Art's Way's reported Feb. 15 its consolidated net sales for 2022 totaled $28,400,000, which represents a 13.8% increase from consolidated net sales of $24,965,000 for the 2021 fiscal year. The increase in revenue is due to increased demand in the Agricultural Products and Tools segments.

The company's Agricultural Products segment net sales for the 2022 fiscal year were $20,912,000 compared to $16,826,000 during the 2021 fiscal year, an increase of $4,086,000, or 24.3%. 

"We continued to see strong commodity prices in fiscal 2022 which contributed to increased sales in grinder mixers, manure spreaders and our beet harvesting equipment for the second straight fiscal year," the company's earnings release said. "While the price of steel began to drop near the end of fiscal 2022, we saw component prices and manufacturing overhead increase in fiscal 2022. We utilized price increases to stay ahead of these rising costs in fiscal 2022 and maintain margins consistent with fiscal 2021. We also purchased 3 robotic weld cells and a high-definition plasma cutter in fiscal 2022 that we expect will increase manufacturing efficiencies, increase output and improve the quality of our products.

"We are focused on additional capital expenditures in fiscal 2023 to improve our operations as cash flow allows. We added some key personnel to our sales team in fiscal 2022 including a new director of sales, an inside salesman and an equipment support technician. We expect these roles to allow us to expand our dealer network and provide better customer support moving forward."

Backlog

Art's Way stated in the earnings release that its backlogs of orders vary on a daily basis. It's Agricultural Products segment had a net backlog of approximately $9,549,000 as of Feb. 6, 2023 compared to $10,513,000 on Feb. 6, 2022.

"The strong demand in our Agricultural Products is continuing for the third straight fiscal year," the company said. "We positioned ourselves in fiscal 2022 to more efficiently manufacture our products through the purchasing of robotic weld cells and a high-definition plasma cutter. We anticipate we will continue to see improved results as the strong agriculture demand continues.

"Our 2023 backlog numbers and research building quoting activity would lead us to believe we will see improved results in fiscal 2023. We expect that our order backlogs will continue to fluctuate as orders are received, filled, or canceled, and, due to dealer discount arrangements we may enter into from time to time, these figures are not necessarily indicative of future revenue."

We are looking forward to another strong year in the agriculture segment as commodity prices and farm income remain favorable,” said David King, CEO of Art’s Way.  “Our early order program has generated record backlog for our agriculture equipment, booking over 50% of our expected annual budget. Despite continued supply chain disruptions and labor shortages, we have been successful in increasing our monthly shipments which is the result of the effort and hard work by our dedicated team of employees.”