In this episode of On the Record, brought to you by Associated Equipment Distributors, Jason Webster, commercial agronomist with PTI Farm, breaks the results of PTI Farm’s 2024 High Speed Planting Corn Study. In the Technology Corner, Colin Hurd, CEO of Mach, shares his technology goals for equipment manufacturers. Also in this episode: an update on the latest used combine inventory and pricing data and a look at AGCO’s worldwide dealer network.

 

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TRANSCRIPT

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• How Does Planting Speed Impact Yield?
• Dealers on the Move
• FEMA Presentation Provides Glimpse into Future of Farm Tech
• Tracking Crop Prices
• U.S. Used Combine Inventory Down 6% Year-Over-Year
• European Dealers Contribute Over 50% of AGCO’s Net Sales
• DataPoint: Total Cropland Used for Crops Stood at 328 Million Acres in 2024

How Does Planting Speed Impact Yield?

PTI Farm’s 2024 High Speed Planting Corn Study is out, and the results show that a high-speed planting system increases a farmer’s likelihood of hitting their target planting window and seeing higher yields each year.

PTI Farm Commercial Agronomist Jason Webster says 7 years of data show that not only were yields maintained at higher speeds, there’s actually an increase. 

“Traditionally, there's some growers that really felt that the only way they could do a good job of planting is if they planted slower. And yes, that was the case years ago, decades ago, but now we've got technology, high-speed planting technology, where we can plant faster without sacrificing performance. To prove this, we've looked at yield data. We put trials in. We put protocols in at the PTI farm. From 2018 to 2024, we planted at 4, 6, 8, and 10 mile an hour planting corn, and there's just been very little yield difference from those planting speeds. Matter of fact, there's only been a 2.1 bushel difference from the slowest speed to the highest speed. What does this mean? Well, it means with SpeedTube high-speed planting technology, you can plant faster and you don't have to worry about yield falling off. It's been very, very consistent.”

Of course, Webster notes, these results are based on using high-speed planting technology. The results aren’t the same with non high-speed tech. 

“We've tried to do high-speed planting with Seed Tube and it kind of simulates you as a grower. You got Seed Tubes on your planter and you're trying to get done planting the field, and all of a sudden the black clouds come rolling in and it's going to rain, and you say, "Well, let's hurry up and get this field done. Let's throttle up. Let's plant faster to get this field done." Well, we've done that with Seed Tube and we've run into some real problems. Matter of fact, this past year in 2024 where we did that, we took five mile an hour planting speeds, ramped it up to 10 mile an hour with traditional Seed Tubes. We lost 11.5 half bushel of corn times the price of corn. That was nearly a $50 loss on a per acre basis. However, we used that same five mile an hour, ramped it up to 10 mile an hour using SpeedTube, there was only a difference of 0.7 bushel to the acre and a $3 difference on a per acre basis. So it shows the differences of planting fast with and without high-speed planting technology.”

Dealers on the Move

This week’s Dealers on the Move include Titan Machinery and Johnson Tractor. 

Case IH and New Holland dealer Titan Machinery is acquiring New Holland dealer Farmers Implement & Irrigation, which has 2 stores in Brookings and Watertown, South Dakota. The transaction is expected to close May 15. 

Case IH dealer Johnson Tractor joined the Hyundai Construction Equipment dealer network. 

FEMA Presentation Provides Glimpse into Future of Farm Tech 

Let’s head south to the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association convention, which took place in Fort Myers, Fla. We caught up with Mach CEO Colin Hurd after his technology council presentation. He said one of his goals was to help companies incorporate more technology into their machinery because that’s where he sees the industry headed in the next 5 years. 

“I think we saw a glimpse into the future this morning. We saw a robot, but really what it was is a farm implement. If you ask a farmer today, tell me about farm equipment manufacturers, they’re not going to use the word robot. I think in the next 5-10 years, the word robotics and farm implements are going to be a lot more synergistic, meaning there’s just going to be a lot more automation. How do you make decisions on an implement? How do you augment an operator’s job and make an implement more intelligent to do a job better, more efficiently and really scale that across an operation. I think we’re going to see a lot more of that — fundamentally, that’s robotics.” 

Hurd says it’s important for manufacturers and dealers to roll up their sleeves and take the time to really learn about new technologies and products in the marketplace. 

Tracking Crop Prices 

As of April 23, corn prices were $4.72 down $1.10 from our last episode two weeks ago. Soybeans closed at $10.40, up 28 cents. And Wheat closed at $5.28, down 14 cents. 

U.S. Used Combine Inventory Down 6% Year-Over-Year

Dealers have been reporting their used equipment inventories as too high for over a year, but the latest market report from TractorHouse suggests some improvement. 

TractorHouse reports that while used combine inventories in the U.S. were up 1.6% month-over-month in February, they were down 5.82% year-over-year and maintaining a steady trend. However, in AEI’s latest Dealer Sentiments & Business Conditions Update, a net 67% of dealers reported used combine inventories were too high in February vs. a net 30% who said their inventories were too high in January. 

In March, there was $2,212.9M worth of used combines for sale in the U.S., according to TractorHouse data. Of that, John Deere and Case IH branded combines accounted for $2,067.2M, up from $2,057.3M in February. From a regional standpoint, the North Central region — which includes the Corn Belt and Great Plains — accounted for $1,697.3M of the used combine market. 

One of TractorHouse’s key metrics is the Sandhills Equipment Value Index (EVI). This data includes equipment available in auction and retail markets and model-year equipment actively in use. EVI spread measures the percentage difference between asking and auction values. The EVI spread for used combines fell from 48% in January to 46% in February, still close to peak values seen in 2015. TractorHouse reports that older combine inventory has steadily decreased and recently, newer combine inventory has increased and is driving values up (see Asking vs. Auction EVI). In addition, Class 8 or larger combines are taking a larger share of the combine market, and have been since first surpassing Class 4-7 combines in January 2023. 

European Dealers Contribute Over 50% of AGCO’s Net Sales

According to AGCO’s 2024 annual report, the OEM has 2,700 dealers and distributors worldwide. 

Europe accounts for 755 dealers/distributors but contributed 55% of AGCO’s net sales in 2024, up from 49% in 2023. Meanwhile, North America’s 1,215 dealers accounted for nearly half of AGCO’s dealerships, but only contributed to 24% of 2024 net sales for the OEM, down from 26% in 2023. 

In 2024, AGCO announced the launch of FarmerCore, a global initiative to deliver a next generation farmer and dealer experience built on three pillars: the on-farm mindset, smart network coverage and digital engagement, the OEM noted in the report. 

According to the report, FarmerCore will be implemented in close partnership with AGCO’s global dealer network. The program launched this year in select North and South America dealer organizations, with continued expansion expected throughout 2025. AGCO monitors each dealer’s performance and profitability and establishes programs that focus on continuous dealer improvement. 

DataPoint: Total Cropland Used for Crops Stood at 328 Million Acres in 2024

This week’s DataPoint is brought to you by the Dealership Minds Summit. To download the program and to register, visit DealershipMindsSummit.com. 

For 2024, total U.S. cropland acreage reported in the USDA, Economic Research Service’s Major Land Uses data series was 328 million acres, down by 6 million acres from the 2023 estimated acreage. The ERS statistics in the “total cropland used for crops” data show that cropland harvested, the largest component, declined to 303 million acres, a reduction of 1 million acres since 2023. Crop failure acres declined 3 million acres from 2023 to 10 million as drought conditions eased.

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