Retrofit Solutions

Faster Tillage, Smarter Spraying: John Deere Expands Its Machinery Lineup

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 13:58:58 GMT

Farmers looking to conquer heavy residue and tight tillage windows have new ways to tackle both challenges with John Deere’s expanded High-Speed Disk (HSD) lineup. For 2027, the company is offering four new HSD two-section models, which build on initial introductions in 2025. The latest models will be available in 15’, 19’, 22’ and 25’ widths.

As Michael Porter explains, the disks are purpose-built for the slowest, most time-consuming job on row-crop farms: deep ripping.

The high-speed tillage tools combine multiple operations into a single pass — residue sizing, burial, compaction removal and field leveling — delivering both agronomic and economic benefits, especially when paired with autonomous operation, explains Porter, John Deere marketing manager for large tractors and tillage.

Autonomy Creates New Efficiencies

For 2026, autonomy ready capability is available on the 2730 combination ripper and the 64’ and 69’ 2230 field cultivator models, giving farmers more options to integrate autonomous tillage into their operations. Porter says the autonomy factor could create a whole new level of efficiency for row crop growers short on time and manpower.

“Think about having an operator sit in that machine for 12 hours a day and maybe only getting one or two fields done. Now they can go haul grain … and when they get done, there’s a good chance 60%, 70%, 80% of their fields have already been ripped, and they just need to finish up the last few,” Porter says.

The company’s so-called “combination ripper” is equipped with lights, cameras and a StarFire receiver mast to enable safe, precise autonomous operation. “With autonomy, we need to know where this tool is at all times,” Porter notes.

Farmers with 2016 or newer 2730 combination rippers can update to autonomy-ready through a John Deere Precision Upgrade kit. The kits provide a cost-effective way to enhance existing machines delivering greater flexibility, Deere reports. Combination ripper upgrade kits will be available for order starting in summer 2026, while field cultivator kits are available today.

(Rhonda Brooks)

Sixteen cameras provide 360-degree perception, essentially replacing the operator’s eyes. In autonomous mode, the system detects obstacles, evaluates whether it can proceed, and either continues on its own or alerts the operator through Operations Center mobile with customizable, high-priority notifications.

When it comes to ROI, the payoff comes from both direct labor savings and the ability to reallocate time during harvest.

“In general, we see some customers who have run 5,000, 7,000 acres in a year, at a $40,000 to $50,000 cost to them, and this pays off. Those growers are saying, ‘Hey, I would have had to pay someone X amount of dollars for all those hours sitting in the cab,’” Porter says.

See & Spray Upgrades

Farmers staring down ugly weed pressure and weak commodity prices are demanding more from every input dollar. With that in mind, John Deere is betting its model year 2027 upgrades will prove See & Spray is not just cool tech. Instead, the company is positioning it as a fundamental tool designed to deliver better weed control, increased flexibility and a faster payback for farmers across a broader range of crops.

Historically, See & Spray was a tool for use in corn, soybeans and cotton. For 2027, John Deere is moving into the small grains market.

“We are jumping headfirst into wheat, canola, barley and a handful of other crops,” Ladd says, noting peanuts and sugar beets are also joining the list.

Last year, See & Spray covered over 5 million U.S. acres and delivered nearly a 50% reduction in non-residual herbicide use. For farmers on the fence about investing in the technology, the value proposition is moving away from saving dollars and toward improving the bottom line. For many growers, the company says, a two- to three-year ROI is available with the technology.

“We understand the increasing pressures farmers are facing, driving them to find solutions that allow them more flexibility and the opportunity to do more with less,” says Josh Ladd, marketing manager for application equipment at John Deere. “That is why we have updated See & Spray to directly address those challenges by helping farmers apply exactly what’s needed, where it’s needed, and across more acres and more crops.”

Computing Power Gets Updated

On a recent walk-around of a 2027 machine at the company’s Austin, Texas, R&D center, Ladd starts with what you can’t see from the outside: the machine’s computing backbone. Earlier generations of See & Spray relied on as many as 10 processors. The new models consolidate that power into just three vision processing units (VPUs) mounted on the center frame.

“We’re able to do that and not make any sacrifices on overall computing power, and there is less weight involved,” Ladd says. “We can only put so much stuff on this machine’s boom before we start to worry about boom durability, compaction and consistency of performance.”

Nozzle technology is also becoming more cost-effective. While the ExactApply (30Hz pulsing) remains the standard for dual-product systems, John Deere is introducing Individual Nozzle Control Pro as a factory option for 2027 single-tank machines.

“For customers who want 15Hz pulsing instead of 30Hz, or are comfortable with a five-nozzle turret, it’s a more accessible option,” Ladd explains. This gives farmers and customer applicators another entry point into row-by-row nozzle control from the factory, he added.

Additional Enhancements

New center-frame camera placement, on the front of the sprayer, to reduce dust interference and enhance detection accuracy for more-consistent application quality. For operators with MY18 to MY26, these cameras will be available through a Precision Upgrade kit.
Higher operating speeds in targeted modes — up to 16 mph depending on crop and configuration, allowing more acres to be covered when application windows are tight.
Optional full boom lighting enables targeted fallow application at night to extend productive hours.

The expanded See & Spray capabilities will be available on MY27 John Deere 408R, 410R, 412R, 612R and 616R sprayers. In addition, all Hagie sprayers – STS12, STS16, and STS20 – will now feature See & Spray Premium as a factory-installed option.

Alongside the expanded See & Spray capabilities, John Deere is introducing several MY27 sprayer enhancements designed to improve overall productivity, operator awareness and in-field efficiency across a wider range of applications.

Updated Name for DA Series Applicators

To better align their applicator portfolio with the broader tillage portfolio, John Deere is updating the naming of its DA Series Applicators, formerly known as the 2510H. While the name might be new, farmers can continue relying on the same proven performance they are used to across multiple seasons.

“With the MY27 updates, we continue to deliver proven durability, increased flexibility and technology-ready solutions that help farmers maximize productivity,” Porter says.

To learn more about the updates to the John Deere application portfolio, visit JohnDeere.com or contact your local John Deere dealer.

AgZen, Corteva Team up on AI-Powered, Retrofit Sprayer Tech

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 15:08:46 GMT

AgZen announces an agreement with Corteva to further “explore the commercial potential” of AgZen’s AI-powered crop spraying optimization technology, RealCoverage.

The news comes on the heels of Corteva’s big announcement on Oct. 1 , detailing the crop protection multinational’s plan to split its crop protection and seeds businesses.

AgZen, a tech startup spun out of MIT, is making a name for itself by pioneering feedback optimization for spray applications — a new approach the company thinks has potential to improve farmer outcomes and reduce crop input costs.

(AgZen)

AgZen’s first product, RealCoverage, is a retrofit kit that can be bolted onto any sprayer to measure and optimize the number of drops of agrochemicals applied to crops. The system features a boom-mounted sensor that analyzes the coverage and quality of spray applications in real-time, displaying actionable data to a tablet mounted in the cab. Farmers can use the data to optimize the physical settings on spray rigs, both self-propelled and pull-behind, to increase coverage.

The startup says its system works by leveraging AI and cutting-edge computer vision, and customers have used RealCoverage to save 30% to 50% on input costs.

Farmer Feedback

(AgZen)

Northwest Indiana farmer Bryan Brost slapped a RealCoverage system onto his Hagie STS 16 high-clearance sprayer to use on his waxy corn and soybean crops. He says it has helped boost his spray program efficiency overall by reducing application rates while maintaining optimal coverage throughout his 12,000-acre operation.

“The payback came in the first year,” he tells Farm Journal via text message. “We have increased our acres [covered] per day with less hours on the machine, the operator and the nurse tanks supplying product [to the sprayer].”

Corey McIntosh set the technology loose across his 4,000 acre spread in Missouri Valley, Iowa. He is looking forward to using the data to improve his application efficiency across the board. He’s also letting his neighbors and local retailer in on the secret.

“I was getting a chem shuttle refilled at [the] co-op, these guys have always been complimentary of our weed control, I asked them: ‘What percentage of leaf surface area do you think you are covering with your sprayers?’ One of their best operators said he thought 50% coverage. The salesman next to him said it would definitely be more than 60%,” McIntosh says.

“They were shocked when I told them we were at 9% to 10%, but nobody has had ever had a way to quantify this before,” he adds. “We are really looking forward to making improvements.”

Since launching on the market in 2024, AgZen says it covered more than 970,000 commercial acres of application across the U.S. on row crops and specialty crops.

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John Deere Layoffs Continue Amid Sales Downturn, 142 Iowa Employees Notified

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 22:38:28 GMT

Farm equipment giant John Deere has confirmed it is laying off 101 employees at its Waterloo Operations (last day on October 17) and 41 employees at the Des Moines Works (October 31) plant, according to an official statement emailed to Farm Journal.

It is a little over a month since the last round of layoffs , which affected over 200 employees across factories located in the Quad Cities region of western Illinois and eastern Iowa.

Deere says in the statement: “Production schedules at each John Deere factory vary to align with seasonal farming needs. When fewer orders come in, each factory adjusts accordingly.”

Despite the layoffs and an overall tough farm economy that some think will stretch well into 2026, Deere still intends on moving forward with its $20 billion investment strategy here in the U.S., according to the statement.

During John Deere’s earnings call in August, the company issued a warning that tariff costs could total $600 million for fiscal year 2025. The company’s share price dipped 6% immediately following that call. Deere’s net income for Q3 also sank 26%, and its total net sales decreased by 9% compared to Q3 in 2024.

At the beginning of August, John Deere addressed long-standing Right To Repair concerns with a new digital diagnosis and repair product for John Deere machines and Hagie STS high-clearance sprayers. That tool costs $195 per tractor for farmers and $5,995 per year for independent service technicians.

And in May, Deere acquired Minneapolis-based drone and sensor provider Sentera . Financial terms for that deal have not been disclosed.

John Deere also just dropped a new commercial featuring injured San Francisco 49ers quarterback and Iowa State Cyclone Brock Purdy cooking meals for farmers with tractor influencer @JustAJacksonThing. You can check that out below.

Additional Information

Deere shares the following bullet points regarding compensation benefits available to laid off employees:

Affected employees are eligible to be recalled to their home factory for a period equal to their length of service. Those laid off are automatically placed in seniority order for openings they are qualified to perform at the factory.
Weekly supplemental unemployment benefit (SUB pay), dependent on number of years of continuous employment.
Transitional Assistance Benefit (TAB) pay, which may cover up to 50% of their average weekly earnings for up to 52 weeks. 
Profit sharing, calculated based on hours worked, average earnings and the company’s profit margin.

Healthcare benefits employees can receive during a layoff include: 

Employees can keep healthcare coverage for at least six months, or as long as they are eligible for SUB pay.
Weekly Indemnity (WI): Employees who become disabled while on layoff can get WI benefits for the same duration as their SUB pay.
Employee Assistance Program (EAP): Employees and their household members can access EAP services for the duration of their recall rights. EAP provides up to eight sessions of in-person or virtual therapy per year.

Other benefits laid-off employees may receive include: 

Life insurance
Legal assistance
Tuition reimbursement and job-placement assistance.

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Machinery News: Sorbe To Lead PTx, Farmall Tractors And Case IH Round Baler, Claas Jaguar Forage Choppers

Fri, 15 Aug 2025 16:46:39 GMT

AGCO Names Brian Sorbe as New PTx Leader

Brian Sorbe joins AGCO as President of PTx, bringing precision ag leadership to accelerate the company’s offerings of smart farming solutions for almost any brand.

(AGCO Corporation)

AGCO appoints Brian Sorbe as president of PTx, effective Aug. 25, 2025.

Sorbe brings nearly three decades of experience in precision agriculture, global sales and product development to this pivotal role, AGCO says.

“I am confident under Brian’s leadership, PTx will achieve our goal of $2 billion in precision ag sales by 2029 and help us deliver our vision to be the trusted partner for smart farming solutions,” says Eric Hansotia, AGCO chairman, president and CEO.

Sorbe spent 14 years at Topcon Positioning Systems in leadership roles, including senior vice president and general manager. His career arc also spans construction and industrial automation, but agriculture has always been at the core. Raised on a farm in Iowa, Sorbe began his precision ag journey at Ag-Chem Equipment in Jackson, Minn.

He will be based in Tremont, Ill., which is a key PTx site. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Purdue University, and Sorbe’s postgraduate work includes certifications in AI and machine learning and agricultural autonomy and robotics as well as a Master of Business of Administration program.

You can read the full news release here.

Case IH Launches 3 Farmall Tractors, RB6 Round Baler

Case IH Farmall C utility tractor.

(Case IH )

Case IH is debuting new machinery solutions ranging from compact to utility tractors to upgraded round balers. This includes an enhanced line up of Farmall tractors, including the Farmall A, Farmall C and the return of the Farmall M.

Case IH is also unveiling a new RB6 series variable chamber round baler.

The new Farmall medium utility A series (90HP to 120HP) tractor features performance enhancements and a higher-horsepower model. Simple, factory-fit technology improves the operator experience, ensuring efficiency no matter the season or task.

The Farmall medium utility C series (90C, 100C, 110C, 120C) tractor (shown above) caters to a wide range of needs, offering both 12-speed PowerShuttle and 24-speed Hi-Lo transmissions. The Farmall C now offers subscription-free factory-installed telematics, including track-and-trace fleet management and optional ISOBUS compatible implement control.

Case IH Farmall M utility tractor

(Case IH)

And the Farmall utility M series (110M, 120 Super M) tractor (shown above) is making its return, promising farmers a premium experience with exceptional power and high-quality design. The M series is ideal for the needs of farms with both cash crops and livestock.

(Case IH)

The RB6 series variable chamber round baler (shown above) offers durability with triple seal bearings throughout the machine to ensure contaminants stay out while lubricants stay in. Round baler automation paired with the easy-to-use display interface ensures precise bale quality and in-field productivity.

Claas Intros New Jaguar 1000 Series Forage Harvesters

(Claas)

Claas is unveiling its new Jaguar 1000 series forage harvesters. The German outfit says its new self-propelled lineup features greater throughput, power and operator comfort.

The series encompasses four models — the Jaguar 1080, 1090, 1100 and 1200 — that range from 850HP to 1,110HP with throughput rates of up to 500 tons per hour.

Claas says it designed the machines in partnership with North American growers to deliver enhanced chop quality and efficiency.

Noteworthy features on these new machines include:

The widest crop flow channel on the market, according to Claas. A new precompression system and four precompression rollers guarantee uniform feeding of the V-FLEX knife drum.
A transversely mounted 24-liter V12 MAN engine, delivering torque and reliable power.
Intelligent engine load management via CEMOS Auto Performance and all-wheel drive.
The new Multi Crop Cracker XL, a 12.2" (310 mm) diameter roller conditioning system that ensures optimal grain and stover processing at high throughput rates. It’s available in both classic and shredlage configurations.
Claas connect Chop Quality Analysis, which uses artificial intelligence to deliver Corn Silage Processing Score (CSPS) feedback directly to a smartphone.

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Tech News: Bonsai Robotics Adds Farm-ng, Case IH Creates AI-Powered Parts Tool, Lindsey Launches TowerWatch

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 13:32:44 GMT

Bonsai Robotics Acquires Electric Robot Startup Farm-ng

Bonsai Robotics has acquired Farm-ng, a startup offering modular electric robots for farm management.

Bonsai says the strategic combination brings together two agtech companies with shared visions on how to deliver powerful artificial intelligence (AI) solutions that tackle the labor, cost and efficiency challenges specialty crop growers face today.

The integration of Bonsai’s autonomous AI technology with Farm-ng’s customizable robotic platform enables AI-first machines that Bonsai says could transform crop management.

Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Existing shareholders of both companies will retain ownership stakes in the newly combined entity, Bonsai Robotics.

Learn more about the deal from The Packer’s Christina Herrick here.

Case IH Debuts AI-powered Visual Search Tool for Equipment Parts

(Case IH)

Case IH has announced its newest tech innovation, Visual Search Tool, a digital, AI-powered image recognition app the company says can help farmers reduce downtime. The Visual Search Tool allows operators and dealers to search for equipment parts without part numbers via a photo taken through the app.

Operators out in the field may not always have parts numbers handy, and this new tool removes the guesswork. The app takes the photo uploaded by a customer or dealer and matches it to the part. This new innovation can take away the stress of finding a part number and helps operators get back in the field as quickly as possible.

Case IH says this is the latest example of how it is not only using AI to streamline operations and the way it develops products but also to support its dealers and customers. In addition to the Visual Search Tool, CNH launched AI tech assistant this winter that helps dealer technicians better and more quickly support customers.

For more information, contact your local Case IH dealer.

Lindsay Releases TowerWatch Alignment Monitoring System

(Lindsay Corp.)

Lindsay Corp. is adding TowerWatch, a tower alignment monitor that can pinpoint irrigation tower faults faster, to the company’s SmartPivot Solutions tech suite.

The sensor-based monitoring system is available on new Zimmatic pivots and also available aftermarket for most irrigation pivots in North America. Lindsay says growers using TowerWatch can potentially reduce troubleshooting time by 75% through alerts from FieldNET Premier.

Lindsay says TowerWatch also allows growers to save on water and energy costs. When a tower fault occurs, growers using Lindsay’s SmartPivot Solutions can expect to:

Get an instant notification from the FieldNET app.
Immediately identify the location of the fault.
Remotely control water application to lower the risk of crop stress.
Arrive at the right tower quicker to inspect the issue, reducing time spent walking.
Make fewer trips to the field, saving time and money.

For more on Lindsay’s solutions for farmers worldwide, talk to your local Lindsay dealer or visit Lindsay.com/towerwatch.

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From Skyfall to Stable Growth: Why Used Equipment Sales Are Poised for a Breakout Into 2026

Fri, 18 Jul 2025 15:00:33 GMT

Recent used farm equipment auction activity shows a market gaining momentum and stability with harvest and the fall auction busy season just over the horizon.

Machinery Pete witnessed that renewed energy and enthusiasm from farmer-buyers in person at Freddie Berger’s farm estate auction on July 14 in Mandan, N.D. The sale featured a huge fleet of used machinery — more than 10 Bobcat skid steers, 12 UTVs, a row of wheel loaders and feed trucks — and there were strong prices across the board.

Yet, it was a gently-used hauler truck (pictured below) that has stuck in Pete’s craw a few days later.

(Ulmer Auctions. )

“The one that got me was a 2023 Peterbilt 537 truck with a Sioux Automation 4600 box — only had about 2,300 miles on it, so it was going to be high — it came in at $181,475,” Pete says. “Pretty much across the board everything was strong: the hay equipment, loader tractors, all of it.”

Speaking of loader tractors, those machines have been red-hot on the auction circuit, Machinery Pete adds.

(Machinery Pete Facebook)

At a sale in Rogers, Ohio, last week, a pair of low-hour John Deere 6M loader tractors also caught his attention. A 2023 6120M with 65 hours (pictured above) sold for $122,500, beating the previous auction record high for that model by $2,500.

(Machinery Pete Facebook)

A 2023 6140M with 252 hours and no loader sold for $112,500. Machinery Pete says that’s the second-highest auction price all time for that year/model.

Taking stock of used machine supplies across the auction market, Casey Seymour is seeing “tractors trend line down, planters trend line down and sprayers trend line down.” At the same time he is also seeing “combines peak up; we kind of expect that because a lot of those machines are coming on for fall harvest. But for the most part it feels like inventory is contracting.”

One market force that has taken Seymour and Pete somewhat by surprise is the ongoing downturn in used high horsepower row crop tractor demand. Normally, the guys expect those machines to be moving steadily right now while utility tractor activity settles down, but that trend has flipped.

In the months ahead, Machinery Pete says a handful of ag lenders and industry insiders he’s met with are bracing for a large wave of farm estate auctions. It’s an unfortunate but direct result of the low profitability, high operating expense environment grain farmers have been mired in for two years now, he admits.

“I think that last quarter of the year, and especially in those last couple weeks in November, I really feel like we’re going to start seeing a lot of positive (auction) movement that will carry over into ’26,” Seymour says. “Now, that said, we’re going to need to see some movement on commodity prices.”

You can head over to YouTube to watch the full episode of Moving Iron. Go ahead and give it a “thumbs up” if you like the show and hit the “Subscribe” button with the bell next to it so you get every new episode as soon as it drops.

Harvest Smarter: How Farmer Neil Denton Slashes Grain Loss With Aftermarket Technology

Wed, 16 Jul 2025 13:22:10 GMT

Neil Denton doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to his crops: His corn today looks to be “a marginal crop” and his soybean yields are “going to be way off” this fall.

His operation, Denton Farms, Barlow, Ky., raises corn, soybeans, wheat, rye and canola in an area known for bluegrass music, Kentucky pit-style barbecue and, of course, bourbon whiskey. But that American-made, caramel-brown legacy spirit can only blunt the sting of a meager crop year so much. Denton has a farm (not to mention a podcast and YouTube Channel) to run, so you can’t really blame him for doing everything in his power to get every single, shiny kernel in the bin.

With that goal top of mind, this spring he pulled the trigger on new crop-specific sets of Bushel Plus concaves to replace the OEM concaves in his John Deere X9 combine. The aftermarket concaves are easy to swap out, he says. Right away, Denton noted the unique grate design, which has helped whittle his harvest losses on soft winter wheat down to 0.7 bu. per acre; that is “phenomenal for small grains,” he says.

Looking to fine-tune his combine performance even more, Denton added the Bushel Plus SmartPan system to his harvest toolkit — a remote-controlled “smart” drop pan and mobile app to monitor and measure grain loss out the back end of the combine. After all, the hilly, western Kentucky landscape presents a formidable challenge when it comes to dialing in header height and other settings for each field.

Denton says he has also enjoyed getting to know Marcel Kringe, Bushel Plus founder and CEO. Kringe is originally from Germany, but today he makes his home on Canada’s canola-ringed western plains, perhaps the ideal location for an innovator focused on harvester optimization.

“He’s one of those guys that’s willing to come out, help you install concaves, and show you how they work,” says Denton. “You just don’t see that very often.”

Denton says he expects to see a full return on investment this year for both the concaves and the SmartPan system. He adds that the ruggedized concaves are built to last, extending their lifespan to far more acres in the combine.

CEO on summer tour

Bushel Plus CEO Marcel Kringe

(Photo courtesy of Bushel Plus)

Kringe is currently amid a multiweek tour of U.S. equipment dealer field days. He says the farmers he has met with are looking for relief from high operating costs and low commodity prices.

“Grain prices right now are a bit tricky, but overall farmers are happy they got planting finished up after a tough spring with lots of moisture down here,” Kringe says. “Right now, they are focused on getting the best out of their crop because margins are tight, right? And if they buy something, they’ll only buy it if it has a good ROI. Our products are all about getting more grain in the bin and having less (grain) loss, and less loss means more money for the farmer.”

Limiting grain lost out the backside of the combine is a passion for Kringe, who got Bushel Plus off the ground from his basement as a hobby. He likens the importance of combine and header adjustments to front-end alignments in the automotive world.

As with tires, if the alignment is off, everything pulls in the wrong direction and wears unevenly, Kringe notes.

“It’s the same idea with a combine. We’re essentially calibrating the machine so it runs smoothly and efficiently — just like aligning the front end of a vehicle,” he says. “Farmers already understand they need to calibrate tools like air seeders, planters and sprayers. Combines need the same attention. It has to be dialed in to perform at its best.”

(Photo courtesy of Bushel Plus)

Kringe has a tagline to remind farmers how often they need to calibrate the combine: New field. New crop. New variety. Any of the three means it’s time to do a fresh calibration.

For growers that have never made aftermarket changes to their combine, but they think now is the time to dive in, Kringe says they should start with a drop pan system.

“You already have a combine with concaves doing the job,” he says. “And while our concaves take that performance further, the SmartPan really gets you thinking seriously about harvest loss. You can only harvest once, and if you’re not measuring what’s coming out the back, you’re flying blind. That’s the one thing you want to have.”

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U.S. Tractor and Combine Sales Still Struggling, But Better Days Could Be Just Ahead

Fri, 16 May 2025 20:06:19 GMT

The latest Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) U.S. Tractor and Combine Sales Report paints a troubling picture for the farm equipment manufacturing industry. While Canadian tractor sales increased 3.4% in April 2025, year-over-year numbers for American sales were not so kind.

(AEM.org)

U.S. sales across all categories (4WD and 2WD tractors, self-propelled combines) tracked by AEM were down for the month, with total farm tractor sales falling 13.3% and combines down 48.3% year to date.

AEM Senior Vice President Curt Blades said the ongoing sales slump indicates that farmers are still holding onto working capital and waiting for brighter days ahead before they upgrade to new machines.

“The other thing I would point out with both of those two categories is that this is a year-on-year comparison. At this time last year, we had actually sold quite a few combines,” Blades explained. “So, we’re comparing against kind of a sales boom in combines, and now we’re seeing that slow down. There is some cyclical nature to this, specifically with combines, and the same thing sort of holds true with four-wheel-drive tractors as well.”

Blades said its important to take a holistic view of the entire farm equipment market when considering these monthly sales statistics. He thinks used equipment sales are currently trending up, which is a good sign overall for the farm economy.

“The other thing that comes into play here is USDA is projecting total farm income to be up for 2025, and I think that’s probably going to be related to government disaster relief payments that can tend to shake loose some tractor and combine sales,” he added. “But I think if you ask any farmer in North America, they would much rather have high (commodity) prices than government support. So, it does become a little bit of a mixed bag, but I always remain optimistic that this market will bounce back.”

And while the monthly AEM sales reports track overall tractor and combine sales in the U.S., there’s a chance other machine classes, like planters, air seeders, sprayers, and tillage tools, are faring better at the moment.

“We actually find if a farmer is not updating the large row crop tractor, they may instead be investing in some new seeding equipment or even upgrading the existing equipment that they already have,” Blades said. “We’re seeing that happening very strongly in the sprayer market, too, where retrofit and aftermarket technology can be tacked onto machines to get a little bit more life out of them.”

Asked what guidance his association is doling out to its farm machine building members, Blades said the “numbers are what they are” at this point, but most manufacturers projected this downturn and have responded proactively by slowing production and, unfortunately, right-sizing their labor pools.

“Our advice to everyone — farmers, manufacturers — is to plan ahead and to make sure that you’re thinking about what your needs are, and not just next year but for the next three years, and have a solid plan in place so that you are able to acquire new machines when you need them.”

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