GALVA, ILL. -- The planter sat unused in a rural Galva barn for almost 70 years before the self-described "Henry County pickers" pulled it out. Dave Clarke's grandfather had parked the Hayes Check-Row ...

My how times change. Just 20 years ago, the highest auction price I saw all year on a planter was $77,000. It was a 1999 John Deere 1780 24-row, 20", and it sold at a farm auction in Frankfort, S.D.

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