As machinery manufacturers continue to rebound from early 2020s supply chain issues, the market has seen some interesting shifts.
New tractors’ temporary lack of availability upset the normal pattern.
“The trade cycle got a little backed up,” said Maverick Woodside at BigIron (bigiron.com).
“Farmers were ordering tractors but couldn’t get them. Now, we’re seeing a little overrun on dealer lots of one-two-year-old tractors, some even with warranty, with less than 500 hours coming up for auction.”
Woodside said the used supply of tractors is strong compared with a year or two ago.
“In the last 10 months it’s really turned around,” he said. “Demand is still good, and prices are hanging in there, even though the supply has increased.”
Adam Richard at Birkey’s Farm Store said, “The last couple years, supply was very challenging, because in order to get used tractors on our lot, we had to have new ones to sell. But we’re starting to see more availability, although they are a little bit older.”
Casey Seymour of Moving Iron, LLC, sees a similar trend in 175-horsepower and greater used tractors. The market lost 1,000 tractors from 2017 to 2020, and 10,000 from 2020 to 2023. A year and a half later, half of those 10,000 were added back.
Because of that, Seymour said he expects used row crop tractors to decrease in value by 15 to 25 percent this year.
“The decline is caused by supply catching up with demand and the erosion of the scarcity premium on pricing,” Seymour said. “Like any bubble, there is a correction when it pops, which resets the market to the new normal. This is not the first in the ag equipment market, and it will not be the last.”
Looking at midrange tractors in the 2021-2024 model years, a search of tractorhouse.com at the end of 2023 revealed 102 listings. Seventy-seven were John Deere, 16 were Case IH, and the remainder were Fendt, Massey Ferguson, and New Holland.
Posted auction results saw the lowest winning bid coming in at $89,750 for a 2021 Case IH Puma 185, in Arkansas, with 2,154 hours; and a high of $350,000 for a 2021 Deere 8R 250 with just five hours, in Ohio.
The 2021 models were in the best supply, with 58 sold, followed by 2022 models, with 39 available. However, extremely low-hour tractors were also available, even going back several model years.
Further breakdown of the most available Case models (Magnum 250 and 280) show a sale range from $173,013 for a 2021 280, in Illinois, to $251,000 for a 2021 250, in Missouri.
Hours played into the selling prices; the 250 had just 10 hours compared with the 280, with 2,131.
Of the 77 Deere tractors sold in 2023, 52 were 8R models. Hammer prices ranged from $167,000 for a 2021 model, in Texas, to the overall top seller, $350,000, in Ohio. Hours were a major factor, with five machines in the top selling spots having fewer than 100.
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