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U.S. farm tractor sales slumped in June but were still up slightly for the year.iStockphoto.com/valio84sl
Sales of farm tractors in the U.S. dipped 3.5 percent in June 2019 compared with the same month a year before, according to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers.
Retail sales of self-propelled combines dropped much more, by 23 percent, said a recent AEM news release.
“Every product category saw a decrease last month, though year-to-date sales for tractors (up 4.3 percent) and combines (up 4.5 percent) remained solid,” the release noted.
In Canada, June sales dropped even more than in the U.S. with tractor sales down 14.5 percent compared with June 2018, and self-propelled combine sales dropping nearly 47 percent.
In June, the AEM reported that farm equipment sales in the U.S. “saw minimal growth in most categories while Canada dropped in all but two.” The latter included a 56.4 percent drop for total four-wheel-drive tractors.
“While numbers were up for the U.S. in May, the ongoing trade war has us concerned about the direction they may take in coming months,” Curt Blades, AEM senior vice-president of ag services, said in a June 13 news release. “Free trade is critical to keeping the U.S. economy and our industry strong. Especially when you consider 30 percent of the equipment manufactured in the U.S. each year is earmarked for export.”
Full reports are available to AEM members at www.aem.org/market-data/.