FCCS News & Insights

Iron Comps Adoption Grows to Over 50% of the Farm Credit System

Tractor Zoom, a leading provider of farm equipment and heavy machinery valuation data, today announced that 30 Farm Credits are now using its equipment appraisal software, Iron Comps, to standardize equipment valuations across their organization.

This adoption milestone demonstrates the confidence and efficiency that Iron Comps brings to valuing farm equipment and heavy machinery within the Farm Credit System.

“We’re honored that so many associations have placed their trust in us and Iron Comps,” stated Jeremy Hewitt, VP of Sales at Tractor Zoom. “Our success is rooted in our commitment to listening to our customers and addressing their needs. Many of the recent updates and enhancements to Iron Comps have been directly influenced by the feedback and requirements of our Farm Credit stakeholders, enabling them to perform their jobs more effectively.”

Since its inception, Iron Comps has provided transparency into real-time, comparable sale data for all types of farm equipment and heavy machinery. However, what started out as just auction comps and sales results has grown into real-time equipment values from 664 auctioneers and 1,406 dealer locations around the country. With access to over $28 billion worth of equipment sale data and comps, Iron Comps now offers functionality beyond simple equipment searches. The addition of fully-automated Equipment Lists ensures that equipment values reflect current market conditions and saves valuable time for Farm Credit professionals.

“[Iron Comps] is very user friendly, easy to use, and has been a tremendous time saver to our team members,” said Paul Meharry, IL Certified General Real Estate Appraiser from Farm Credit Illinois. “Being able to build out lists is a feature we really like. We can enter the member’s equipment list one time and then we have something to build from in the future and do not have to recreate an entire equipment list again. This has helped to greatly reduce our time and overall work when handling chattel evaluations for our members.”

Delivering Innovation
Tractor Zoom continues its commitment to delivering innovative solutions that empower Farm Credits and their businesses. Recent product and service enhancements include:

Custom Equipment Database
Iron Comps now allows Farm Credit associations to upload their custom, internal
equipment valuations. This feature consolidates first-party data alongside the $28
billion of equipment comps and sales data available in Iron Comps. Appraisers and
risk officers can access all equipment data in a centralized database, eliminating the
need for multiple platforms or spreadsheets.
Market Trends and Filters
The Market Trends feature was added to Iron Comps in late 2022 to provide clients with the ability to keep a pulse on equipment supply and changing values. This feature enhances risk management and facilitates timely portfolio evaluations. Recent improvements allow associations to filter specific regions they service, gaining insights into market changes tailored to their customer base.

“[With Market Trends] we’re able to analyze what we’re lending against and then also see the trends of what we’re lending against. So we aren’t sticking our necks out too far, or not enough.” said Brooke McClurg, Senior Risk Officer at Compeer Financial.

Equipment List Digitization
Tractor Zoom recognized one of the largest digital innovation hurdles the industry was facing was converting static equipment data into a digital form. To address this challenge, they now offer an Equipment List digitization service as part of their onboarding process. The company can now migrate historical customer equipment lists into Iron Comps from a PDF, CSV, or Google Sheets file. This streamlined process enables Farm Credits to focus on serving existing customers, closing more new loans, and leveraging their new insights, rather than performing tedious data entry.

What’s next for Iron Comps
The ability to provide comprehensive data in real time and standardization to the valuation process is a top reason many Farm Credits choose Iron Comps. It’s gaining in popularity; for example, the entire AgFirst district was recently onboarded, and as a growing majority of Farm Credits prepare for future regulations, Iron Comps will continue to play a vital role in bringing transparency to their organizations in how values are calculated. Furthermore, Tractor Zoom will bring innovation and new solutions to the market with a particular focus on solving customer pain points. Look to Tractor Zoom to build products that continue to streamline how Farm Credits appraise, value, and monitor farm equipment and heavy machinery.

To learn more about Iron Comps, recent product enhancements, or how this platform can enhance efficiency in your Farm Credit’s used equipment valuation process, contact Paul Olson at polson@tractorzoom.com