Sales of Agricultural Tractor were down again in the month of May with just over 1,000 units sold. This was 26% less than the same month last year and brings the year-to-date position to a level which is 25% behind the corresponding period. May and June of 2023 were the last 2 months of the Federal Government’s Temporary Full Expensing Program which drove sales to unprecedented levels. We expect a more realistic month to month comparison to appear from July onwards as the impact of this incentive disappears.
Overall, we are still forecasting a healthy 2024 for sales as winter rains across the country deliver ideal growing conditions for the foreseeable future, indeed, dealers are reporting strong demand for items such as seeders and weed spraying equipment which is generally a precursor to strong tractor demand.
Looking at the state-by-state picture, Queensland was down 15% against the same month last year to be 17% behind year to date, NSW was down 31% and is now 29% behind for the year and Victoria was also down, this month by 29% to be 21% below last year. Western Australia reported a drop of 29% to be down 8% compared with the same time last year. South Australia had another big drop down 25%, now down 24% YTD, Tasmania was off 39% for the month with sales in the NT finishing 11% up.
Sales of the 200 hp (150kw) PLUS range, which have been largely positive all year, experienced a complete about turn to be 41% down compared to the same month last year but remain 7% ahead year to date. The small under 40 hp (30kw) category was down by 9% for the month to be 24% behind year to date. The 40 to 100hp (30-75kw) range was also down again, this time by 37% and is now behind 35% year to date. Lastly, the 100 to 200hp (75-150 kw) category was down 14% to be 19% off for the year.
Sales of Combine Harvesters are yet to materialise however dealers are reporting a healthy forward order book and expect another solid season. Baler sales finished 30% down on the same month last year with difficult growing conditions for hay and are now 5% behind year to date. Finally, sales of Out – Front Mowers were again up this time by around 9% in the month.
TMA Conference
This year’s TMA Conference scheduled to be held on Thursday July 18th in Melbourne at the iconic MCG, a venue we last visited in 2017.
Continuing our theme: Towards 2030, the conference will feature an exciting line-up of speakers on critical industry issues such as AI in Ag, Farm Safety and more. Plus, we will have our regular economic update from Westpac’s Justin Smirk and the state of industry report from Kynetec.
Tickets are now on sale at the TMA website www.tma.asn.au.
Finally the TMA’s annual State of the Industry report is now available for download on the TMA website.