Tractor & Machinery Association of Australia reports overstocking in some dealers' yards

In his latest report, executive director Gary Northover said supply chain challenges had made ordering the correct amount of stock difficult.

"The supply shortages of the past are now being replaced by some overstocking in dealers' yards," he said.

"Supply chain challenges have made it very difficult to order just the right amount of stock to be delivered at the right time, consequently machines that were ordered some 12 months ago are now only just arriving at a time when demand has slipped."

The slowdown in national tractor sales continued in the month of March with about 1000 tractors sold across the nation. This figure is 29 per cent less than the same month last year and has contributed to a first quarter result which is 22pc behind last year.

"As we have been reporting for the past few months, this level of activity is back to what is considered normal following the intense activity of the prior two years," Mr Northover said.

"Indeed, an annual figure of 12,000 units, if achieved, would represent a 'soft landing' following these boom times."

Looking at the state-by-state picture, Queensland was down 29pc against the same month last year, to be 19pc behind year to date (YTD).

NSW was down 36pc and is now 30pc behind for the year and Victoria was off 27pc to be 24pc below last year.

Western Australia reported its first drop in a while, down 13pc to be in line with the same time last year.

South Australia was down 35pc, now down 25pc YTD, Tasmania was off 15pc for the month with sales in the NT finishing 14pc down.

Sales of the 200 horsepower (150 kilowatt)-plus range continue to be the best of the machinery categories but this was 3pc below the same month last year, while still up 50pc YTD.

The small under 40hp (30kw) category was down by 26pc for the month, to be 34pc behind YTD.

"This segment, known as the leisure market, is most susceptible to high interest rates so we anticipate challenges here for some time to come," Mr Northover said.

The 40 to 100hp (30-75kw) range was also down 43pc and is now behind 36pc YTD.

The 100 to 200hp (75-150 kw) category was down 29pc, to be 25pc off for the year.

Sales of combine harvesters are yet to materialise in a major way, with only 89 units sold so far this year, compared to 93 last year.

Baler sales finished down 25pc on the same month last year, with difficult growing conditions for hay, and are now 5pc up YTD.

Sales of out-front mowers were again up this time by about 23pc in the month.

TMA conference

This year's TMA Conference scheduled to be held on Thursday July 18 in Melbourne at the MCG, a venue the association last visited in 2017.

Continuing the theme: Towards 2030, the conference will feature an exciting line-up of speakers on critical industry issues such as artificial intelligence in ag, attracting women to the workplace, effective marketing strategies, personal financial planning and more.

The TMA will also have its regular economic update from Westpac's Justin Smirk and the state of industry report from Kynetec.

Tickets are now on sale at the TMA website www.tma.asn.au