Why farming’s favourite tools haven’t changed – but the way farmers buy them has

Farmers might still swear by the same tools their grandfathers used, but today they’re demanding something more—support, speed, and suppliers who speak their language. In the fields of British agriculture, trust is the new tech

There’s a certain charm in the farming world’s resistance to trends. While every other industry seems caught up in tech for tech’s sake, many farmers remain stubbornly loyal to one timeless truth: a good spanner is still a good spanner. And yet, beneath this apparent nostalgia lies a quiet evolution—not in the tools themselves, but in how they’re bought, trusted, and used. The post-Covid landscape has prompted farmers to seek more than just metal. They want backup. Advice. And people who know their bolts from their bearings.

“We’ve never sold online,” says Sam Read, co-owner of Somerset-based Read AgriServices, whose family-run business has been serving the region for over fifty years. “And honestly, most of our customers wouldn’t want us to. They want to see the tools, hold them, test them. They want to know it’ll do the job before they part with their money.”

That desire for trust and personal contact is part of why Read Agri has remained selective about the brands it brings into the fold. In an age of fast shipping and throwaway gear, values like face-to-face service, technical know-how, and reliable kit are something of a rarity.



Buying local, thinking long-term

Some tools never lose their place in the workshop. Compressors and generators, for instance, have become staples on farms not because they’re flashy, but because they work—day in, day out, without fuss.

“The Jefferson Tools 200-litre, 3hp, 10-bar compressor is one of the best on the market,” says Sam. “We sell loads. And the 7.9 kVA petrol generator—simple, reliable, fairly priced—it’s a staple now, especially with how stormy our winters have been.”

With floods more frequent and power cuts increasingly common, Read Agri has noticed seasonal shifts too: heaters fly off the shelves in winter, while pumps and fans become spring essentials. “We’ve always carried stock, but now it’s mission-critical,” Sam explains. “A farmer doesn’t have time to wait three days for a water pump—he needs to be back out in half an hour.”



Quality over compromise

That’s where Jefferson Tools reputation helps. “It’s not that problems don’t happen,” says Sam. “It’s how they get fixed. Jefferson Tools aftercare is miles ahead. I can call, speak to the team, and most of the time we fix it over the phone. That kind of service? You can’t get that from a website.”

Farmers are slowly moving toward more premium gear—not out of luxury, but because they’ve been burned by bargain-bin buys. “People try cheap kit online, then realise it’s plastic rubbish. So they come to us, try something solid, and buy it. That’s why we’ve got kit in the store ready to test—especially on bigger purchases like pressure washers or the industrial magnetic drill.”

That last one—the 40mm Jefferson Tools mag drill—used to be the kind of kit only pros could afford. “It would’ve been £2–3K not long ago. Jefferson Tools brought it down to around £380, and now farmers can have one in the workshop. That’s a real shift.”

While the core toolkit remains largely unchanged—spanners, drills, compressors—the future’s not entirely rust-free. “Agri’s getting more technical. Battery-powered kit, diagnostic tools, even robotics—it’s coming. Slowly, but it’s coming,” Sam adds.



In tools we trust

Still, it seems the real innovation farmers crave isn’t AI or automation—it’s reliability. A supplier who’ll pick up the phone. A product that works when you need it. A merchant who knows your name.

“Recommendations still mean everything around here,” adds Sam Read. “When someone comes in saying, ‘My mate told me to get that compressor from you,’ you know you’ve done it right.”

In a sector obsessed with growth, perhaps the most powerful trend is the one that stands still: solid kit, trusted hands, and the kind of service that doesn’t come in a box.