Kubota forcing dealers out?

[MossRoad]

from the farmers's prospective, they are not making the profit they used to, someone else is taking that profit away.. who wants farmers to suffer?.. beef and dairy used to be very profitable for FARMERS, THAT is why they got into it!..

Well, now it's profitable for someone else. Small farmers, just like small Kubota dealers, have to adapt and grow their business, or find something else to do. It's just that simple. Adapt, grow, change, or be left behind.

Read this 9 year old article. It's about a small dairy in Vermont with 65 cows and a huge dairy here in Indiana with 30,000 cows (more now). 9 families got together, pooled their resources, and started this venture. That's the future of dairy in this country.

A Tale of Two Dairy Farms (One of Which Milks 30,000, Cows)

And the model applies to other businesses, like beef, pork(that dairy also has a hog breeding company), chicken, as well as tractor dealerships, pharmacies, grocery stores, etc...

All industries tend to consolidate. It's a matter of efficiency. Businesses are not started with the goal to employ as many people as possible. Business seeks to employ as few as possible while making as much money as possible for as little cost as possible. That's why the economy of scale always wins out.

 

[jmc]

All industries tend to consolidate. It's a matter of efficiency. Businesses are not started with the goal to employ as many people as possible. Business seeks to employ as few as possible while making as much money as possible for as little cost as possible. That's why the economy of scale always wins out.

Sounds good, Moss, but there's plenty of examples of corporate consolidation pocketing the efficiencies of scale and then raising prices because they have eliminated their competition. That's why we have anti-trust laws and that's also why potential consolidators contribute to the party in power.

 

[RalphVa]

Around here (Charlottesville), we've gotten 2 more Kubota dealerships in the last few years. The Orange, Va dealer put a small satellite here in Charlottesville, and a big tractor dealer went Kubota real big just over the mountain in Stuarts Draft: Beverage.

We've only JD and Kubota here. Long ways to any other brand.

Ralph

 

[MossRoad]

Sounds good, Moss, but there's plenty of examples of corporate consolidation pocketing the efficiencies of scale and then raising prices because they have eliminated their competition. That's why we have anti-trust laws and that's also why potential consolidators contribute to the party in power.

Yeah. The last one I can think of is the phone company. They tried it with Microsoft and lost.

 

[MossRoad]

There's 15 Deere dealers within 58 miles of me. 9 of them are owned by the same company, 3 by another, and 2 individual dealers.

 

[MossRoad]

There's 10 Kubota dealers within 60 miles of me. 3 are the same company, the rest are individually owned.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

Funny, I have been watching a lot of "Fifteen Things Videos" One particularly interesting one was fifteen things you have to give up if you want to be rich. Friends and Family were two. In fact, most RICH people have 1.8 close friends!

They define "rich" differently from me then.

 

[jmc]

Yeah. The last one I can think of is the phone company. They tried it with Microsoft and lost.

Not sure what battle that was but here's several more:

Have plane ticket prices gone down, number of flight choices gone up, and customer service levels improved since airlines consolidated?

Have cell phone rates become more affordable and terms of their contracts become more fair since their consolidation?

Has cable/satellite data become more affordable since the consolidation and the resultant economies of scale?

 

[airbiscuit]

Cell phone coverage and speed has improved exponentially since consolidation. I'm not saying I like their rates, but I remember when we paid for 100 minutes a month.

 

[MossRoad]

Not sure what battle that was but here's several more:

Have plane ticket prices gone down, number of flight choices gone up, and customer service levels improved since airlines consolidated?

Have cell phone rates become more affordable and terms of their contracts become more fair since their consolidation?

Has cable/satellite data become more affordable since the consolidation and the resultant economies of scale?

Yes, airline tickets have dropped dramatically.

Cell phones, comparing apples to apples, are waaaayyyy cheaper than land lines when you look at monthly service and long distance rates.

Cable never had competition until recently because cable companies had exclusive rights in an area. Now that there are multiple options, you can get better rates by shopping around and switching companies annually.