Machinery Talk

[laurie.potter]

It seems there are two sides to this debate.

Some farmers believe it's wise to trade every couple of years to keep machinery current and get the best return on your investment (i.e. tax strategy, increased efficiency (because of improved engines and new technologies on equipment), fewer breakdowns with newer equipment). However, there are others who believe it's wiser to avoid excessive equipment purchases. What are you thoughts on this topic? Do you see the wisdom in having newer equipment or is it wiser to keep your equipment purchases to a minimum?

On our farm, we rarely bought new equipment. We found good used equipment and made it work for what we needed it to do. To this day my family still believes that because we were cautious in machinery purchases, it helped us survive the tough times in ag, especially in the 80s when an uncle, who owned a dealership and farmed, wasn't so fortunate. We saw how these tough times have affected inventory on dealer lots but does that hold true on the farm as well?

Thanks, in advance, for your input!

Laurie Potter

Deputy Machinery Editor

Successful Farming