s to Florida or Romania or wherever. We’re going so fast now, and the world is becoming a small place,” says Machinery Pete.
Diving Into The Mid-Atlantic Market
Used equipment manager Kevin Vandervort with Maryland-based dealer Hoober Inc., talke d about how the market is moving in his neck of the woods. Vandervort covers a sales territory that stretches from the New York-Canada border all the way south to North Carolina.
It’s an interesting market because of how diverse the cropping operations are throughout the Mid-Atlantic. You have everything from dairy, beef and poultry producers to large specialty vegetable and fruit growers all up and down the East Coast, and then there’s a ton of peanuts, corn, and soybeans mixing in on the row crop side. That crop mix makes for a busy used equipment market demand-wise with a lot of different machines moving around from dealer to farmer, and vice-versa.
“Last year we didn’t have that last two weeks of the year rush that we usually have,” says Vandervort. “And then the dealers were not as busy because everyone had time to look at everything. It kind of reminds me of pre-COVID, we didn’t carry a bunch of last year’s business into this year. And now a lot of dealers are playing catch-up to the (sales) budget.”
Vandervort says his area is in good shape when it comes to used sprayer inventory and availability of retrofit technology kits, and the same goes for planters and hay tools, too.
The equipment segment that is not faring so well in his region right now – and it can be chalked up to last summer’s extensive drought conditions and many large farms not getting a big crop out of the ground – is row crop tractors.
“Our new sales were soft last year,” Vandervort says. “And it was a direct result of that drought. You’re not going to get people to spend money when they don’t have it.”
Commodities Update
Ag Financial’s Rich Posson shared an update on the commodities markets. Posson is bullish on the European markets while thinking the U.S. and many other markets around the world are in a “minor long-term bear market.”
“I’m looking out to 2026, 2027 to be optimistic, but right now I just think the U.S. economy is dragging,” he says. “It’s lagging and the rest of the world is moving forward. And the U.S. is moving backwards.”
Posson says when it comes to corn and soybean futures specifically, he’s in wait-and-see mode for the time being. It would take a large catastrophe like another summer drought or some other major climate event to lower supply and drive demand and prices higher.
“I have a feeling corn is going to flounder around and trade both ways into April,” he adds. “And then we deal with planting in May and we watch the weather. I’m telling myself, the nice up move, if it comes, we may have to wait until June or July. But I would like to think it’s going to start to move up slowly.”
Bonus Segment
As farmers explore retrofit options for planters, sprayers, and other equipment, John Deere’s Kyle Barry and Clint Chaffer joined Seymour to talk about the latest Precision Upgrades kits Deere is offering for both tractors and combines.
For tractors, farmers are adding on Deere’s Ethernet implement connectivity kit to enable faster data transfer and connectivity from the planter to a SeedStar monitor in the cab. And Deere’s Next Generation Perception Autonomy kits can unlock driverless operation on 8RX and 9RX tractors. Deere also has a Precision Upgrades kit to automate its tillage tools.
RELATED: John Deere Introducing Next Generation Perception Autonomy Kits
In combines, the program is offering a new concave system for the X9 combine and a kit that allows the farmer to control the unloading auger right from the cab for S700 combines.
So kick your feet up, grab your favorite beverage and lock in for a wide-ranging, jam-packed episode of The Moving Iron Podcast.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE FULL EPISODE OVER ON YOUTUBE.
