Monthly report from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers shows sales of Canadian and US tractors and sales in July 2022 as a hodgepodge of good news-bad news.
By Andrew Joseph, Farms.com; Image via the Association of Equipment Manufacturers
According to the July 2022 report issued by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), sales of 4WD tractors in the US and Canada were strong in June, with other sector sales in the US, but all other sectors in Canada down.
What does it mean? Farmers were interested in larger tractors for purchase. Why? Was there a systemic failure of older tractors that needed to be replaced? Or were things so good that more was called for?
Unless every farmer purchasing a tractor or a combine in the US and Canada tells their agri-retailer the reason, and that reason is passed to a single source (hint-hint, AEM), then I’m afraid we’ll just have to make do with numbers to analyze.
The AEM, however, has separated the market segment of tractors into two specific categories: 2WD and 4WD, with three subsets for the 2WD vehicles. For 2WD tractors, as denoted by horsepower, we have: < 40 HP (less than); 40 < 100 HP; and 100+ HP. Combines… are designated as Self Prop Combines.
CANADA
If we look at total sales in July 2022 for farm tractors (regardless of type or size) Canadian sales were down by 10.7 percent when compared to July 2021. As for combines, yeesh, down-down-down by 32.3 percent.
For the 2WD farm tractor sector, for tractors < 40 HP, sales dropped by 7.6 percent. There were 1,730 units sold in July 2022 vs. 1,873 units sold in July 2021.
For those at 40 < 100 HP, sales were down by 16.6 percent, with 534 units sold in July of 2022 compared against 640 units sold in the same month in 2021.
With the 100+ HP 2WD tractor segment, sales were down by 21.3 percent in July of 2022 with 317 units sold, against 403 such tractors sold in July of 2021.
The total number of 2WD farm tractors sold in July 2022 was 2,581 units, down by 11.5 percent when compared to July of 2021’s 2,916 units sold.
For 4WD farm tractors, we have our lone good news for the Canadian market, with an increase of 27.9 percent. July sales in 2022 saw 78 units moved, against 61 such units sold in July of 2021.
The combined total farm tractors sector saw an overall drop of 10.7 percent. There were 2,659 units sold in July 2021, and 2,997 units sold last year in July of 2021.
The Combines sector saw a drop of 32.3 percent in this period. July 2021 sales were for 247 units, against last year’s 365 units.
Looking at the year-to-date data, overall all segments of tractors and combines are still in the negative—some more than others, with the higher-ticket items feeling more of the pain.
For 2WD < 40HP farm tractors, year-to-date numbers in 2022 show a total of 11,710 units sold, compared to 2022’s 12,960 units sold. That’s a drop of 9.6 percent.
For 40 < 100 HP farm tractors, there have been 3,402 units sold as of July 2022, a drop of 4.7 percent compared to 2021 when 3,571 units were sold.
In the 100+ HP segment, the downward spiral wasn’t as bad, with a total of 2,506 units sold—a decrease of 2.7 percent when compared to the year-to-date numbers of 2021, at 2,133.
The total 2WD farm tractor segment is down by 7.9 percent with 11,168 units sold as of July 2022 compared to 2021 when there were 18,644 units sold.
The 4WD farm tractor market was down by 21.8 percent as of July 2022 with 427 units sold. There were 546 such units sold as of July 2021.
Doing the math… the total farm tractor market is showing a decrease in sales of 8.3 percent as of July 2021 with 17,595 units sold, down from the 2021 numbers of 19,190 units sold.
For combines, it’s also lagging behind the 2021 numbers with a drop of 22.1 percent. As of July 2022, there have been 728 units sold, compared to the 934 units sold in 2021.
UNITED STATES
Looking at total farm tractors (2WD + 4WD) in the US for July 2022, the market is down by 21.0 percent against July 2021. The month of July 2022 saw 22,910 units sold, against 29,011 sold in July of 2021. That’s a huge hit for the month.
In the year-to-date comparison, as of July 2022 sales are down by 14.9 percent against 2021. In 2022, there have been 165,028 units sold. There were 193,831 units sold as of July 2021.
But it’s not all bad news… just keep reading.
For the < 40 HP farm tractor segment, July of 2022 saw 14,085 units sold. However last year in 2021, the months had 19,548 units sold—a drop of 27.9 percent.
If we look at the year-to-date data, as of July 2022 there have been 113,266 units sold—this is down by 17.8 percent compared to 2021’s 137,837 sales. Are farmers shying away from lower-powered 2WD tractors?
Looking at the 40 < 100 HP farm tractors, the July 2022 numbers show a decline of 16.3 percent, with 5,973 units sold against July 2021 when 7,138 units were sold.
The year-to-date figures show this segment is down by 13.1 percent as of July 2022, with 37,978 units sold, against 2021 when 43,723 units were sold.
For the 100+ HP market, we have good news. There was an increase in sales by 22.8 percent in July of 2022 with 2,505 units sold, against 2021 when only 2,040 such units were purchased.
Even looking at the year-to-date data, there’s a 12.3 percent increase in 2022 sales here over the past year. As of July 2022, there were 13,784 units sold. There were only 12,271 units sold as of July 2021.
Despite the great showing of the 100+ HP tractor segment, overall the 2WD farm tractor market was down.
For July 2022, there were a total of 22,563 units sold—while July 2021 had 28,726 units sold—that’s a drop of 21.5 percent.
In the year-to-date comparison, this segment is down by 14.9 percent in 2022 with only 160,028 units sold vs 198,831 units sold in 2021.
Looking at the 4WD farm tractor market, it saw very positive gains in July of 2022 with 347 units sold, compared to July 2021 when only 285 units were bought.
But year-to-date, it’s down by 5.7 percent. As of July 2022, there were 1,633 4WD tractors sold. There were 1,731 units sold by July of 2021.
For the combines, the year-to-date data is down—but only by 2.2 percent. There has been as of July 2022, 2,856 units sold—against 2,930 units sold as of July 2021.
To end on a good note, combine sales for July 2022 were up by 9.2 percent with 715 units sold, against July 2021 when only 655 units were sold.
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.