A perfect storm hit the used tractor market with contributing factors from the recent labor strike, lack of right to repair, both international and domestic pandemic lockdown policies, and general economic fear and doubt from fledgling Biden administration policies.
With all these factors, the used tractor and auction market has experiences it’s on sort of “gold rush”, wilder and more prominent market than that of a used car lot.
For example, an auction held just in November, saw a John Deere tractor built in 1998, selling for $170,000 – more than a $32,000 jump up from its previous recorded sales price. Similarly, if you wanted to buy a brand new machine of similar capabilities, you could expect to pay over $200,000 – and be put on a wait list.
Auctioneers in the industry have commented that this is the most active many of them have seen in more than 30 years. The overall market appears to be up over 20% this year from last, with little sign of slowing. And this last quarter on average for some to be nearly 10% better than last quarter.
Some farmers are still waiting for machines they ordered last year, which are on a manufacturing back order. And though the strike is now over, it is still unclear if those orders can be accommodated before this next spring season.
Aside from the strike, there are still major supply chain issues to traverse through, factors that may very likely also continue into the first quarter of next year if not longer.
Another major factors in the upswing of prices for used and older machines, as stated in a previous articles from our, is the “Right to Repair” concerns.
With new Deere machines for example, farmers have very limited ability to fix those machines outside the approval or help of the dealer. And even if they can find some type of aftermarket product, which is extremely unlikely, the machines are coded and secured with computerized box systems that only the dealer can fully access and reset.
As stated by Kevin O’Reilly, Right to Repair Campaign Director, “A broken tractor that you can’t fix is just a hunk of metal in a field. Farmers have already told us that they’re buying older tractors to avoid the software repair restrictions that manufacturers like Deere put in place. Add in part shortages and labor unrest, and the house of cards comes tumbling down. Repair monopolization is making farmers’ lives harder than they have to be.”
Of course, changing seasons, and with them harvest, waits for no man or machine. So Farmers need to be ready and work on a timetable. Some farmers even resorting to various levels of computer hacking or attempted computer hacking to get their machines working again.
