Agricultural and farm equipment appraisals.
An agricultural equipment appraisal from Lukes & Lukes is an independent, USPAP-compliant opinion of value for the working farm: tractors and combines, planters and sprayers, grain handling, dairy and livestock systems, irrigation and the trucks that support them.
Farm equipment trades on one of the most transparent used markets in machinery and equipment, because regional and online farm auctions publish their results, and we tie every value to that evidence. Ag lenders, Farm Credit institutions, families planning succession and estates rely on these reports. Built to withstand lender, SBA, IRS, audit and legal review.
What we appraise
The farm, asset by asset.
We value the full line, from a single tractor to a complete grain or dairy operation, and we identify each unit by serial number, hours and configuration before the number goes in the report.
- Tractors and combines: row-crop, 4WD and utility tractors, combines, headers and harvest equipment.
- Planting and tillage: planters, drills, sprayers, tillage and field implements.
- Grain handling and storage: augers, conveyors, grain dryers and bins appraised as equipment.
- Dairy and livestock: milking parlors, robotic milkers, feed systems and barn equipment.
- Irrigation: center pivots, pumps and traveling systems.
- Trucks and support: farm trucks, grain trailers, skid steers and shop equipment.
What drives the value
Hours, model year, and an auction market that shows its work.
Tractors and combines trade on hours, model year, horsepower and condition against an unusually transparent market: regional and online farm auctions publish their results, so a defensible value can be tied to real, recent sales of comparable machines.
Precision-ag technology cuts both ways, since guidance, displays and section control add value when they transfer to the buyer's fleet and strand it when they do not. Dairy parlors and robotic milkers are installed systems that earn in place and lose heavily at removal. The market is also seasonal, and we weigh when the comparable sales occurred against the effective date of value.
Which value applies
The right premise for the situation.
The same equipment line carries different numbers depending on why you need the appraisal. We determine and defend the premise your situation requires.
In one minute
Three things that decide the value.
The purpose of the appraisal sets the premise, the market has seasons, and condition is verified in person. One minute, before you sell, settle an estate, or finance farm equipment.
Video · 1:01 · with transcript
Common questions
Answers, up front.
What drives a tractor's or combine's value?
Hours, model year, horsepower, condition and configuration, including headers and attachments, measured against published farm auction results. Farm equipment is one of the few M&E categories where regional and online auctions report what comparable machines actually brought, so the value can be tied to real, recent sales.
How does precision-ag technology affect value?
It adds value when it transfers and strands value when it does not. Guidance systems, displays, receivers and section control carry real money, but only to a buyer whose fleet and software ecosystem they fit. Locked or incompatible technology contributes little, so we identify the components and their compatibility before crediting them.
Why do dairy parlors and robotic milkers appraise low at removal?
Because they are installed systems, not freestanding machines. A parlor or robotic milker earns its keep in place, supporting the herd and the milk contract. Removed, it carries de-installation cost, transport and reinstallation, and the used market for pulled systems is thin. Value in place and value at removal are very different numbers, and the premise determines which one applies.
Will an ag lender accept this appraisal?
Ag lenders and farm credit associations are the usual readers, and they check the same three things: serial numbers, hours, and whether the market evidence is completed auction results rather than dealer asking prices. Ours is. The report is USPAP-compliant and signed by a NEBB-certified Machinery & Equipment Appraiser (CMEA).
Our farm loan renewal needs an equipment appraisal. How long will it take?
A farm equipment appraisal is scheduled around where the machines sit and the season: machines out in the field during planting or harvest are seen when they come back to the yard. The slower items are the precision ag records, meaning which displays carry the guidance and section control activations, and the serial list for heads, planters and implements, which carry their own serials.
What drives the cost of appraising farm equipment?
The number of machines and yards, the attachment and implement list, and whether grain bins and dryers are included, since those raise a fixture question and a removal premise. Precision ag hardware adds research to separate what transfers from what is a subscription. On an ag loan the borrower pays even when the farm credit association orders it; in an estate, the estate pays.
Where do I find a farm equipment appraiser near me?
Lukes & Lukes appraises farm equipment from Fridley, Minnesota, and the appraiser travels to the farm to inspect the tractors, combines and implements in the yard or machine shed. Ag lenders anywhere in the country can order the work, and the report reads the same wherever the farm sits. A short list of late-model machines with photographs of the hour meters and serial plates can sometimes be appraised as a desktop assignment, with the scope written into the report.
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