Survey explores farmers' attitudes towards equipment buys

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

by MATT MCINTOSH

Farmers that are in the market for new equipment tend to look for products that are dependable and easy to fix, concludes a Case IH survey of 800 crop and livestock farmers.

The survey, which was conducted by a third party on behalf of Case IH, asked farmers to rank what they look for when buying equipment from most important to least important. Out of the representative sample of farmers, the survey found some general differences between the priorities of crop and livestock producers.

“The survey results indicate that, while livestock producers go for equipment that takes less work and is easier to maintain, crop producers tend to look for equipment that is reliable,” says Dan Danford, head of public relations and sponsorships for Case IH’s North American division. “This might be because crop farmers need to know their equipment is going to work well during those crucial harvesting and planting periods.”

Danford also says the survey suggests crop farmers really look for equipment that will have a high resale value, and livestock producers like to take manufacturer innovations into consideration.

However, the results of Case IH’s survey differ slightly from the experiences of two Ontario equipment dealers.

“I’m not so sure it’s all about ease of maintenance for livestock farmers,” says John Van Ginkel of Embro, Ontario’s Embro Farm Systems/Performance Dairy Centre. “Livestock guys tend to wear equipment out, so resale value might be less, but they are defiantly focused on reliability.”

“Dairy farmers can’t miss milking their cows, and chicken farmers can’t have the power out; they need their tools and machinery working all the time,” he says.

Ken Spendsen, sales manager for Green Tractors Inc. in Omemee, says most producers look for useful technology, as well as a low number of work hours on used equipment.

“We know quite a few people really go for pieces with few work hours because they tend to go away from this area to buy,” he says. “It can be a problem for us.”

Danford says the 800 farmers randomly selected for the survey are from all over North America, have at least 1,000 acres of farmland, and had recently purchased or were in the market for a tractor with 140 horsepower or higher. BF