Farm Equipment Sales Drop In Early 2019 As Trade War's Effects Linger
The ongoing effects of the trade war, severe weather and low crop prices have farmers reluctant to make big purchases like tractors, combines and planters. It was apparent in the U.S. Commerce Department’s new report, which shows farm equipment sales were down $900 million dollars over the first three months of 2019.
That’s the biggest decline in sales since 2016.
Farmers will eventually have to replace aging machines, so University of Missouri agricultural economist Pat Westhoff sees it as a temporary situation. But while that old equipment — the kind that Westhoff says don’t have “all the new bells and whistles” — stays out in the fields, farmers will be less productive.
“(W)e don’t make the big advancements in the amount of acreage we can plant per hour and the amount of product we can harvest eventually from those fields,” he said.
https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/farm-equipment-sales-drop-early-2019-trade-war-s-effects-linger