For most of the year, John Carroll's farming equipment goes unused.
"It mostly sits there in the shed," he said.
Carroll works about 3,500 acres with his brother in Monroe County. It's harvest time for his crops, which includes rice. But once he's done, his combine, an expensive piece of equipment used to harvest crops, won't be used again until next year.
FarmLink, based in Kansas City, Mo., has started a platform to help farmers bring in some extra income from their equipment by creating a sharing economy for agriculture.
"We've been watching what's been going on in the broader sharing economy," said Jeff Dema, FarmLink's president for grower services. "It's all about having access to machinery when you need it without necessarily having to own it."
The company links farmers who have different harvesting seasons. One farmer will take a photo, fill out a description and set a price for a piece of equipment. Users can see prices and availability, and the company transports the equipment and gets a percentage of the transaction fee.
The company has signed 25 farming co-ops in the Midwest, and is starting to look south to states like Arkansas, Dema said. Ron LeMay, the company's chief executive, graduated from Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia and University of Arkansas School of Law.
"He's going to be very interested in making sure we have a strong presence in the state," Dema said.
With farm profits declining as commodity prices slump, farmers are looking for other ways to push their bottom line.
"To spend $400,000 on a sprayer or planter and to use it for a month out of the year," Dema said. "That's such a large investment sitting idle. You'd be hard pressed to find any other sector of our economy that has less equipment utilization."
This year's farm profits fell to $58.3 billion, the lowest since 2006, driven by drops in crop prices, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture released last week. This year, futures prices for corn are down 7 percent from the end of 2014, while soybean prices have fallen 12 percent.
"We think it's the right time for this sharing platform," Dema said. "A lot of factors are coming into play putting pressure on farmers' balance sheets. They are having to get creative on how to stay in farming and make a profit."
The focus of the company right now is on row crops, including corn and soybeans. But Dema said eventually the company is open to equipment from all sections of agriculture.
"We're going to see a wide range of applications and wide range of equipment that gets enrolled in the program," he said.
Traditionally, farmers haven't been able to share equipment on this scale because when farmers don't need their equipment, neither do their neighbors.
"But if you look outside your geography or maybe to a different crop type, there's a lot of opportunity for sharing to occur," Dema said
Carroll, the Monroe County farmer, said FarmLink could help new farmers by letting them rent equipment instead of having to pay thousands of dollars to start their business.
"We're getting less and less farmers because it's hard to get into in part because of the new machine cost," he said.
Jason Kelly, an associate professor at the University of Arkansas who deals with wheat and feed grains, said harvest combines for row crops can cost up $400,000.
"They may only use it for a month out of the year, if that," he said.
Carroll said FarmLink will have to consider the types of crops common in the area and the equipment used to harvest them before expanding into Arkansas.
"A machine coming down from the Midwest to here, they're built for different crops," he said. "It's got a place, but it's just going to have to be some adjustment for Arkansas."
Steve Eddington, vice president of the Arkansas Farm Bureau's public relations, said farmers will have questions and concerns, including the maintenance of their equipment, before they entrust their equipment to a company like FarmLink.
"Because farmers are so dependent on their equipment, it really determines whether they succeed or not," he said. "There's a real personal connection to that equipment because they know how critical it is."
SundayMonday Business on 09/06/2015