Equipment Slump
Farmers Delay Investing Amid Market Uncertainty
Blades identified unpredictability as the biggest factor in purchasing new equipment, among other reasons.
" High interest rates, global trade uncertainty and increased input prices are causing farmers to delay major equipment purchases," he said.
Tom Gauthier, founder of AgTechLogic, a precision ag tech company located in Mesa, Arizona, echoed that point: " Input costs and labor are still high and trending up. They still need to find ways to reduce costs on the farm [ and ] many are trying to get more out of the equipment they own."
Right now, it’ s all about caution, according to Jeremy Matuszewski, CEO and founder of Thunderstruck Ag, an equipment manufacturer in Winkler, Manitoba.
“ Farmers are selective with where they spend, focusing on maintaining what they’ ve got [ rather than ] expanding,” Matuszewski said.
“ On the business side, many companies are pulling back on aggressive market entry plans and doubling down on where they already have traction. There’ s a lot of value in tightening up operations and making sure every dollar spent delivers ROI [ return on investment ].”
To that end, many farmers upgraded equipment during the boom years and are opting to maintain or modestly upgrade existing machinery rather than buy new. Matuszewski agreed.“ With tariffs and global supply chain issues, domestic manufacturing is going to take center stage again and that’ s going to come with a cost,” he said.
“ We’ ll see higher equipment prices, but also strong competition between OEMs [ original equipment manufacturers ] trying to grab market share.”
In addition, labor remains a key concern. " It ' s getting harder to find, harder to keep and more expensive to train,” Matuszewski added.” That’ s where emerging tech is going to be a game changer,” he predicted.
Technology & Retrofitting Take Center Stage
Manufacturers are responding with precision ag tools, retrofitting kits and digital platforms to help producers get more from existing equipment.
" It’ s very important for farmers to be operationally efficient," Blades said. " One proven way is adopting precision ag technology."
Gauthier agreed, noting that“ technology companies need to listen and react faster, offering easy-to-use and maintain solutions that make sense and give the grower or dealer the capability to provide input to the technology.”
Major brands are focusing on tech:
• Case IH is expanding its FieldOps platform, designed to connect machines and manage data across planting, harvesting and machine performance.
• AGCO-PTx Trimble unveiled its OutRun autonomous grain cart retrofit kit, part of a broader push to deliver unmatched tech integration.
• John Deere continues to invest in retrofit options, such as the Precision Essentials Kit and See & Spray technology.
" Autonomy helps farmers hit their ideal operating window by extending their working day and freeing up labor so they can complete additional tasks, particularly during busy times of the year,” Kyle Barry, John Deere manager, Precision Upgrade Marketing, said.
16 | 515-574-2206 | 515-574-2189 | September 2025