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Buying season for agriculture
As we come to the holiday season, our traditional pattern is to buy gifts for family and friends and to be thankful that we've made it through another year still solvent and on good terms with the banker. But, in this year when grain and hay prices have risen and land values have taken a major jump, the pent up urge by farmers "to buy" is being unleashed in uncharacteristic fashion. Spending money indiscriminately is a hard thing to do for those who have known hardship and financial struggle. When a period of prosperity comes along, some are disappointed in themselves for not being able to enjoy it and others spend like sailors on shore leave. There is no doubt that times are good for many in agriculture today. The value of used machinery has risen faster than the new stuff. A farm sale in Ohio last month had a 1972 John Deere 4020 tractor that sold for $31,000. When new, that tractor with a cab listed for $12,500 and sold for $10,500. Sales are drawing big crowds, with bargains few and far between. New equipment is likewise in strong demand. A grain dryer manufacturer told me his sales this year were flat with last year but up over 200 percent from two years ago. A few purchases are more emotional than others and there is something about buying a new tractor that defies explanation. I have had many conversations with men in their sixties and seventies who vividly remember the arrival of a new tractor on their farm. The realization that one has the resources to take a step forward into a new technology or a new capability makes that machine more than the sum of its parts. "Standing behind that four bottom plow made me think how much land we could farm," said one farmer about a new Oliver that the dealer brought out in the mid 1960s. The desire to do great things is always there, but the opportunity only comes along for brief periods in our agrarian history. On the opposite side is the reaction of the neighbors or the fear of such reaction. It always brings comment when someone buys a new truck or tractor. Some are expected to be the first to own new equipment, others are not. Go against that and you'll endure a lot of tongue wagging. The local buzz often stays negative until someone else buys the same thing. I remember the well worn hay trucks of my youth and the many hours repairing them. When times became good enough to buy a new vehicle, a major change ensued. At eighteen, the dairy farmer I worked for bought a new Ford truck. It was a shiny white two ton model with a flat bed. He guarded it like a china doll and threatened all of us that we'd better not scratch it. I suggested we just all go out with a ball peen hammer and hit it one time and get it over with. Finally, the hayfield collision occurred while his nephew was driving it. Anger and yelling ensued for a few minutes and then we got on with the job at hand, all us visibly relieved. Today, we are much more of a consumer society, even in agriculture, and new technologies are coming forth every few months. The desire to upgrade is always there and the questions are more complex than ever: "Am I going to fall behind the competition if I don't buy up, or will this technology increase my cost without increasing my productivity?" For 2008, the big Commodity Classic trade show has announced that it's sold out. This is the earliest ever and the show gets bigger every year. The vendors aren't there for their health; they know farmers will be looking to buy and they've got to be ready. We've come a long way from an industry that tilled with a horse and harvested by hand. Today, agriculture is technology driven. Still, the owner/operator remains the decision maker and has to balance income against expense. You can figure out what to buy and be an "early adopter" or you can hang back and hope that your neighbors go broke, while you still drive an old tractor or cruise by in a 1980s pickup, hoping the heater keeps going and the floorboard doesn't rust out. Every new machine today seems to have a higher level of "creature comforts" that have been condemned by past generations. In farming, we've gone from steel seats to comfort cabs in a generation and now we are heading toward robot tractors. Already, we steer without hands and the systems monitor themselves better than our frail brains can accomplish. Communications are taking an even greater jump. We've gone from mom waving a white dishtowel on the back porch when lunch was ready to a push to talk cell phone. The challenge is that the more we have, the more we want. So, enjoy times that allow an opportunity to catch up on buying new equipment to work your land and feed your livestock. Remember your spouse and perhaps show a bit of extravagance. But also remember the cyclical nature of agriculture and try not to consume the latest technology and turn to the dealer a few months later and say: "What else ya got?" Editor's note: Ken Root is now celebrating his 34th year as an agricultural professional. His career began as a vocational agriculture teacher then turned to agricultural broadcasting and writing as well as environmental consulting and association management. He was the original host of AgriTalk (1994-2001) and now is lead farm broadcaster for WHO Radio in Des Moines, Iowa. Date: 12/27/07
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