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For tech-weary Midwest farmers, 40-year-old tractors now a hot commodity

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Re: For tech-weary Midwest farmers, 40-year-old tractors now a hot commodity

#391

Post by nkurz »

bigjimmyk3 wrote: post #242
earlINmeyerkeg wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are dairy co-ops where I live that do this sort of thing. That's why they're so huge. However the small ma and pop ones that have local well known businesses charge an arm and a leg for half a gallon of milk. Yeah sorry, I'll pay half that cost for a gallon at walmart, thanks.

I was fascinated to hear a recent news story about how this works. The US has a long history of subsidizing its dairy industry (not unlike other countries) and part of that has been a "price floor" on milk. This floor applies to retailers purchasing milk from producers / distributors, but if the retailer also owns the producer... there's no retail price floor. Hence, the fairly extreme price difference between a regi…

Milk pricing is complicated, and I don't really understand it, but I don't think your comment is correct. There exists a "price floor" on a national level that establishes a minimum price that is payed to producers. This price differs based on location, which acts as a proxy for price of production.

But I'm pretty sure there is no mandated federal minimum retail price, although some individual states (Maine, California, Pennsylvania, probably others) have state-specific laws regarding retail pricing. Are you maybe confusing a state law where you live with national policy? Or am I out-of-date?

I am surprised by how inexpensive compared to local brands Walmart's Great Value milk is where I shop in Vermont. My guess was that this is because the local brands pay their producers at the higher North-Eastern rate, whereas Walmart sources their milk from the mid-West and can pay a much lower wholesale price.

Re: For tech-weary Midwest farmers, 40-year-old tractors now a hot commodity

#392

Post by a-dub »

A few years ago a bartender friend of mine shared a joke/investment tip with me. He said "if I had money, I'd rent a warehouse and fill it with appliances that aren't internet connected. In 20 years, people will be desperate for them."

I think he may be right.

Re: For tech-weary Midwest farmers, 40-year-old tractors now a hot commodity

#393

Post by halbritt »

heavyset_go wrote: post #358
macinjosh wrote: post #98

My grandfather, rest his soul, was a 3rd generation rancher and farmer. He bought 2 John Deere tractors in the '80s and used them for 35 years. They are still being used to this day on the ranch. Growing up, I visited the ranch regularly. Farming and ranching is very hard on equipment so the tractors often needed repair. My father and grandfather could seemingly fix anything on the tractor without even needing to go…

> The world changes and sometimes it sucks but that is how progress is made. Progress for whom? Seems like a false dichotomy to me.

I speculate that as corporations take over farming, their operations become more efficient providing greater yields per acre and for the amount of fuel consumed.

If true, this is net positive for humanity as a whole as more people can get fed and there are less carbon emissions doing so.

There is the problem that corporations tend to trend toward becoming sociopathic entities unless carefully managed, so it's not all win.

Re: For tech-weary Midwest farmers, 40-year-old tractors now a hot commodity

#394

Post by TeMPOraL »

golergka wrote: post #376
TeMPOraL wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But it needs to be followed with observing that the market doesn't give two damns about long term, because anyone optimizing for long-term profitability eventually gets outcompeted by someone optimizing for shorter-term profitability.

Did it help Boeing?

Boeing optimizes for short-term. Long-term is already secured for them by US regulations.

Re: For tech-weary Midwest farmers, 40-year-old tractors now a hot commodity

#395

Post by JMTQp8lwXL »

hinkley wrote: post #278
unapologetic wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They all want to get to the point of being Tesla. Hiding features only in software, pushing out updates, and trying to bake in a living (recurring revenue) model. It's a problem for a lot of reasons. First off it's the complete death of ownership. I can't fix things. At some point they will probably just lock stuff back down if I want to sell, assuming I can even sell without them getting a cut. Second, repairability…

Stated another way, every company has discovered 'rent-seeking' in a relatively short period of time and they all think it's neat. Consumers haven't pushed back enough to stop this from happening.

The end state is consumers buying less stuff, but only those most willing to pay the premium will show up.

Re: For tech-weary Midwest farmers, 40-year-old tractors now a hot commodity

#396

Post by TeMPOraL »

vunie wrote: post #325
TeMPOraL wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But it needs to be followed with observing that the market doesn't give two damns about long term, because anyone optimizing for long-term profitability eventually gets outcompeted by someone optimizing for shorter-term profitability.

what about amazon?

What about it? Amazon is in the process of burning down their e-commerce business.

Re: For tech-weary Midwest farmers, 40-year-old tractors now a hot commodity

#397

Post by mrpopo »

halbritt wrote: post #393
heavyset_go wrote: post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The world changes and sometimes it sucks but that is how progress is made. Progress for whom? Seems like a false dichotomy to me.

I speculate that as corporations take over farming, their operations become more efficient providing greater yields per acre and for the amount of fuel consumed. If true, this is net positive for humanity as a whole as more people can get fed and there are less carbon emissions doing so. There is the problem that corporations tend to trend toward becoming sociopathic entities unless carefully managed, so it's not all…

> there are less carbon emissions doing so.

Intensive farming as practiced by corporations today is among the worst culprits regarding carbon emissions.

It is more profitable to practice intensive till-heavy farming since it takes advantage of the nutrients already stored in the soil. The disadvantage is its unsustainability. After few decades of soil-tilling, it becomes quite poor in nutrients, and will have reduced yield. Corporations can afford to destroy land and move on to the next one, until nothing is left.

This is opposed to regenerative/conservative agriculture.

https://www.drawdown.org/solutions/food/regenerative-agricul...

https://www.drawdown.org/solutions/food/conservation-agricul...

Re: For tech-weary Midwest farmers, 40-year-old tractors now a hot commodity

#398

Post by bg117 »

macinjosh wrote: post #98

My grandfather, rest his soul, was a 3rd generation rancher and farmer. He bought 2 John Deere tractors in the '80s and used them for 35 years. They are still being used to this day on the ranch. Growing up, I visited the ranch regularly. Farming and ranching is very hard on equipment so the tractors often needed repair. My father and grandfather could seemingly fix anything on the tractor without even needing to go…

It will lead to more wealth accumulation for a select few and again lead to income disparities.

Re: For tech-weary Midwest farmers, 40-year-old tractors now a hot commodity

#399

Post by makapuf »

viator wrote: post #26
xtian wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vote with your vote. As far as I know only two candidates in the presidential primary race support right-to-repair: Sanders and Warren.

Because the shortest path to fixing anything is always electing a politician who knows nothing about that thing, in order to have them approve legislation written by other people who know nothing about that thing, that demands that companies do a thing. That always works great.

Those are not exclusive.

Re: For tech-weary Midwest farmers, 40-year-old tractors now a hot commodity

#400

Post by allovernow »

Every time I see an article like this, I can't help but imagine some penny pinching MBA laughing all the way to the bank. Textbook example of running a company purely for profit, with no regard for ethics, social good, legacy, or their customers.
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