Machinery sales are an area that farmers, and the agricultural community at large, regularly watch to see whether the economic environment for steel has improved.
The good news is there was some positive movement in late 2017, according to a Flash Report released by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM).
The association reports there was an uptick of 18% in tractor sales for December 2017 over the same time frame a month earlier. In total, 220,546 tractors were sold during calendar year 2017. That was 5% above the 211,133 tractors sold in 2016.
“For the year, two-wheel drive smaller tractors (under 40 HP) are up 8% over last year, while 40 & under 100 HP were even. Sales of 2-wheel drive 100 HP are down 8%, while 4-wheel drive tractors are up 5%,” according to Agri-Marketing.
Last year, 4,112 combines were sold, a 4% sales increase over 2016.
