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OPINION: A mate of the Hound’s reckons the recent number of tractor sales, or more correctly, a lack of them, is a warning sign of a coming rural recession.
Even economists consider sales of tractors and other machinery an economic bellwether, so a big fall is a worrying indicator.
Latest figures show sales of tractors and farm machinery have fallen significantly, albeit from very high levels in 2022, according to the Tractor and Machinery Association. Since the start of 2023, the number of tractors sold was down by a quarter.
Craigs Investment Partners investment director Mark Lister says the decline wasn’t surprising, considering agricultural headwinds.
“It all filters through. There are plenty of parts of the country, towns like Ashburton, where a large part of the local economy might be servicing the agricultural sector. If that sector is feeling a little less upbeat and spending falls, it flows through the whole local economy.”
The recently published State of the Industry -Tractors and Machinery 2025 from the Australian Tractor and Machinery Association (TMA), the equivalent of New Zealand’s TAMA, gives an interesting perspective of the industry.
For the first three months of 2026, new tractor deliveries saw an increase over the previous two months, resulting in year-to-date deliveries climbing to 649 units - around 5% ahead of the same period in 2025.
Coming in at a year-end total at 3088 units, a rise of around 10% over the 2806 total for 2024, the signs are that the New Zealand farm machinery industry is turning the corner after a difficult couple of years.
New tractor deliveries for 2025 jumped 10% compared to the previous year, a reflection of the positive primary sector outlook, according to the Tractor and Machinery Association (TAMA).
As we move into the 2025/26 growing season, the Tractor and Machinery Association (TAMA) reports that the third quarter results for the year to date is showing that the stagnated tractor market of the last 18 months is showing signs of recovery.
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Retiring MP and dairy farmer Mark Cameron is blasting the Green Party for proposing to ban the use of synthetic fertiliser and cutting cow numbers.
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Wayne and Ange Moxham of Horowhenua have just been named as Fonterra's top organic performer for milksolids. As well as providing organic milk to Fonterra, the couple also sell Udderly Organic milk to more than 100 outlets in the region and are embarking on another exciting venture producing organic gelato. Reporter Peter Burke went along to see their farming operation.
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