One more tractor was sold in November 2016 than the same month last year‚ but on a year-to-date basis sales are down 13%.
Last month‚ 453 tractors were sold – compared to 452 in November 2015 — but the total for the year so far is 5506 compared to 6329 last year.
That’s according to figures released by the South African Agricultural Machinery Association‚ which also noted that year-to-date combine harvester sales are down 15% from 209 in 2015 to 178 in 2015.
Association chairman Lucas Groenewald said that “after the worst drought in years‚ bankers are cautious about financing the purchase of agricultural equipment and farmers too are reluctant to go into debt until there is more certainty with their crops”.
“Nevertheless‚ the underlying sentiment in the market is positive‚ if cautious‚” he added.
Staying positive‚ Groenewald noted that “good rains have fallen in many of the eastern parts of the country and some of the dams have started filling”.
“This augurs well for the dryland farmers as well as for those using irrigation on a supplementary basis. Some areas in the west of the country still need rain if they are going to produce satisfactory summer crops.” – TMG Digital
Drought causes slump in agricultural machinery sales but ‘the market sentiment is positive’
One more tractor was sold in November 2016 than the same month last year‚ but on a year-to-date basis sales are down 13%.
Last month‚ 453 tractors were sold – compared to 452 in November 2015 — but the total for the year so far is 5506 compared to 6329 last year.
That’s according to figures released by the South African Agricultural Machinery Association‚ which also noted that year-to-date combine harvester sales are down 15% from 209 in 2015 to 178 in 2015.
Association chairman Lucas Groenewald said that “after the worst drought in years‚ bankers are cautious about financing the purchase of agricultural equipment and farmers too are reluctant to go into debt until there is more certainty with their crops”.
“Nevertheless‚ the underlying sentiment in the market is positive‚ if cautious‚” he added.
Staying positive‚ Groenewald noted that “good rains have fallen in many of the eastern parts of the country and some of the dams have started filling”.
“This augurs well for the dryland farmers as well as for those using irrigation on a supplementary basis. Some areas in the west of the country still need rain if they are going to produce satisfactory summer crops.” – TMG Digital
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