TRACTOR sales throughout Australia in 2017 were the best since 1985.
While Tractor and Machinery Association (TMA) executive director Gary Northover painted a fairly bleak picture for 2018 – on the back of drought-affected New South Wales and parts of Queensland – delegates remained upbeat about the prospects for sales in WA.
According to Mr Northover, last year was the seventh consecutive year of 10,000-plus sales of tractors, totalling 12,792 units, representing a 14 per cent increase on a five-year average and a 20pc increase on a 10-year average.
Mr Northover said combine harvester and self-propelled boomsprayer sales held at 2016 levels while hay baler sales were down from a record 2016.
So far this year, Mr Northover said tractor sales year-to-date until June had recorded a 2pc rise to 6443 units, despite a 9pc increase in WA.
Predictably with the droughts, Eastern States sales figures are down, including forward orders on headers and hay gear.
But in WA a sales surge after the field days round is expected, given that some supply issues will have eased with WA dealers accessing unsold new equipment or forward order allocations from their Eastern States counterparts.
