An April 26 report from Bloomberg was headlined “Farm Equipment Sales Plunge Most Since 2016 in Trade War Fallout.” The tractor and combine sales numbers published by the Assn. of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) throughout the first quarter of this year don’t seem to tell the same story.
With the imposition of the first round of tariff hikes on Chinese goods in 2018, U.S. agriculture producers — and the folks who build the equipment they use — realized fully they have a big stake in a peaceful resolution to the redrawing of trade agreements between the world’s two largest economies.
While Ag Equipment Intelligence editors have been told, more than a few times, that farm equipment dealers don’t like to compare themselves with auto dealers, doing so every once in a while, can sometimes be revealing.
There is one fewer big dealer on Ag Equipment Intelligence’s Big Dealer list than there was a year ago at this time. A year ago, we showed 188 dealership groups vs. 187 this year. Is the consolidation of North American farm equipment dealers finally slowing?
The average age of farmers in the U.S. is up and farms are producing less in agricultural products according to the 2017 Census of Agriculture. There are 3.4 million producers in the U.S. with an average age of 57.5 years, a rise of 1.2 years since the last survey in 2012.
Ag Equipment Intelligence editors participated in a video conference earlier this month with a dozen large farm operators from various regions in the U.S., from the Western Corn Belt to California. A main topic of the discussion was the rising price of farm equipment.
The 2019 “U.S. Baseline Outlook: Projections for Agricultural and Biofuel Market” report is published by the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri. It provides a longer term view of ag markets based on past and current trends combined with projected outcomes from the various segments of ag including various crops, biofuels along with livestock and dairy.
Each monthly issue of Ag Equipment Intelligence is like getting one-on-one personal advice from the world's most trusted ag equipment industry experts. Advice that hasn't been watered down or distorted by outside influence, providing the latest and most insightful farm equipment analysis. AEI explores where the ag equipment industry is going — not just where it's been. No filler. No bias. No conflict of interest. You can access the PDF issue archive by clicking here.
In this episode of On the Record, brought to you by Associated Equipment Distributors, we take an initial look at the Dealer Business Outlook & Trends Report and what dealers are forecasting for 2025.