Tractor Inflation

Anonymous-0 · Jul 8, 2010

In a previous post, Indiana Red stated that a Farmall H , built today and adjusted for inflation, would cost $14.000, and I agree.So that would mean a new Farmall M would be $18.000, anyone with any ambition could farm 320 acres with a new Farmall M, agree or disagree?Now lets adjust crop prices for inflation, lets say wheat, $12 a bushel? Now land, $1000 an acre in western Ks? That would pencil out by far , better then the ways things are now, agree or disagree?

GA Dave · Jul 8, 2010

http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl

old · Jul 8, 2010

But the big question would be is how much plastic and how many China parts would also be on that new H or M that would make it worth less in say 40 or 50 year. Oh forgot it it would not be running where as an H or M that was made in say 1947 is still running today

Anonymous-0 · Jul 9, 2010

Please tell me more about how we are going to adjust the price of wheat to $12. My brother, cousin and I have 3 M's and 2 H's. For $12 wheat we will park the Farmalls, and the big 4X4 tractors and air seeders, and farm with mules and oxen, so long as everyone else does also.

Deere Scotty · Jul 9, 2010

Here in Indiana the land value would be more like $2500 - $3500 / acre. for average crop land. Many a person would disagree with 320 acres, & an "M"; But if You have the time it could be done. I think I would want more than one tractor though.

Scotty

Allan in NE · Jul 9, 2010

Dunno,

In my neck of the woods, the H and M could handle 80 acres if ya really put in some long, hard, bone rattlin' days.

Allan

agpilot · Jul 9, 2010

Hi GaryinKS: The changes in value have not been changing at a "constant rate" over the decades. The "Great depression" lowered good farm land value quite a lot. Then World War Two increased demand for farm products and farm land increased quite a bit. ( land value doubled in 5 years in SW MN.) Quite a large swing in $ value from mid 1930 Depression to Mid 1940's World War demand so playing with those numbers can be misleading if a person thinks that change continued through the following decades. It did not, as many can recall Willie Nelson trying to help farmers in the 1980's? Easy to mislead one self playing with farm values of land and equipment over the last 100 years... ag.

RodinNS · Jul 9, 2010

Disagree. If you were correct, people would be doing it already.
There's nobody making a living off of 320 acres of cropland either where they are producing 'commodity' crops. 3200 is getting to be a stretch...
Things are the way they are for a reason.

Rod

agpilot · Jul 9, 2010

GaryinKS: I thought I would state my parents results in buying very good farm in 1939. They paid $100 per acre which included a good two story home and very good barn and grainery etc. In 1941 they bought a complete line of NEW equipment. A new Farmall MD and all related equipment. The MD was about $1800 when a gas M was $1100. Remember very good farm land was $100 per acre so that MD cost the same as 18 acres. In 2009 that land cost $5,000 per acre. (equal to $90,000 for 18 acres?) That MD did all the heavy work on 320 acres with two guys running it. By 1947 the land was worth $200/acre or a double in value in 8 years. In other words, my parents were lucky to buy when they did in both land and equipment. Many returning solders from WW-2 did not see any where near that kind of a return if they bought just after WW-2. Almost like buying into Wall Street? Farming is a gamble? Maybe like buying stock in "BP" now with all the bad news on the oil spill? In 5 to 10 years their stock will have recovered? It's a gamble. Interesting topic. ag

Jim SC · Jul 9, 2010

Allen, I grew up in York County and my dad farmed his 160 acres (irrigated in 1947) and rented 160 dryland. He had a 1946 A JD (fuel burner, I guess about 29 HP) and added an 8N in 1950 when I was 10 years old. He had about 140 acres of corn and 15 acres of alfalfa plus pasture land and some milo. We milked 10 cows and sold cream every Tuesday evening when we all went to Waco to watch the free movie shown on the side of the grain elevator.

With todays chemicals and modern equipment, I think it would be easy to farm 160 acres with an M. I farm almost as much in SC with a tractor only slightly bigger and work out of state 4 days a week.

greenbeanman in Kansas · Jul 9, 2010

One needs to remember that back in the day of the H and the M ---- in western Kansas fertilizer wasn't yet being used. Tough to inflate to todays prices when it wasn't even used but would be needed today.

What might surprise you is to look at old Kansas Ag Census records from earlier years. You'd be surprised at the size of farms in 1925. Also that few had tractors yet, while some had more than one but not in proportion to their farm size.

That year was no doubt ushering in the dirty thirties and the yields for corn and wheat were quite low.

There is also somewhat of a different attitude on farming than years ago. There used to be a balance of number of weeds growing versus the loss of moisture from a tillage operation. Currently farmers tend to want fields 100% clean all of the time which might mean more needed tractor capacity.

Interesting topic.

IndianaRed · Jul 9, 2010

I think we were assuming that the H & M were as oringinally manufactured for the purpose of this question.

He referred to one of my earlier posts, and all I did was use an Inflation Calculator from online to see what a $900 purchase in 1939 would equal today.

LenND · Jul 9, 2010

Hello Allen! We (fil and me) farmed about 600 acres with two M's, mostly spring plowed. Usually one M ran a twenty four day. Man, that was some long spring seasons I tell ya. But those two M's nevewr missed a lick--oil was changed every weekend usually around a 100 hrs.

Tractor Inflation

Anonymous-0

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old

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Anonymous-0

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