The Assn. of Equipment Manufacturers is reporting that, except for mid-range tractors, sales of farm tractors and combines in the month of April were up year-over-year and year-to-date.

According to the AEM report released on May 10, sales of high horsepower (>100 HP) increased by 6.6% in the month of April (1,970 units) vs. April 2018 (1,848 units). On a year-to-date basis, January-April 2019 sales were up 2.8% (5,586 units) compared to the same period last year (5,436 units).

Sales of 4WD tractors jumped significantly by 32.2% in April (308 units) vs. April 2018 (233 units). During the first 4 months of this year, 4WD tractor sales were up 27.1% (901 units) compared to the same period of 2018 (709 units).

Mid-range (40-100 HP) tractor sales in April were down 1.8% (5,674 units) compared to April 2018 (5,778). Year-to-date sales for this category of tractor were down 1.6% (17,034 units) compared to the January-April period of 2018 (17,308 units).

Sales of compact (<40 HP) tractors also saw solid sales in April. On a year-over-year basis, sales were up 16.6% (21,301 units) compared to a year earlier (18,266 units). Year-to-date sales for compacts were up 12.5% (50,299 units) vs. April 2018 (44,694 units).

U.S. combines sales were down 4.2% in April (485 units) compared to a year earlier (506 units). In the January-April 2019 period combine sales were up 19.3% (1,462 units) vs. the same 4 month period in 2018 (1,225 units).