August 2026 Equipment Market Update: Lots Clear, Values Split

The common thread with every dealer conversation in August was corn. The golden grain’s commodity market just posted its best month since 2021, and the question following Tractor Zoom's Director of Insights, Andy Campbell, around the Farm Progress Show was a simple one: Does a rally like mean a complete reversal to the used equipment market as we close out the year? His short answer was to “pump the brakes.”

The retail equipment market doesn't turn on a dime this time of year, and the transaction data points to a positive, but slower path than the corn rally might suggest. What August did show in the numbers was movement on low-hour row-crop tractors, but movement that looks a lot more like end-of-season clearing than a demand snapback:

• Low-hour large row-crop tractors got moving. About 28% of low-hour units on dealer lots sold within their first 60 days last month, versus roughly 16% the same month a year ago and 15% in July.
• But most sold with significant price reductions. Most of those low-hour units had aged on the lot for 300-plus days, and 56% moved at a steep discount. That reflects dealers using a better sentiment window to clear aged iron rather than buyers paying up.
• The corn benefit, if it comes, lags. When corn last broke down in late 2023, the hit to equipment margins didn't fully land until mid-2024 — about a three-quarter delay. If that lag holds in reverse, the upside from this rally may not show until well into 2027.

The tell to watch from here is the mid-hour band. Late-model, low-hour units and high-hour iron are both moving; but it's the 2,000-to-4,000-hour tractors sitting in the middle that will signal whether real retail demand is returning or whether August was just good timing. 

A note on the monthly numbers

Each core category below reports five metrics (Inventory Volume, Aged Inventory (360+ days), 60-Day Sales Velocity, Turn Rate, and Auction Values) on a year-over-year basis, sourced from Tractor Zoom Pro’s dealer and auction data. Year-over-year keeps the view clean of seasonal swings and closer to the apples-to-apples standard we're building toward.

Utility tractors (100-174 HP)

Utility continued on a sharp supply-pullback trajectory, with both overall and aged inventory draining faster than the most other categories. That aged-inventory clearing is the healthy part; the harder part is that quick sales ran well behind last year's pace, and the auction premium that made this the "paid for patience" class earlier in the year has flattened back to roughly where it sat a year ago.

• Inventory Volume: -24% YoY
• Aged Inventory (360+ Days): -25% YoY
• 60-Day Sales Velocity: -57% YoY
• Turn Rate (3-Month Avg.): -15% YoY
• Auction Value Avg.: -0.27% YoY

Small row crop tractors (175-299 HP)

Smaller RC tractors remained a soft spot on turnover, with early-demand sales the weakest in the tractor lineup relative to this time last year. The offset is on price: Auction values held above last year, consistent with slower dealer sell-through pushing more buyers into the auction channel and with the corn-driven sentiment that lifts row-crop demand first.

• Inventory Volume: -12% YoY
• Aged Inventory (360+ Days): -23% YoY
• 60-Day Sales Velocity: -58% YoY
• Turn Rate (3-Month Avg.): -13% YoY
• Auction Value Avg.: +8.4% YoY

Large row crop tractors (300-424 HP)

If any category is carrying the corn story, it's large RC tractors. Inventory barely moved off last year and turns still ran behind, but auction values pushed well above a year ago. This is also the segment where the low-hour clearing Andy flagged in the September Market & Equipment Trends podcast is playing out, so the firmer auction print and the below-cost retail moves are two sides of the same month.

• Inventory Volume: -6.4% YoY
• Aged Inventory (360+ Days): -6.6% YoY
• 60-Day Sales Velocity: -25% YoY
• Turn Rate (3-Month Avg.): -13% YoY
• Auction Value Avg.: +21% YoY

4WD tractors (425+ HP)

High-horsepower iron is still among the most exposed categories on the board. Supply thinned only modestly and aged units barely budged, while both turns and auction values stepped down from a year ago. As the biggest-ticket purchase in the lineup, high-horsepower tractors are one of the first places tightening farm budgets show up, which is why it climbed so far up this year's dealer worry list.

• Inventory Volume: -7.4% YoY
• Aged Inventory (360+ Days): -1.7% YoY
• 60-Day Sales Velocity: -17% YoY
• Turn Rate (3-Month Avg.): -17% YoY
• Auction Value Avg.: -19% YoY

Combines (Class 7 & 8)

Heading into harvest, combines steadied on price even as turnover stayed slow. Supply sat almost exactly where it was a year ago and aged inventory cleared meaningfully, while auction values landed essentially flat year-over-year, showing stabilization after a weaker stretch. Quick sales, though, still ran well behind last year, keeping this a category dealers are watching closely into fall.

• Inventory Volume: -1.7% YoY
• Aged Inventory (360+ Days): -21% YoY
• 60-Day Sales Velocity: -40% YoY
• Turn Rate (3-Month Avg.): -16% YoY
• Auction Value Avg.: FLAT YoY

Self-propelled sprayers

The softness that showed up in the summer stuck around. Supply and aged inventory both drained hard from a year ago, but turns stayed slow and auction values slipped below last year. This is a category still working through the pullback rather than climbing out of it.

• Inventory Volume: -14.3% YoY
• Aged Inventory (360+ Days): -29% YoY
• 60-Day Sales Velocity: -40% YoY
• Turn Rate (3-Month Avg.): -17% YoY
• Auction Value Avg.: -6.6% YoY

Planters (all rows)

With planting season in the rearview, planters showed the board's biggest aged-inventory clearing and one of its firmest price prints. Turnover ran well behind last year on a unit basis, but auction values held sharply above a year ago, with tight late-season supply meeting steady demand for the remaining units.

• Inventory Volume: -11.4% YoY
• Aged Inventory (360+ Days): -39% YoY
• 60-Day Sales Velocity: -55% YoY
• Turn Rate (3-Month Avg.): -11% YoY
• Auction Value Avg.: +19% YoY

The bottom line

August essentially comprised two different markets in one month. On turnover and supply, the slow grind continued almost everywhere, with inventory thinner than a year ago, quick sales running behind, and turn rates down across the board. But auction values split cleanly: Row-crop tractors and planters firmed up while big harvest iron (4WD tractors and sprayers) lost ground and combines held flat.

That split lines up with what Andy is seeing in the transaction data. Corn sentiment and end-of-season clearing are lifting demand and values for row-crop tractors first, while the lag between a commodity rally and a real retail turn means the broader market hasn't moved yet. The K-shaped separation that's been building all year didn't close in August — if anything, it got a little wider.

Definitions & data sources

All equipment data and market trends presented in this report are sourced from Tractor Zoom Pro's dealer and auction marketplace database, which tracks equipment listings, transactions, and inventory activity across the U.S.

• Inventory Volume: The total number of equipment units actively listed for sale across the tracked dealer network at the time of reporting.
• Aged Inventory (360+ Days): The share of active inventory listed for 360 days or longer, indicating inventory with extended selling timelines.
• 60-Day Sales Velocity: The number of units in a category that sold within 60 days or fewer of their initial listing date during the reporting month. Higher numbers indicate stronger early demand and healthier sell-through.
• Turn Rate: A measure of how quickly inventory is selling, calculated as a three-month rolling average of unit retail sales volume relative to available inventory. Higher turn rates indicate faster movement.
• Auction Value Avg.: The average sale price for a category, with major outliers excluded (e.g., older or custom equipment fetching much higher or lower prices).

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