THE soaring Aussie dollar, which has created such a squeeze on grain exports has had a silver lining for Australian farmers, with Tractor and Machinery Association figures showing record tractor sales, as scores of farmers take advantage of the favourable exchange rate.
TMA chief executive Richard Lewis said sales were off to a record start for the first quarter.
The TMA data shows 2238 tractors were delivered during the first three months of 2012 – a record for this period since the TMA’s record-keeping began in 1989.
The next best result to that was back in the mid-2000s.
“The figures show plenty of fizz in the market, with an extremely strong January, up 60 per cent on the previous year, February up about 35 per cent and March dropping back to more normal levels,” Mr Lewis said.
The strongest growth was seen in areas that recorded a good season last year – with North Queensland, central western New South Wales and South Australia all posting big sales numbers.
However, not all the sales are related to seasonal conditions, with continued growth in the lifestyle market a key underlying strength of tractor sales.
Alan Kirsten, of industry analyst Agriview, said the sales figures showed a general push right through the range, but one market sector stood out.
“The lifestyle market has been particularly strong and continues to be so,” Mr Kirsten said.
“Compact tractors up to about 60hp continue to be very popular and have for the past two or three years.
“It’s a similar story with out-front mowers, again showing very strong demand in the lifestyle market.
He said there was good demand for broadacre tractors, 200hp and above, but said sales had been more subdued than in the small tractor sector.
Mark Taylor, Marketing Manager of Kubota Tractor Australia, said his company’s experience echoed the TMA findings.
“The strength of the lifestyle market has shown no signs of abating – we’ve had our best first quarter ever,” Mr Taylor said.
“January was outstanding, just phenomenal. February was brilliant and March was more back to normal.
“We have a fantastic order book and still have orders to fill. I’ve been at Kubota for more than 20 years and it’s the best start to a year I can remember.
“For us, sales have been strong pretty much across the board and we’re now making inroads into the higher horsepower areas.
“The three states down the east coast are generally our best – they are all good for us. If anything, Queensland is probably the leader.
“We’ve seen a very strong upward trend for zero-turn mowers lately, as against the conventional out-front style.
Mr Kirsten said other machinery sectors were considerably quieter than the buoyant tractor market.
“Despite the fact that it’s off-season in the combine harvester market, that area is still slightly up on deliveries,” Mr Kirsten said.
“Forward order demand is slow, but last year was a record – the best since 2002 for combine harvester sales.
“We don’t expect to see that this year.
“Balers are in their fifth year of declining sales, which, ironically, happens to coincide with better conditions, more hay and fodder around and rain.
“The baler market is subdued, but, again, it is off-season.”