Machinery and land prices....down?

[ajl]

Reviewed some of the prices for combines at the recent RB Saskatoon sale. Seems like some of the combines went quite reasonably compared to prices last spring. Was a few machines that I would have been interested in at the prices they got for them but was not able to make the sale. Even X9 at $805K is quite a bit less that what Brandt has been advertising similar machines for ($1020k). With the small crop this year nobody going to need a new combine. That is what I though too in the spring but our crop will likely be around average with wheat being below and barley above. Couple of parcels of land on CLHbid in this area did not achieve their opening bid this week. They were both mediocre parcels but they are currently being farmed. They totally disappear from the website when the opening bid is not achieved. Has happened numerous times.

[goalieguy847]

Reviewed some of the prices for combines at the recent RB Saskatoon sale. Seems like some of the combines went quite reasonably compared to prices last spring. Was a few machines that I would have been interested in at the prices they got for them but was not able to make the sale. Even X9 at $805K is quite a bit less that what Brandt has been advertising similar machines for ($1020k). With the small crop this year nobody going to need a new combine. That is what I though too in the spring but our crop will likely be around average with wheat being below and barley above. Couple of parcels of land on CLHbid in this area did not achieve their opening bid this week. They were both mediocre parcels but they are currently being farmed. They totally disappear from the website when the opening bid is not achieved. Has happened numerous times.

Why were there 2x2022 x9s at an auction? Lemons?
I know ( due to inquring) about a couple of the yellow combines and a few came from a dealership and they were all " required too much to fix" so dealership just sent them to get sold.
Pretty cheesy how combine and pickup get split... land in our area ( north edmonton) is still sky high and isnt coming down anytime soon...

[AlbertaFarmer5]

I'm not sure that combine prices are the best measure to use, they never did get as frothy as tractors and trucks etc.

[blackpowder]

I don't think land will go down in my lifetime. And I think I won't see "cheap" machinery again either. For the next generation to see.
There are pools of money that see agriculture differently than we do. And those pools are going to get a lot bigger.
Look around, there will be a lot fewer of us in 20 years. To some degree, end of an era.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

And those pools are going to get a lot bigger.
Look around, there will be a lot fewer of us in 20 years. To some degree, end of an era.

That would certainly appear to be the trend, but I've been speculating if it could go the other way, just due to the labour situation.
It is most definitely an employees market, especially in any field that requires skill, and will remain so for the foreseeable future. I'm not convinced that automation and bigger is going to eliminate the need for humans. Won't it get harder and harder to hire capable competent people to run equipment and manage large farms? And the cost of those people will get so high that it may no longer be profitable to rely on that model at large scale. And won't those people who have the skills and ambition be motivated to be their own bosses instead? If a big farm fails because of lack of skilled labour, could it happen that many smaller players can pick up the pieces.

Could the same happen in many other industries?

[oldjim]

Why were there 2x2022 x9s at an auction? Lemons?

Payments came due.

[Old Cowzilla]

Most dealerships swamped with work short on labour getting behind. Combines can need a hundred things to fix or adjust very time consuming. The ones owned by favorite customers getting looked after first. They started this crap when they started billing the SHOP RATE to themselves to make the shop look good. Some places lucky to have 2 ticketed mechanics and rest just wrench pullers but shop rate is same for everything.So if used combine isn't a cherry it go's down the road. I have a tractor that's been sitting at a dealer for a month already and hasn't made it inside yet. Everybody is short of workers.

[blackpowder]

A5
Considering that 95%+ ish of all machinery in the world is operated by employees.
What happened to the gravel industry when a different culture entered?
Bushels per acre might suffer but.....
It's a big world and we're a small piece, for now....

[blackpowder]

Old Bovine.
Corporate separates into individual profit centers. Otherwise how can you measure.
Only wages can attract workers. Ag still subpar.
Rates will go up.
Or see above reference to gravel. Or freight or gas stations or liquor stores.

[blackpowder]

It was the land of opportunity for our forefathers. Some may still see it as such in the future. Relatively empty you could say.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

A5
Considering that 95%+ ish of all machinery in the world is operated by employees.
What happened to the gravel industry when a different culture entered?
Bushels per acre might suffer but.....
It's a big world and we're a small piece, for now....

Genuine question, how many of those in the gravel industry are outright employees, and how many are owner operators, or partners of some sort?

[Old Cowzilla]

Genuine question, how many of those in the gravel industry are outright employees, and how many are owner operators, or partners of some sort?

Was helping a small gravel outfit this week they are short of drivers just like most gravel outfits. The owners do most of the work but will likely be bought out by bigger guys in the end . We were doing a R.M. job and I was joking with the RM manager of opperations when I saw him running a loader. He has a shortage of workers too so a wheel loader was his fancy office.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Old Bovine.
Corporate separates into individual profit centers. Otherwise how can you measure.
Only wages can attract workers. Ag still subpar.
Rates will go up.
Or see above reference to gravel. Or freight or gas stations or liquor stores.

I think those are all great examples. Difficult to hire employees to work the long hours in a less than glorious industry, and have enough profit left over for the owners to be worthwhile. But if you instead call that person an entrepreneur and sell him the business, he and his entire family will happily work 24/7 in conditions that the average employee would refuse. And run the business in a way that is profitable which an employee could never fathom, and look after the customers in a Way employees are incapable of.

Does that sound like farming at all?

[errolanderson]

Base commodities remain under heavy deflationary pressures. Media’s constant inflation stories are growing thin as prices continue to drop in many key sectors. MEDIA, PLEASE GIVE NEVER-ENDING INFLATION STORIES A BREAK. The problem is not inflation, rather the debt crisis (that central banks initiated through ill-thought-out policies).

Take a look at the recent dive in lumber prices, copper again under pressure. Gold has done diddly- squat as inflation isn’t riding shotgun. Oil remains a bear market despite OPEC cuts.

The Fed is hooped . . . They are now cornered. How are they going to save face as rates now have to be cut.

My apologies for being so cynical, but it already too late now for a fix. The piper is going to get paid . . . .

[blackpowder]

Short term one thing. I understood the question as longer term. How long did deflation affect Japan?, A lifetime.

If an employee is an extended family member seeking citizenship while working for room and board and sponsorship of further relatives?
There are a few family run gravel operations left here. But all the wiggle wagons on the main drags are new Canadians paying for the multifamily mansions you see from the hiway. Have been for decades.

Remember the big picture on your Mother's or Grandmother's living room wall?
Well every body has a mental "picture" of what "farming" is. Not reality just their minds view. Reality will prevail.