Tractor, farm equipment sales remain strong

Thursday, March 21, 2013

by BETTER FARMING STAFF

After two “really good years” for tractor sales in North America, the numbers continue to show strength in both Canada and the United States.

Sales figures compiled by the U.S.-based Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) and detailed on their website show that, to the end of February, Canadian farm tractor sales were up an average 29.2 per cent and combine sales were up 21 per cent.

An AEM graph detailing Canadian sales of two and four wheel drive tractors and combines from 2008 to 2012 shows that sales peaked in October 2012 at more than 4,000 units. Sales in October 2011 came in a close second at just under 4,000 units.

Joe Dykes, director of member services for the North American Equipment Dealers’ Association, which represents dealers in Canada and the United States, says the last two years have been “really, really, really good” for tractor sales in North America. He says, “most dealers are expecting sales to be decent this year.” He adds that commodity prices and climate conditions will determine how good sales turn out to be.

These sales figures come on the heels of a MarketResearch report which predicts tractor sales will continue to rise through 2016 but with higher growth in the Far East and slower growth in mature industrialized countries.

“In the mature markets of the industrialized world, sales of tractors will continue to be largely determined by demand for replacement machinery,” the report says. It adds:  “Due primarily to high 2011 levels of demand and the timing of replacement cycles in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan, global agricultural tractor sales growth will slow through 2016.” Even with that slowdown, the report says world demand for tractors is expected to increase by 6.8 per cent a year through 2016. Demand for tractors in the Far East, the report forecasts,  “will be more than twice that of any other region in 2016.” China alone is expected to absorb 31 per cent of the global total in 2016.

MarketResearch, headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, describes itself as “the leading provider of global market intelligence products and services.” BF