What is old will be new again
(Via Gab Trends)
Something over a year ago, I decided tobuy myself a pickup truck. Rather than a new one, with its cost and complexity, I opted for an older one. While I’m still working my way through maintenance, repairs and updates, I absolutely do not regret the purchase. I’m not the only one who is doing this-it’s become a trend the auto industry is watching and worrying about.
It seems farmers, reacting to the nonsense mentioned in this video, along with the sky-rocketing cost of new equipment, are doing the same with tractors. Who can blame them? Making a living in agriculture is hard in the best of times. You have to take advantage of every break you can find or make for yourself.
I did a little searching on the subject. A couple of interesting results:
- Phil Adair of Union County, MS is farming exclusively with old equipment.
- “Farm equipment retailers experience sales drop“. Tha article wants to blame the “trump trade war”, but the interviewees don’t.
This isn’t a trend that’s making a lot of news other than occasionally. But it’s worth watching as the economy prepares to go south for a while.
(Edit, 1452: Blogger must hate YouTube, because the video disappeared. Just caught and fixed it.)
Recently, a good friend told me about his new tractor. It was a Mahindra farm tractor that he had bought for his ranch. I asked if he had looked at John Deere? He said that with John Deere, regardless of the issue, the tractor goes to the dealer for repair. With the Mahindra, he can do all the repairs, updates etc at his ranch.
With companies like John Deere, the main objective is profit at all costs. The CEOs have forgotten that the object is to shear the sheep, not skin them alive. By selling the software, they would still make money from the parts. By refusing to sell the software, they not only lose the sale of the parts, but they also lose the sale of the equipment.