There are plenty.

That’s what I can say about how many used 12 row corn heads have been floating around in the used market the past few years. There are plenty and they are piling up even more. A quick check of the dealer equipment listings on MachineryPete.com found 819 John Deere 612C 12-row corn heads listed for sale as I write this.

So what’s been happening to the value of used 12 row corn heads? Understandably they have been under pressure in the past 3 years with lower commodity prices and farmers under more profit pressure. But I will say the rate of depreciation has really slowed down. We’re possibly even beginning to see some early footing in terms of used values here in 2016 as the average auction price on John Deere 612C 12 row corn head is down a mere 5.5% so far in 2016, what we’d consider to be an expected rate of depreciation on a late model item like this.

But back in 2014 the average auction price on John Deere 612Cs fell 27.6%. Ouch. I saw the same trend with all colors of corn heads, and planters, and most other types of large, late-model, used equipment items back then. But in late 2015 through mid-2016 we’re finding footing with used values.

On a recent Ag Day TV show segment I also touched on another important factor helping solidify used values on 12 row corn heads so far this year. It’s the fact that we’re seeing fewer numbers hit the auction market:

And more farmers are searching for corn heads, right now. Comparing June search traffic at MachineryPete.com to May, corn head searches are up 53%.

Check out the accompanying data table showing recent auction sale prices on various makes and models of 12 row corn heads.