Results are similar for the US market, just not as strong.
By Andrew Joseph; Image of Canadian equipment sales for November 2022 courtesy of the AEM (Association of Equipment Manufacturers)
Canadian sales in November of the big-ticket 4WD tractors and combines were up relative to 2021 numbers, with a mixed bag of nuts for year-to-date data.
The US sales report also shows November 2022 growth over the same month in 2021 for 4WD tractors and combines, but not at the levels seen by its Canadian cousin. It also, however, showed a positive trend for 100+HP 2WD farm tractors.
Data below is courtesy of the AEM (Association of Equipment Manufacturers).
CANADA
For the 2WD farm segment, the smaller <40 HP tractors dropped by 14.0 percent in sales in November 2022 compared to November 2021. There were only 1,274 units sales old this past November, but 1,482 sold in November of 2021.
In the year-to-date (YTD) segment of 2022, there have been 18,102 total units sold, but in 2021 November, it saw 19,952 YTD units sold—that’s a 2022 drop of 9.3 percent.
For those tractors at 40 < 100 HP, November 2022 also saw a decrease against the same month in 2021. This year saw 646 units sold, compared to 703 in November 2021—a drop of 8.1 percent.
The YTD data also shows a drop—only 4.4 percent, but a drop nonetheless. There have been 6,247 units sold as of November 2022, but last year there were 6,534 units sold.
Looking at the 100+ HP 2WD farm tractor segment, November of 2022 saw 224 units sold, a drop by 14.5 percent when compared against November of 2021 when 262 units were sold.
In the YTD, however, this segment is still showing positive growth—up by 1.5 percent with a total of 3,409 units sold as of November 2022. There were only 3,357 units sold as of November 2021.
If we add up all of the 2WD farm tractors, we can see that there were 2,144 total units sold in November of 2022. There were more sold in November of 2021—2,447 units—which puts the November 2022 numbers down by a total 12.4 percent.
YTD also shows a drop off when compared against 2021—by 7.0 percent. As of November 2022, there has been a total of 27,758 units sold. By November of 2021, there were 29,843 units sold.
In the 4WD farm tractor segment, there’s good news and bad news. In November of 2022 there were 46 sales, and increase of 170.6 percent over November 2021 when there were only 17 units sold.
However, when looking at YTD data comparing the two years, this segment is down by 1.5 percent—669 units sold as of November 2022, and 679 units sold as of November 2021.
The total farm tractor market—adding up all the 2WD and 4WD tractors—is… down.
There were a total of 2,190 tractors sold in November of 2022, down by 11.1 percent against November 2021 when 2,464 tractors were sold.
In the YTD, there have been 28,427 tractors sold through November of 2022, but in 2021 there were 30,522 units sold—a decrease of 6.9 percent5.
While tractors have shown an overall decline, Canadian sales of self-prop combines are up across the board.
In November of 2022, 78 units were sold—an increase of 105.3 percent against November of 2021 when only 38 units were sold.
In the YTD, there have been a total of 1,812 combines sold as of November 2022, while only 1,654 units were sold as of November 2021. That’s an increase of 9.6 percent.
UNITED STATES
For the 2WD farm segment, the smaller <40 HP tractors, November of 2022 was downhill by 27.9 percent against the same month in 2021. There were 8,266 units sold in November of 2022, but 11,470 units sold in November of 2021.
In the YTD, this segment is down by 18.8 percent. As of November 2022, there has been 163,105 units sold, compared against the 2021 data that showed 200,768 units sold.
For the 40 < 100 HP 2WD tractors, November of 2022 was 4,055 units sold. But, in the same month in 2021, there were 4,542 units sold, meaning this year’s monthly number dropped by 10.7 percent.
Look at the YTD for this segment, the percentage drop is similar—10.8 percent.
As of November of 2022, there have been 60,969 units sold—but there were 68,316 units sold as of November of 2021.
For 100+ HP 2WD tractors—finally, some good news!
November of 2022 saw 1,278 units sold—an increase of 6.2 percent against November of 2021 when just 1,203 units were purchased.
Looking at YTD, it’s still all smiles, as by November of 2022 there has been 23,665 units sold, compared to only 20,878 units sold as of YTD November 2021. That’s an increase of 13.3 percent.
But, looking at the total numbers for 2WD farm tractors sold, the markets showed a decrease of 21.0 percent. In November of 2022, there were a total of 13,599 2WD tractors sold, compared to November of 2021 when we saw 17,215 tractors sold.
YTD is similar, down by 15.6 percent with 247,739 tractors sold through the end of November 2022 against the 289,962 tractors sold as of November of 2021.
In November of 2022, there were 165 4WD farm tractors sold, compared to the 154 sold in November of 2021—an uptick of 7.1 percent for the big-ticket item.
Looking at YTD, there were 2,949 4WD farm tractors sold through November of 2022—but down by 6.0 percent when compared against 2021 numbers. Through November of 2022, there were 2,949 units sold, but the YTD as of November 2021 saw 3,137 units sold.
The data for the Total of farm tractor sales (2WD + 4WD) remains depressed in 2022. For November of 2022, there were 13,764 units sold. There were 17,369 tractors sold in November of 2021… that’s a drop of 20.8 percent.
In the YTD data, there were 250,688 tractors sold through November 2022, but 293,099 tractors sold by November of 2021. That’s a decrease of 14.5 percent.
From a purely good news point of view, the US market for combines is sweet.
The November 2022 data shows 314 units sold, compared to 290 sold in November of 2021. That’s a jump up of 8.3 percent.
For the YTD, there has been 6,535 combines sold through November of 2022, up from the 5,646 combines sold as of November 2021. That’s an upward leap of 15.7 percent.
Now, before we condemn the “poor” sales of some of these segments, even though overall numbers for the tractors are in the negative, we should note that November sales for the US market in the 2WD 100+HP, 4WD tractors, and Combines were all up. And all three are bigger ticket items.
We’ll have to see what December 2022’s numbers are like before wringing our hands or shouting from the mountaintops.
The AEM is the leading organization in North America advancing construction and agriculture equipment manufacturers and their value chain partners in the global marketplace. More information is available at www.aem.org.