Its boomtime as grassland tackle sees sales rocket
Its boomtime as grassland tackle sees sales rocket
By Mike Williams
AFTER one of the longest and deepest recessions many machinery salesmen can remember, an unexpected buying surge has brought the "sold out" signs to some sectors of the trade for the first time in years.
The big increase in demand covers all types of grass harvesting machinery, with round balers, mower-conditioners and self-propelled forage harvesters picking up most of the extra orders. But sales of big square balers are also well ahead of last years totals.
Most of the square balers have been ordered for straw, and the upturn is believed to be a direct result of soaring prices for straw bales as farmers used extra bedding while cattle lingered indoors because of the late spring.
Reasons for the mini boom in grass machinery are more complicated, but the foot-and-mouth epidemic is believed to be the biggest factor.
"I think it is a case of every silver lining having a dark cloud," says David Hart, John Deere harvesting machinery specialist. "We have seen a big increase in orders for some types of machinery, and that is obviously good news, but we are also aware that some of the orders are coming from farmers who are having to change the way they farm because of foot-and-mouth disease, and we can all sympathise with anyone in that situation.
"In some cases they are buying machinery to avoid using a contractor and some of them are buying a baler to follow DEFRA guidelines to reduce disease risks when silage making. Of course, the compensation cheques are providing some farmers with a chance to update some of their machinery," he says.
The biggest sales rises in the John Deere range are for mowers and balers. Round balers have sold out, although Mr Hart says there are still two or three unsold machines in dealers stocks. It is the same story for mower-conditioners although there are still some of the smaller sizes available.
Jeremy Wiggins, green harvest machinery manager for Claas UK, reports a similar situation. The company sold its last self-propelled forage harvester for the silage season last week, and no more are expected until maize harvest. It has also sold out of Disco mow-cons, orders for Rollant round balers are 50% up on the same period last year and the biggest rise – with sales double last years total – is for the Claas Quadrant square baler.
"The sales increase started at the end of April, and since then it has been really hectic for some of our Vicon products," says Chris Roche of Kverneland UK.
"Demand for round balers is particularly strong, with sales 50% up on last year, and we are out of stock until we get a delivery ready for the straw harvest. Our sales of mowers and mower-conditioners are up by 15 to 20% and we are out of some models. There is also a big increase in bale wrapper orders." *