Peterson said the pandemic created the biggest change he’s seen in the farm equipment trade by nationalizing the market. Online selling had been around for nearly 30 years by then, but farmers tended to buy and sell their machines regionally.
“The thinking was, ‘We’re here and they’re there,’” Peterson said. “That just got eviscerated in March 2020. So now, the trick if you’re an auction company or farm equipment dealer, no matter where you are, is realizing that your buying pool has no edges. Your trick is to pull in the buyer in Texas or Tennessee or Utah or anywhere.”
Peterson is always looking out for price records and unusual developments at auctions. Two months ago, he learned a farmer in Hendricks, Minn., sold a 13-year-old, 504-horsepower (that’s very large) John Deere tractor for $291,000, a record for its age. The reason: The tractor had been used for less than 200 hours.
“In this case, the guy was 83 and he bought this stuff and then slowed down and retired,“ Peterson said. ”If you get to that 10-year-plus age and you have a low-hour unit like that, it’s like this neon beacon. You’ve got a tractor that will cost $600,000 or $700,000 new, and here’s a barely used one with a $200,000 price on it.”