Options abound in the used planter market

The planter game has changed rapidly in the past five years. Now there are many ways a farmer can get a new planter. In the latest episode of the Successful Farming podcast, Aaron Fintel and I discussed the planter market and what it means for equipment buyers.  

Planting upgrade components have been around for a while and the idea of the precision donor isn’t new. A cheaper, older planter can be retrofitted with the latest planting and fertilizing technology at a considerable savings when compared to buying a brand new planter. 

In January 2024, Precision Planting introduced the CornerStone planting system. The CornerStone system is a complete row unit compatible with any standard height 7x7-inch bar. The row units allow producers to design a custom factory built system that ships with all mechanical and electronic components. The CornerStone System is in testing with an anticipated launch to dealers and farmers in 2025.

In 2015, John Deere introduced the MaxEmerge 5 (ME5), MaxEmerge 5e (ME5e), and ExactEmerge (EE) row units. The ME5 was the new updated planter row unit, but it was not high speed. The seed plate was the biggest improvement and a new individual row downforce system was added as well. The ME5e was the same row unit as the ME5 but introduced electric drive meter technology. The EE was an electric row unit with brush belt seed placement technology and was designed for high speed use up to 10 mph. Each row unit was now able to operate independently from the other rows. John Deere dealers can assist farmers with pricing or visit johndeere.com/upgrade.

With the introduction of these row units, the option to upgrade a used John Deere planter is now on the table. Going back to model year 2005, a Precision Upgrade Kit (PUK) can be added to planters. This completely replaces the existing row units with the latest row unit technology, making the planter completely new except for the bar. This means whatever is rolling off the factory line is the same technology as in the PUK, so much so John Deere issues a new serial number for the precision upgrade kits installed.

More upgrade options than ever

So now that the history lesson is done, what does all of this mean for the used planter market? Good question. Fintel and I talked through several options on the podcast: a customer can buy a new planter, buy a used planter, buy an upgrade kit and upgrade what they have, buy a used upgraded planter, or buy a custom made planter. 

Each of these scenarios has a different set of considerations when looking at value to your operation.The new planter traded in still the way it came from the factory is a very cut and dry scenario. This example follows the same set of guidelines as any other piece of used equipment. What condition is it in? How old is it? How many acres of use? The others are not so clear.

The planter in the farmer’s shed with an upgrade kit installed has a new set of guidelines. For example, a farmer owns a 2014 1775 planter and wants to save some money, so he goes with the PUK setup instead of buying a new planter. When the planter is done, it has 2024 technology on a 10-year-old used bar. For the sake of this discussion, the farmer runs the planter for the next three years and decides to trade it in on a new planter from the factory in 2027. The same guidelines are still in place, but they are not cut and dry. 

The planter has a 13-year-old bar and three-year-old row units. What year is the planter? The bar has the acres accumulated since 2014 but the row units only from 2024. How many acres are on the planter? Which acres are more important? How does this planter depreciate compared to factory made used planters?

All of these questions are now starting to surface. As used upgraded planters hit the market, there is some pushback from the used buyer. It seems like the used buyer likes the idea of upgrading a planter but isn’t quite sure how to look at a planter that isn’t completely new and isn’t completely used, according to conversations I’ve had with used equipment managers across the country. 

Where do we go from here?

In 2025, all makes will have the ability for a complete row unit upgrade option to an  existing planter bar. This also means more used upgraded planters will be available for sale. As more technology is introduced to the market, Gen 1 technology will be removed and newer Gen 2 or Gen 3 technology will be installed, opening new markets of used row units not on a bar. 

Planters are only the beginning. Each machine platform will go down a similar path to what planters are going down now. This includes sprayers as I wrote about in a previous article. The future of the equipment business is components. The way the farmer looks at equipment and buys equipment is set to change so rapidly in the next five to seven years it will be hard to recognize from what we see today. Bolt-on technology is getting cheaper and better and as more things become retrofittable, the guidelines we use today to define used values will be rewritten completely. It’s an exciting time to be in the ever changing world of agriculture! 

For more on used equipment, listen to my episodes on the Successful Farming podcast on the last Monday of each month, where Aaron Fintel and I explore current market conditions and factors driving used equipment. Also, tune in to the Moving Iron podcast, where I track the economic drivers of the farm equipment business, and check out movingironllc.com for everything related to Moving Iron.