$1 equipment lease benefits farmers

Don’t let anyone tell you a dollar doesn’t go very far anymore. Last fall the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture harvested corn and soybeans with a brand new 88 Series Axial Flow combine that only cost $1 per month thanks to CASE IH and Jacobi Sales.
The combine came to UK as part of an agricultural equipment short-term lease program where universities pay as little as $1 per month to use the equipment for six months.
“The program allowed us to use a new piece of equipment with new technology at a very low cost,” said Donnie Davis, UK College of Agriculture’s director of Central Kentucky Farms. “It also saved us the use, maintenance and repair costs of our own combine, which is at least 15 years old.”
Bob Brashear, facilities management assistant dean for the UK College of Agriculture, said the older combine doesn’t do as good a job at separating the grain ends, and that results in damaging the crop or leaving part of it in the field.
“The new equipment was more efficient and gave us a higher-quality harvest,” he said. “It’s a real opportunity in tight budget times to have an additional (Magnum 235hp) tractor to use at such a low cost. Our researchers and farm workers get to use the newest technology out there, and we all learn from it.”
The program also benefits CASE IH in that it gets reputable college research and demonstration of new equipment to potential users.
“By partnering with UK, CASE IH is not only investing in the future of students but also in the future of agriculture,” said Mark Baumer, CASE IH territorial sales manager. “This is a great opportunity for us to expose more people to our product—for people to drive by locations like UK’s farms and see red out in the field.”
When the rental period ends, the university returns the equipment to a local CASE IH dealership, which is able to offer the lightly used machinery at a discounted rate to Kentucky farmers.
The UK lease agreement was with family-owned Jacobi Sales, a CASE IH dealership in Shelbyville.