October 9, 2024

Further Declines in Ag Machine Sales in September

Sales of Agricultural Tractors experienced further declines in the month of September with sales of around 800 units reported. This is 18% less than the same month last year and brings the year-to-date position to a level which is 26% behind (15% behind in $$ terms) the corresponding period.

As we reported last, dealers are reporting a healthy level of enquiry from the market, but this is yet to transfer into robust sales. In a recent pulse survey conducted by Kynetec for the purpose of understanding the sentiment of farmers towards machinery purchases, 184 farmers covering a total area of 536,498 hectares provided some valuable insight. 61% said their last tractor purchase was a new machine with 13% occurring in the previous 6 months, and 14% in the previous 6 to 12 months. 30% of these purchases took place 5 or more years ago.

The big question on everybody's mind is when will purchases pick up again. Of those farmers whose last tractor purchase was a new machine, 11% have stated they will be looking to make their next purchase in the next 12 months, and a further 18% in the next 1-2 year period.

Farmers were also asked about their economic outlook. Of those whose last tractor purchase was a new machine, 49% said that their current economic situation is good to very good and 46% also felt their economic situation is growing over the next 2 to 3 years. This all bodes well for machine sales to bounce back in the period ahead.

Looking at the state-by-state picture all states were down, Queensland was behind by 12% against the same month last year to be 23% behind year to date, Victoria was also down, this month by 33% to be 24% below last year. NSW was down 20% and remains 34% behind for the year while Western Australia was the only bright spot reporting a rise of 27% to be down 12% compared with the same time last year. South Australia had another decline, off a whopping 46%, now down 31% YTD, Tasmania was off 30% for the month with sales in the NT finishing 29% down.

Sales in each of the reporting categories were well off this month. The small under 40 hp (30kw) category was down by 14% to be 23% behind year to date. The 40 to 100hp (30-75kw) range was down, this time by 16% and is now behind 37% year to date and the 100 to 200hp (75-150 kw) category reported a drop of 23% for the month and remains 25% down YTD. Finally, the 200 hp (150kw) PLUS range was 19% down compared to the same month last year and is now 12% behind year to date.

Sales of Combine Harvesters were strong in the month in advance of this year's season with approximately 350 new deliveries this year to date. Baler sales continue their upturn, this time up 23% for the month but remain 5% behind year to date. Finally, sales of Out - Front Mowers were down by around 1% in the month.

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