Online inventories providing boost for equipment sales
By Ryan Ridley
Farms.com Branded Content
While spring warmup has been slow coming, equipment dealers are reporting continued recovery from the frigid numbers of a couple years back.
Dealers in Ontario said last week that farmers are buying used and new machinery and a busy April is anticipated.
Mike Sebben, of Stoneage Farm & Industrial Equipment near St. Pauls Station, stated “We’re experiencing strong sales, especially in used farm equipment.
“With the price tag on new equipment, the smaller farms are realizing that just because something is used, it doesn’t mean it’s worn out.”
Mark Weber, sales representative at Shantz Farm Equipment.
“So far this year, we are ahead of schedule and happy to be so busy. Particularly, we have seen a big increase in mid-to-small sized tractor sales,” reported Brian McGavin, of McGavin Farm Equipment in Walton.
“With people always looking for deals, we are seeing good used farm equipment becoming more popular, especially with the high value of new equipment.”
McGavin said “there is a point in time where farmers need to upgrade and a point in time where they will push their older equipment one more year, usually depending on commodity price and yield.”
There’s a sense that producers are upgrading, which is a continuation of a slow, steady recovery.
Mark Weber of Shantz Farm Equipment in Alma sees the market through the benefit of some 40 years of experience in ag equipment sales.
“The last two-to-three years were slower, but sales seem to be picking up now,” he explained.
Weber pointed out that “the increase of larger farm operations were partially responsible for the shrinking market and influencing the slowdown in sales. With fewer farmers, everyone is trying to sell to a smaller group of people.”
So the recovery is coming at a good time.
Larry Doble, of Ross Doble in Sunderland, said “we’re having a hard time keeping used farm equipment in our yard, as it’s selling extremely fast.
“After posting a unit online, it doesn’t take long until we have it sold. Sometimes, by the time we get the equipment ready for resale, it’s already been purchased.”
He added, “new equipment sales have been steadily increasing over the last couple of years. This year, the trend has remained the same. We are predicting that there will be another steady increase in sales for 2018.”
One common theme for all dealers is the boost provided by online equipment listings, which have opened up the market and reduced the sales cycle.
Doble reported that “half of our customers are local, and the other half are travelling up to 150 km to come view our used equipment. The internet attributes to most of these non-local customers.”
Indeed, the availability of online inventory has had a positive impact on used equipment sales at Shantz.
“Used farm equipment is definitely important to us. Most deals are coming from farmer trade-ins and with the internet, people are travelling further distances than ever to look at used equipment,” said Weber.
Sebben added, “posting equipment online has had a very positive impact on sales.
“When an item is listed, it can be seen by everyone, not just our local customers. We ship equipment across North America and some overseas, largely due to online advertising.”
The Association of Equipment Manufacturers reports that year-to-date data from across Canada shows an increase in 2WD farm tractor sales of 9.8%, and an increase in 4WD farm tractors of 32.2%.
The year-to-date data also shows that there was a decrease of 26.7% in self-propelled combines compared to February 2017.