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Tools on demand: Circular economy in Australian farming
As machinery costs rise, James Oxenham explains how on-demand equipment hire can give Australian farmers greater flexibility, financial resilience, and access to new technology
The high cost of ownership For decades, owning equipment was non-negotiable in farming. A harvester in the shed meant security and readiness. But the reality is that modern agricultural machinery comes with eye-watering price tags that can cripple smaller operations before they even get started. A new harvester can cost upwards of hun- dreds of thousands of dollars, and that's before fac- toring in maintenance, storage, insurance, and the inevitable depreciation that begins the moment it rolls off the lot. For many farms, particularly smaller and medium-sized operations, these upfront costs re- main prohibitive. It's like being told you need to buy an entire cinema just to watch a single film. The maths simply doesn't work, especially when that machinery might only be used intensively for a few weeks each year.
Back in the day, every farm shed had its own trac- tor, header, and baler, ready for the field at any time. We all remember the times when owning a full line-up of machinery was simply what you did, and now, that world is slowly becoming a memory. Today, machinery-sharing platforms and contract services are transforming how farmers access equip- ment, replacing ownership with on-demand access. And right now, Australian agriculture is experiencing this shift in ways that go well beyond just machinery. Australia's agricultural equipment market reached $7.8 billion in 2024, with rental and leasing models experiencing significant growth as farms increasingly choose to hire machinery during peak seasons, rath- er than commit to outright purchases. This shift rep- resents a fundamental rethinking of how Australian farmers approach their operations, and it's reshaping the industry from the ground up.
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