I think the big green machine means well but it seems that every tweak to their business plan is a retrograde motion back towards sharecropping.
From AgricultureDive, February 16:
Deere sees early strong demand for pay-as-you-go model in precision ag
By lowering upfront costs, the world’s largest seller of agriculture equipment hopes to convince more farmers to adopt technology in their operations.
Deere is offering farmers more financing options for the company’s precision agriculture technology as lower equipment demand weighs on profits.
The world’s largest seller of agriculture equipment launched a Solutions-as-a-Service approach for some of its technology offerings, executives said on an earnings call Thursday. The new business model essentially gives farmers a pay-as-you-go option, lowering upfront costs.
“Our initial experiences have been extremely favorable, as we engage a broader range of customers with our technology,” Aaron Wetzel, vice president of production systems for production and precision ag, said on the call.
The manufacturer has used the pay-as-you-go approach for its precision ag essentials kit, which allows farmers to upgrade their current equipment. Orders for the kit “exceeded our expectations,” CFO Josh Jepsen told investors....
....MUCH MORE
The day before this story was published at the Dive Deere reported decent numbers and a lousy outlook. The stock got hit for $20.12 (-5.23%) to $364.66.
It has continued lower, $356.73 last.
Recently:
- USDA predicts major drop in farm income for 2024"
- Creighton University's "Rural Mainstreet Economy in Negative Territory for Sixth Straight Month 44% of Bankers Reported Worsening Farm Finances"
And previously on the "You will own nothing and farm until you die" channel, here's the introduction to a 2017 post:
John Deere says:
"When a customer buys John Deere equipment, he or she owns the equipment," ...Their actions say they are full of manure.
As one critic puts it:
"They require buyers to accept an End User License Agreement that disallows all of the activities they say are allowed in their statement," she said. "Deere is a monopolist and has systematically taken over the role of equipment owner, despite having been paid fairly and fully for equipment. Their claims to control equipment post-purchase are inconsistent with all aspects of ownership including accounting, taxation, and transfer of products into the secondary market."It's all about the intellectual property and unfortunately the Supreme Court has been wishy-washy on a couple decisions but there is hope. As we noted in the November '16 post below:
One of the heroes of this stuff was Thai native and U.S. student Supap Kirtsaeng who won his case, Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., wherein he argued he should be able to re-sell textbooks he had lawfully purchased. The Supreme Court upheld the First Sale Doctrine that "you bought it, you own it".
April 2015
John Deere Tells Patent Office That Purchasers Don't Actually Own the Machine They Paid For (DE)
May 2015
"John
Deere Clarifies: It's Trying To Abuse Copyright Law To Stop You From
Owning Your Own Tractor... Because It Cares About You" (DE)
November 2016
For the Next Two Years Auto Manufacturers Can't Have You Arrested...
...for trying to repair or modify the software on your own car.
And in a tangential development:
Big Data Down On the Farm: "DuPont Joins Deere on Software in Challenge to Monsanto" (DE; DD; MON)
Autonomous Vehicles: "[John] Deere's New Visioning Technology Aims for Fully Autonomous Cropping Fleet by 2030" (DE)
