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Ag economist urges “out-of-the-box” approaches to farm machinery

An ag economist says the industry may need to think outside the box to help make farm machinery more affordable.   

Greg Ibendahl tells Brownfield that tight margins and limited cash on hand are making traditional upgrades harder for producers. “Things are so expensive. You can spend over $1 million on a cotton harvester and then regular harvesters are approaching that too. Trying to find a way to justify that amount of equipment on the acres farmers grow especially when you use a combine maybe 4 or 500 hours out of the year.”

He tells Brownfield, “I think somewhere down the road we’re going to change how farmers approach the whole equipment ownership thing where they still can  buy it on their own and/or maybe the dealers somehow can rent equipment for the season. Something has to change because I don’t think this is tenable for most people.”   

Ibendahl says trading equipment earlier can help preserve its value, but the most cost-effective approach is to invest when cash is on hand.