Exchange rates, market uncertainty push ag equipment sales down

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The numbers are out, and according to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers’ May ag tractor and combine report, equipment sales could be much better.

Canada

“We’re kind of disappointed with the latest Canadian ag tractor and combine reports,” says the Association of Equipment Manufacturers’ Curt Blades. “We’ve started seeing softness across all the categories that we track.”

View the Canadian report

Year-to-date, self-propelled combines saw a 7.4 per cent decline in retail sales; four-wheel-drive tractors were down 33.3 per cent; and two-wheel-drive tractors saw a 3.2 per cent fall.

And while those numbers may seem fairly significant, Blades cautions looking only at percentages, especially for combines and 4WD tractors.

“We’re still not talking the same numbers that we are when we start talking about under 40 horsepower, where there’s 5700 units have been sold so far in Canada, which is a pretty good number, and that’s frankly a nice bright spot in the ag tractor and combine report this year.”

United States

Retail sales in the U.S. were a “little bit brighter,” according to Blades.

Although there wasn’t the same softness caused by exchange rates, US sales are feeling similar uncertainties around trade, tariffs and weather.

When compared to the same month last year, May saw: 2WD farm tractors up 6.3 per cent (with 40-100 at -0.4 per cent); 4WD tractors up 22.2 per cent; and self-propelled combines up 12.7 percent.

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