A truck is a tool and get abused on a farm. Lots of miles get out on them in a short period of time. The truck is just like every other piece of equipment on the farm. It’s added to the equipment loan. If a farmer doesn’t have a good truck to get to and from his farms, it would be hard for him to farm. Most farmers I know get new trucks every 4-5yrs. Not because they want to but because they have to.
Most farmers make enough to live a decent lifestyle. But by the time all the expenses for fuel, seed, fertilizer, herbicide, pesticides, labor, equipment repair, maintenance and payments, harvesting, hauling, drying and handling fees, marketing fees, TAXES, loan payments, and monthly living expenses, there’s not much of the pie left. Most farmers, if they were lucky in the strong years were able to set themselves up financially where they could use their own money to finance the operation. They still have to pay themselves back at the end of the year. Some years just take a chunk out of that pie also. Only ones making the big bucks is the major corporations that farmers have to depend on to make a crop. Just like loggers and timber companies. The mills are the ones making the money. The loggers and some timber companies get just enough to be able to keep going.