Can someone explain to me why any farmer buys JD? It seems like $1000 oil filters is something farmers would notice and talk about in that community?
Can someone explain to me why any farmer buys JD? It seems like $1000 oil filters is something farmers would notice and talk about in that community?
I used to live down the road from a John Deere plant and some of that was just local loyalty and belief in the jobs it created. Or old habits and brand loyalty dying hard.
Our family had ford tractors, ford mowers, and ford trucks until enough pain points added up to cause a change. Now they haven't bought a ford in over 40 years.
Deere employee, but speaking for myself, not the company.
Farmers buy Deere because they are the most repairable. The dealer is just down the road, and has the parts that you need. The things you cannot do yourself are things that farmers think "I wouldn't do that anyway".
> they are the most repairable.
That's a really weird way to spell "incumbency and network effects".
In fairness, you're not wrong, but that seems to be a very specific framing that hides a lot of what this whole discussion is about.
It is more than that. It is also the dealer has the parts you need, even for older stuff. Deere is well known to stock replacement parts longer than anyone else, and can get replacement parts where others would say not possible. network effects and incumbency help as well, but Deere is the most repairable.
I can't speak for the large-scale operations, but I'm close with several farmers working between 100 and 500 acres. They know about the repair nonsense, and they tsk-tsk about it, but Deere is deeply entrenched in their cultural identity and the repair shenanigans don't affect them directly.
For these guys, modern Deere hasn't broken the mirage because they all drive "old" tractors, anywhere between 20 and 60 years old. I put "old" in quotes because they don't consider those tractors to be old. To them, a tractor is a thing you own for life, care for dutifully, and hand down to your kid. Just like the house and the fields. 100? Now that's an old tractor!
If you're a boomer farmer, Pops probably had a Deere. And because he probably had a Deere, you probably have a Deere too, because you probably drive Pops's tractor. Brand loyalty takes on a more cultural air when it gets passed down through generations.
Also, some men just have a thing for Deere. You ever seen those pictures of some guy's house and every room is decked out floor to ceiling with Dale Earnhardt memorabilia? That's my grandfather. My buddy's grandfather? Same deal, but Deere instead of Dale.
As for the folks running the big operations with modern tractors, well I don't really know. I've never met any of them. But Deere has a massive network of licensed repair shops. Seriously, I can't tell you how many towns I've driven through around the Great Lakes that are nothing more than a gas station, a dollar store, a school, and a shop with a Deere logo hanging in the window.
Many of the small & mid-scale U.S. farmers are choosing to buy Mahindra tractors.
Is there an easier way to get a green hat?