Agriculture equipment sales are booming, with overall tractor sales up more than 25 percent compared with a year ago, the Tractor and Machinery Association says.
Photo: 123rf.com
Tractor and Machinery Association president Kyle Baxter said the sale of tractors in the 100 to 150-plus horsepower bracket, which were popular in the dairy industry, had increased by 30 percent.
He said it was the second year sales had climbed and that wa due to several factors.
"Demand has been building over the last couple of years," he said.
"If we rewind two years ago to March 2020, nobody knew what was going to happen in terms of commodities and interest rates and everything like that.
"So, in the last 12 months demand has been continually building, and commodity prices have had a big influence in terms of that, coupled with low interest rates."
Baxter said that while rising commodity prices were good for New Zealand's export market, it also came with a "sting in the tail".
"The continued positive agri-commodity growth has seen a corresponding growth in the actual commodities that are used to manufacture and supply the equipment, in the form of raw materials, labour, fuel and ocean shipping costs, all of which are having a subsequent flow on affect that increases the cost of goods being delivered to New Zealand."
Baxter said sales for tractors and farm equipment had risen specifically in the Bay of Plenty, Hawke's Bay and Nelson.
And after two years of delays in getting stock into the country, Baxter said shipments had dramatically improved, coming as a welcome relief for farmers needing new equipment.