All Farming Tools: 7 Types Compared With Real Costs

All farming tools fit into seven working groups: hand tools, tractors and tillage gear, guided planters, irrigation kits, soil and crop monitoring tools, drones, and harvest and post-harvest machines. The right pick depends on your acres. USDA found that guidance autosteering ran on 70% of large-scale US crop farms but only 9% of small ones in 2023.

This guide compares the seven groups, with sourced costs where they are published. It shows who each tool suits and where hiring beats buying. It also includes a calculator that tests your own numbers for owning or hiring.

All farming tools compared at a glance

The table gives one real cost marker for each group where we found a published figure. These are survey results or extension estimates, not quotes. Ask a local dealer or contractor for today’s price.

How we chose the seven tool groups

We grouped tools by the job they do across a season, from seedbed to storage. We did not rank brands. We used figures only where a government body, university or extension service publishes them. We do not give efficiency gains for each tool, because we found no published study that supports a single figure.

The cost figures come from different places and years, so do not add them together. Use them to judge size, then price the tool for your own region.

1. Hand tools: for small plots and precise work

Best for: small plots, high-value crops and any job a machine cannot reach.

Hoes, spades, rakes, sickles and pruners handle weeding, seedbed work, planting and picking. A long handle or a better grip can suit the worker and the job, and a good steel head can last for years if you look after it.

Safety matters more than people expect. OSHA says the greatest hazards from hand tools come from misuse and poor maintenance. A loose or cracked handle can let the head fly off. Check handles before the season and replace damaged ones. Our guide to preventive maintenance of farm tools sets out a routine.

• Choose handle length to match the worker’s height and the job.
• Keep blades sharp, because a dull tool takes more force.
• Clean and dry tools before storing them, to slow rust.

2. Tractors and tillage tools: buy for hours, not for looks

Best for: farms with enough yearly hours to spread the cost of ownership.

Tractors, tillers and seed drills do the heavy work on medium and large farms. Their prices have also climbed quickly. Researchers at farmdoc daily report that the USDA tractor price index rose 21% from 2020 to 2023, against 14% over the nine years before that.

The same article shows the effect on farm books. On central Illinois corn farms in a farm records group, machinery-related costs rose from $136 an acre in 2021 to $171 an acre in 2024. Depreciation was the largest part, at $87 an acre in 2024.

Its authors suggest that a farm with two fairly new tractors has a cost advantage over a similar farm with three. The same logic applies to tillage tools. Before you add a machine, ask whether a smaller fleet could cover the work.

Renting is another option. The 2026 Texas custom rates survey gives a statewide average of $64.32 an hour for a tractor under 100 hp, $88.54 for 100 to 149 hp and $114.50 for 150 to 250 hp. Those rates exclude the operator and fuel. Reported prices varied widely, so treat them as a guide and not a local quote.

Chart

USDA tractor price index

Index, 2011 = 100, US prices paid; selected years

3. Guided planters and autosteer: precision farming machines that save fatigue

Best for: row-crop farms with long passes and costly inputs.

Guidance systems use satellite signals to steer tractors and harvesters along a set line. Variable rate technology changes the seed or input rate as the machine moves across a field. These are what people usually mean by precision farming machines.

USDA reports that autosteer rose from 5.3% of planted corn acres in 2001 to 58% in 2016. Farm size still drives use, as the chart shows.

Ask what result you expect before paying. In USDA’s 2023 survey, half of the farms using autosteer named saving labor time as a reason, and 64% named less operator fatigue. Variable rate users focused on input costs: 62% named lower purchased input costs.

Yield gains are less certain. A USDA Agricultural Research Service pasture study (2022) found that guidance cut gaps and overlaps. It estimated production gains of 2.7% to 6.5%, with high uncertainty, and tractor fuel use went up. That is one pasture system, so results on your crop may differ.

Chart

Precision tool use: small vs large US family farms

Percent of crop-producing farms, 2023

4. Irrigation tools: match the method to the crop

Best for: drip suits vegetables and fruit; sprinklers suit larger field crops.

Chart

US irrigated acres by method

Million acres, fields in the open, 2023; acres can count under more than one method

Sprinklers remain the main US method. USDA’s 2023 Irrigation and Water Management Survey counted 30.8 million acres under sprinklers, 18.3 million under gravity systems and 6.4 million under drip, trickle or low-flow micro systems. Drip acres rose about 10% from 2018, while gravity and sprinkler acres fell.

Water pressure and cost are the first checks for a small system. The University of Kentucky drip fact sheet estimated, in 2015, $2,585 for the first acre including tape and plastic mulch, then $400 for each extra acre up to about 10 acres. These prices are old, so ask for a new quote. It says drip gives the most yield benefit when combined with plastic mulch on commercial vegetables, and it advises soil moisture sensors to help judge water needs.

Water supply also matters. The US Geological Survey puts irrigation withdrawals at 118 billion gallons a day in 2015. Water rights and permits vary by place, so check local rules before adding a well or pump. We cover wider water-saving methods in our page on sustainable irrigation.

5. Soil and crop monitoring tools: find the differences first

Best for: fields where soil, yield or crop vigor changes from one area to the next.

This group includes soil tests, yield monitors, moisture sensors and satellite maps. These tools do not fix anything alone. They show where to look and where a different rate could pay.

Soil sampling is a common place to start. The Mississippi State University custom rates survey (2024) reports an average of $22 for a composite sample, from two responses, and $9.10 an acre for 2.5-acre grid sampling, from four responses. Follow the lab’s sampling guide, and get advice from an agronomist or extension office before changing fertilizer rates.

Satellite maps can cover a whole farm without a trip to each field. Farmonaut is one option for this: you draw your fields once and view vegetation maps through the season. Always walk the area before treating it, because a map shows that a crop differs and not why.

▶ A step-by-step tutorial on monitoring crops with satellite maps in the Farmonaut web system. · 8:43

6. Drones: useful for some jobs, with real rules

Best for: scouting, spot treatment, and fields that ground rigs cannot enter.

USDA found drone use limited in 2023, at 12% of large-scale crop farms and 13% of nonfamily farms. Drone spraying is more established in parts of Asia. Ohio State University Extension says about 30% of agricultural spraying in South Korea is done by drone, and about 40% of Japan’s rice crop is sprayed that way.

The same fact sheet puts spray drones at $20,000 to $40,000. Its typical row-crop rate is only 1.5 to 2 gallons an acre, so check that the product label allows that. In the US, it says spraying needs both an FAA Part 107 certificate and a Part 137 certificate, plus state pesticide licensing. Rules differ in Canada, the UK, the EU, Australia and New Zealand, so follow the label and your national aviation and pesticide rules.

7. Harvest and post-harvest tools: where the largest bills sit

Best for: large grain farms for owned combines; smaller farms through shared or hired machines.

Combines are usually a farm’s largest machinery investment, and harvest costs often equal more than half of machinery-related costs, according to farmdoc daily. The list price of its study combine rose from $587,000 in 2021 to $741,000 in 2023.

Acres decide the outcome. Its 2025 estimate for combining corn with a new machine was $43.40 an acre at 3,600 harvested acres and $54.10 at 2,600. The authors see significant cost disadvantages below 3,000 acres per combine, and suggest joint ownership or custom harvest for smaller farms.

After harvest, threshers, sorters, grading lines and cooled storage protect what you already grew. FAO estimates 13.3% of food was lost after harvest worldwide in 2023, before it reached retail. Measure your own losses first, then buy for the stage where they are highest. FAO puts 2023 losses at 25.4% for fruit and vegetables and 8.4% for cereals and pulses, so cold storage and grain storage solve different problems.

Chart

Food lost after harvest, before retail

Percent of food, 2023

How to choose farming tools for your farm

Use these questions before you buy anything from the list.

1. Name the problem. Late planting, uneven stands and water stress need different tools.
2. Count your use. Estimate acres or hours a year. Low use often favors hiring.
3. Price the whole cost. Include depreciation, interest, repairs, fuel, storage, training and any software fee.
4. Check service. Ask who repairs it, how fast parts arrive and whether the dealer is local.
5. Test before you commit. Rent, borrow or try a strip of the field, and leave a check strip to compare.
6. Look for shared options. Machinery rings, neighbors and contractors can spread the cost.

Then run your numbers for any machine you are thinking of buying.

Own or hire: test your farm tool numbers

The calculator compares a yearly ownership cost plus running costs against a contractor’s per-acre rate. It uses simple straight-line depreciation and interest on average value. Enter your own quotes in place of the examples. For financing or tax decisions, get professional advice.

Try the numbers for your own farm below.

What is coming next in farm tools

Robots for weeding, electric tractors and connected platforms get most of the attention. Treat new machines with the same tests as old ones: what job they do, how many hours they run, who fixes them and what the record shows on a farm like yours.

Adoption data suggest patience is reasonable. USDA’s 2023 figures show that the precision crop tools it tracks remain far more common on large farms. For autosteer and several other tools, the report links this to larger farms getting more benefit. For a small farm, a good soil test, well-kept hand tools and a hired planter may do more than a new smart machine. For the wider sequence of farm jobs, see our guide to the seven steps of farming.

Related pages on our site: large-scale farm management, farm fleet management, crop traceability, farm carbon footprints, crop loans and insurance, satellite data API, API developer documentation and web and mobile app access.

▶ What self-driving tractors and other farm technology mean for farmers and rural towns. · 3:50

FAQ

What are the main types of farming tools?

Seven groups cover most work: hand tools, tractors and tillage tools, guided planters, irrigation kits, soil and crop monitoring tools, drones, and harvest and post-harvest machines.

What are the most advanced farming tools in use?

USDA’s 2023 survey tracked yield monitors and maps, soil maps, guidance autosteering, variable rate technology, drones, robotic milking and wearable livestock technology. Autosteer was among the most common on large crop farms, at 70%.

Should a small farm buy precision equipment?

Not by default. USDA data show low use on small farms, and larger farms tend to gain more. Start with soil tests or hired services, then use the calculator to test a purchase.

How much water does drip irrigation save?

It depends on the crop, soil, climate and the method it replaces, so a single figure can mislead. Compare your water records before and after, or ask your extension office for local trial results.

When does hiring beat owning a machine?

Hiring usually looks better at low yearly use, because ownership costs are spread over fewer acres. For combines, farmdoc daily sees significant cost disadvantages below 3,000 acres per machine.

Do I need a license to spray with a drone?

In the US, Ohio State Extension lists FAA Part 107 and Part 137 certificates, along with state pesticide licensing. Check your national rules and always follow the product label.