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Farm machinery cost, availably impacts farmer sentiment

Farmers are hesitant to make large investments in their operations, according to the latest Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer.

Jim Mintert, director of the Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture, says low farm machinery inventories are a culprit.

“Over 40 percent of the people in the survey are telling us low or tight farm machinery inventories are impacting their ability to make investments in the farming operation. So, I think, in some cases it is a function of people would be willing to make investments if they could obtain what it is they want when they want it. When we talk to farmers individually— those that are in the farm machinery market—deliveries are being delayed to 2023, not 2022.”

The Farm Capital Investment Index fell six points to a reading of 36. That’s 59 percent lower than in March 2021.

He tells Brownfield the farm machinery prices are another factor.

“On the used market, you’re looking at essentially record-high prices given the age of machinery that’s being sold in some cases. If you look at it from a new machinery standpoint, it’s certainly difficult to get the kind of discounts farmers are more typically acclimated to,” he says. “Farmers are saying it’s not a great time in the sense that used machinery prices are really high, and new prices, even if they can get it, are high relative to what they’d normally expect.”

Sixty-two percent of farmers surveyed said their plans for farm machinery purchases in the upcoming year are lower than a year earlier. When asked about farm building and grain bin construction plans, nearly 70 percent said those plans were lower as well.

Audio: Jim Mintert

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