1H tractor sales dip as markets return to normal

Farm tractor and combine sales dipped in the first half of the year as the agricultural equipment market comes down from records in 2023. 

Demand for farm equipment weakened further in the first half, with sales of tractors and combines down double-digits year-to-date following lower June sales, according to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM).  

Total farm tractor sales, including two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive units, landed at 114,959 units in the first half, down 11.5% year over year, according to AEM’s monthly Ag Tractor and Combine report. Self-prop combine sales totaled 2,673 units, down 17.3% YoY. Total farm tractor sales were 22,870 units in June, down 16.1% YoY, and self-prop combine sales finished at 463 units, down 31% YoY.

Compact, subcompact market normalizing

The decline in tractor and combine sales so far in 2024 follows “a robust five years of sales,” Curt Blades, senior vice president of AEM, said in an AEM release.

“The challenges facing the subcompact tractor market illustrate why the passage of a strong farm bill is so needed to lift rural America and our farmers and growers,” he said.

Farm equipment manufacturers such as John Deere also projected market normalization coming into 2024, Brent Norwood, vice president and finance director for construction/forestry, JD Power systems and lifecycle solutions at John Deere, said during the company’s fiscal 2023 earnings call in November 

Compact tractors also continue to see pressure on margins, Jordan Carlisle, director of sales and rental at Hattiesburg, Miss.-based agriculture and construction equipment dealer Parish Tractor, told Equipment Finance News. 

“Compact tractors have definitely slowed down and have become more competitive,” he said. “As we’re seeing inventory rise, margins in certain areas are seen to be dipping a little bit. There are a lot of dealers that are overstocked on some certain stuff, and so they’re just trying to do whatever they can to get involved.” 

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