- [Dennis] Some of the equipment, we'll never use again, but it's amazing how if I need a part or something that's similar that'll work on even a different brand, I'm able to go and find something that'll work.

- [Emma] There are piles of old equipment all around Kellogg Family Farms.

Dennis Kellogg uses those parts to help repair his decades old machinery.

Kellogg says he likes working on older equipment.

He also says it's easier and cheaper to repair tractors and combines that aren't computerized, but in recent years, relying on older machines has become more of a necessity.

- A few years ago, we were getting $14 to $17 a bushel for our soybean.

Today's price is around the $12 range.

- [Emma] That's just one example of how farmers aren't seeing big profit margins in recent years.

With trade uncertainty and rising costs, producers don't have much more to spend on machines that can cost upwards of $1 million.

- We're right on that borderline of where we could justify a lot newer equipment, but you only use this equipment maybe six weeks out of the year, and then the rest of the time it sets idle.

And so it's hard to justify the big investment.

- [Emma] Kellogg's newest tractor is from 2003, and he's still using a combine from the 1970s to harvest his soybeans.

- To get it in good operating condition, I spent the summer rebuilding it and then I replaced all the bushings that run the shaking part of it because they were gone.

And then anything else I saw that needed to be repaired and had to do a little bit of brazing work and a little sheet metal work.

And then in the end, you use good old duct tape.

- [Emma] Kellogg says he saved lots of money over the years by fixing up his old combine with mostly spare parts from his stockpiles.

That's something he's been doing for most of his life, but many other farmers rely on repair shops to fix their farm equipment.

- This is our shop.

I work on ag equipment, heavy equipment, compact tractors, lawn mowers, just about anything except for on-road vehicles.

We like working on combines probably the most.

- [Emma] According to Crowell, one reason that farmers are using older equipment is to avoid climbing prices.

- The other reason is, you know, if you have a piece of newer equipment, your sensor that might fail on that could be 400 or 500 bucks where you probably don't have those sensors on this older equipment.

It's just a little more reliable for some of the smaller farms in the area, and there's big farms that use them, too.

- [Emma] Old or new, prices on everything seem to be going up.

Crowell also says parts have been harder to get a hold of.

- It's all smaller farms for the most part.

We, in general, have a good relationship with everybody.

When you get into scenarios where, you know, money's tight and you know times are tough, you have that conversation with them and that kind of plays out on how things are going to be repaired.

- [Emma] Parks and Crowell say they work with a machine shop that helps them give customers lower prices on repairs.

- We have a tractor sitting behind us over here that we had a valve that needed repaired, and we could have it machined for a couple hundred bucks or he could buy a new one for $2,500.

- [Emma] While price hikes have had some negative effects on their business, Crowell says it's actually been driving more farmers to smaller shops like his who offer flexible pricing.

- There has definitely been a boom for, what you would call independent or a shade tree-type repair shop compared to a dealership in the last five years.

- Sales on tractors and combines declined by more than 20% this year.

That's according to data from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers.

Drew Kinsey is an Agriculture Research Analyst at the University of Missouri.

While more farmers have been relying on older equipment, it's been a trend for years.

- [Drew] If we go back 50 plus years ago, then it was much more common for, you know, every farm up and down the road to have new equipment.

- [Kinsey] He says until the late '90s, technological advancements made other machines obsolete.

Now, Kinsey says even decades old machines have the bare bone capabilities needed to farm.

- [Kinsey] Rather than say, "I need a tractor, I have to go to the dealership and buy a new one," you can go back and say, "Well, you know, this is how much power I need.

This is the type of features I need to do what I need to do.

This is the price point I'm looking at and this is the type of quality piece of equipment I'm looking for."

And then you kind of have that whole back catalog of equipment to choose from.

- [Emma] Many farmers take advantage of this.

Bob Walton farms hay and beef in Rosebush.

He says his main combine is nearly 20 years old.

He says repairs on that machine are more straightforward than on his updated equipment.

- We have two newer John Deere tractors, a 7200R and a 6150R, and we bought both of them used.

Every problem we've had with either tractor has been the computer.

It isn't a matter of fixing something, it's a matter of replacing something.

- [Emma] One of those options is a lot cheaper than the other, especially if a farmer knows how to fix something themselves.

- One of the biggest challenges is the fact that some of our older tractors, the controls were completely different than our newer tractors.

You know, the older tractors, we all had a lever we moved.

Now, we've got little tiny switches and it's real easy to hit a switch and not intentionally hit that switch.

It happened to me once.

I locked all my hydraulics out.

- [Emma] The learning curve can be steep for farmers switching to computerized equipment, but it can get the job done faster.

Every farmer's needs are different, and some can justify the bigger purchases, but some have to get crafty.

Either way, Kellogg says it all comes down to getting the job done.

- When a farmer wants to harvest, you think about dependability.

Is the machine dependable enough to get you through the season?

And that's what we all worry about.