clarinews@clarinet.com (02/03/90)
CHICAGO (UPI) -- The manufacturers of farm field equipment in the United States predict a 7 percent increase in the dollar value of retail farm machinery sales this year, the Equipment Manufacturers Institute said Friday. They also forecast a 5 percent increase in retail sales of parts. The association reported sales of farm equipment last year were about 20 percent higher in dollar volume than in 1988, primarily due to favorable weather, good commodity prices, increased acreage under cultivation and purchases that had been delayed from the previous year. ``The positive financial outlook for agriculture can be expected to provide an environment that is favorable to continue the increase in farm equipment sales in 1990,'' the institute said in a news release. Manufacturers surveyed predicted retail sales of more than 110,000 farm tractors this year, which would be an increase of 3.3 percent over 1989. Last year, EMI member manufacturers sold 106,386 tractors with those under 40 horsepower accounting for about 44 percent of the total. That percentage is expected to remain the same this year while sales of four-wheel-drive tractors are expected to improve slightly, the report said. Sales of self-propelled combines were sharply higher last year -- up 52 percent from 1988 -- and manufacturers expect another 15 percent increase in 1990. Final figures were not available for tillage equipment sales last year, but were expected to show some increases over the previous year. Companies that participated in the survey manufacture more than 90 percent of the field machinery and farmstead equipment sold in the United States. The Chicago-based EMI is the major trade association in North America for farm, construction and industrial equipment manufacturers.