I don't think anyone has a crystal ball with clear vision into the future. Kubota makes a great tractor, and they are gradually increasing in power to meet the demands of larger operations. The AGCO of today is a completely different company, by comparison to 10, 20, and 30 years ago, and I think they produce a desirable product, too.
As a young kid, I didn't think IH would reach the demise it did, either, but as a young kid, I didn't quite realize how difficult the conditions were for IH back then. Who would have thought General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler might become "shells of their former existence," and that Toyota and Volkswagen would become the global leaders they are today in the automotive industry? On our farm, going back to my earliest recollections in the very early 1970's, IH was the main brand we had back then for farm equipment. It was the leading manufacturer, but was in decline then, thinking back. My grandfather bought a brand new 3010 Deere in 1962, with this being the only Deere tractor on our farm at the time. The 1970's and into the early 1980's, we saw a migration of our choice going from IH to Deere. The Deere products tended to stand the test of time and long hours in the field, as well as lot of hours on the tachometer. The newest Deere product on the farm today is over 10 years old. When I read comments about the issues on the most modern equipment, with electronics failures, pollution control equipment, super high capacity hydraulic systems, and others, I don't know if I would want the potential and probable headaches. I don't see these machines providing the longevity of their predecessors or the level of uptime. I will add, that I do not feel Deere, as a company providing customer support, is the company it was just 10 years ago, and especially in comparison to 20 and 30 years ago. I also did a financial analysis of the company for a graduate school course I was in just 5 or 6 years ago. The debt load of the company is quite high, on account of its financing operations. Will the Deere and Company of today be around tomorrow? I suspect it probably will be. I have read from time to time, Deere is a prime target for being bought out by Berkshire Hathaway, too. Warren Buffett and his company don't tend to buy out other companies, or the just stock in other companies, unless they see a value or a bargain.
Case/New Holland is a "wildcard" I cannot put my finger on simply because it is owned by Fiat Industrial. They offer a very good product lineup, too. In terms of market share, I don't think they are holding their own, but not on the scale of what Case, IH, Ford, and New Holland had they all were mostly independent of one another either. There are a number of small companies putting out "economy" priced products. They are Mahindra, Belarus, Yanmar, LS, Kioti, TYM, TAFE, and others. Buhler/Versatile makes a number of sizes, as does McCormick. I don't know who is necessarily behind these names, but these are just some I was able to pull up rather quickly.
The one constant/sure thing in life is change, along with death and taxes. I don't know what sort of change I will still see as I am just over 50. I have not cared for all the changes I have seen, especially in agriculture. I hope that I am afforded enough time and life so that I can still be involved in farming and live a farming lifestyle on our family farm for at least another couple decades. I have no male heir apparent, but I do have two daughters who enjoy their time spent on our rural acreage, as well as the family farm where my parents reside. There are times when I feel cheated, in that I wasn't able to make my living off the land like the 4 generations before me did. I also recognize the number of opportunities I was able to take advantage of, and the life experiences I have had by NOT being able to make my living off the farm. When I balance this all out at present, I simply have to have faith and trust that all things have happened, to me and my family, as they were intended.
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Today's Featured Article - Gatherin of the Orange - by Rick Nikolich. In July of 1998 I was talking to fellow Allis Chalmers collector Mike Schilling about the annual "Gathering of The Orange" AC show coming up in August of 1999. He got this wild idea that we should get a convoy of AC tractors and drive them from Charlotte, Michigan 105 miles to LaGrange, Indiana.
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