According to the European Agricultural Machinery Association (CEMA), the European farm machinery market is expected to return to growth after a 1.3% fall in tractor sales in the first quarter of this year. CEMA’s Business Barometer, which surveys the sentiment of European machinery businesses, has recovered sharply in recent months from an all-time low last autumn to highs not seen since 2012 in April and May.

While the large French tractor has dragged down European figures with a 25.9% fall in the first quarter, other key markets including Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK have shown increases. CEMA expects growth to be sustained throughout this year in Germany, especially for forage harvesters and balers. Forage harvesters are bouncing back in France too, despite the general negative outlook for that country, Italy and Belgium.

Spanish farmers investing

Spain and Austria an on an upward trend, with Spanish farmers expected to invest most in sprayers and tillage equipment.

The Netherlands and the UK are expected to flatline this year, with British farmers investing in tractors, seeders and feed mixer wagons and Dutch farmers in grass and forage harvesting equipment.

This reflects the latest sales report from the global machinery leader, John Deere, whose European tractor sales flatline in April while demand for combine was decreasing slightly. This comes after a month of growth in both categories in March.

North America

By contrast, North America is powering ahead. Sales of tractors and combines have grown industry-wide in the US and Canada in April and in March, with Deere reporting performance in line with or better than the market. While sales of 2WD tractors over 100hp are down, all other categories show strong increases, with 4WD tractor sales up 32% and combine sales up 9% in the two countries last month after an already strong performance in March. Smaller tractors under 40hp are also posting double-digit growth and grass equipment sales picked up in April.

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