Farm Equipment Leasing Doubles

A new report shows the leasing of farm equipment has nearly doubled since 2012.  The Wall Street Journal reports Deere & Co. is spending billions of dollars each year on its own equipment for leasing programs.  Records show that more than one-third of financed purchases of high horsepower machinery made by John Deere is being leased to farmers and construction builders.  Roughly 90% of those machines are owned by Deere's financing business.  Deere reports that in 2018, leased equipment represented a value of $7.8 billion, compared to more than $2 billion in 2012.

Meanwhile, CNH Industrial, the maker of Case IH and New Holland, is also leasing more equipment.  The company says more than 40% of high horsepower tractor sales are leased, up from 25% back in 2012.  The current farm economy is drastically different from 2012, around the time farm income reached an all-time high before plummeting over the last few years.

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