Farmers Equipment Purchases by Commodities Grown

According to Farm Equipment’s second annual survey to farmers about their shortline manufacturers, farmers continue to buy shortline equipment for the quality they get for the price and the major lines’ lack of experience in niche areas. Breaking the data down by the commodities farmers grow reveals not only which growers are most open to purchasing shortline equipment but also why different farmers purchase shortline equipment.

 Some 77.1% of growers keeping pasture said they’d purchased shortline equipment from a dealership outside of their primary dealer, the highest percentage by commodity grown. Corn growers are the least likely to buy shortline equipment from a secondary dealer at 71.2%. Growers keeping pasture were again the most likely to purchase parts from a secondary dealership. Here, 78.7% of growers keeping pasture said they had, while soybean and winter wheat farmers were the least likely to have purchased shortline parts from another dealer at 68.1%. Hay/alfalfa growers led the way in having service done on shortline equipment from other dealers at 49%.

Reasons to Purchase Shortline vs. Major-line.

When asked for their primary reason to purchase a shortline brand of equipment over a major-line brand, growers who indicated they keep pasture were the most likely to prioritize the price of the equipment, with 50.5% choosing that option. Winter wheat farmers were the least likely to prioritize price at 36.6%. The second-most popular reason was the lack of a comparable product from the majors, which was led by corn growers at Br24%. Winter wheat farmers were the least likely to consider this reason at 21.4%. Manufacturer experience in a niche area — overall the third-most popular reason to purchase shortline equipment — was most popular with winter wheat growers at 21.4%, almost triple the 7.4% of growers who keep pasture. Winter wheat growers were the most likely to forego major-line equipment due to a lack of specialization at 11%, while corn growers were the least likely to consider this reason at 7%.

Source: AgEquipmentIntelligence.com