MachineryLink

January 2023 tractor and combine sales are a mixed story. Sales of smaller tractors were down, as were sales of four-wheel drive tractors. However, combines and those utility-sized two-wheel drive tractors that turned in strong sales numbers for most of 2022, remain top sellers.

According to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) that compiles these numbers, sales of less than 40 hp tractors were down 22.8% in January 2023, compared to January 2022. January 2023 tractor sales, 40-100 hp tractors, were down 6.2%. Sales of 4WD units were down 2.2% for the month of January, compared to January 2022.

However, sales of those two-wheel drive, 100-plus hp tractors that delivered good news to manufacturers through nearly all of 2022, continue to be stronger sellers. January 2023 sales were up 22.8% from January a year ago.

Similarly strong are sales of self-propelled combines. January sales of combines, compared to January a year ago, were up 132.7%. That's 477 combines sold last month, compared to 205 sold during January 2022. Industry analysts assume farmers continue to buy combines as they seek to replace older units with the advanced harvesting technologies loaded into new combines.

"Most of the trends we're seeing in this month's report continue what we saw throughout most of 2022," Curt Blades, AEM's senior vice president, industry sectors and product leadership, says in a release. "However, the industry-wide growth we see in Canada this month is a pleasant sight, and we hope that trends continue and expand to the U.S. market."

In Canada, combine harvesters led sales again, up 179.6%, moving 137 units in January. Overall unit sales in tractors finished the month up 7%, with the 4WD segment leading the way in Canada, growing 75% for January, followed by 100+hp 2WD units up 18.6%. Even the sub-40hp segment, a loss leader for several months after coming off a pandemic-influenced sales spike, grew 1.3%.

Dan Miller can be reached at dan.miller@dtn.com

Follow him on Twitter @DMillerPF

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