Farm equipment maker Deere's dealers.....

[kadee79]

NOT good news.

When China announced this week that it had stopped buying U.S. agricultural products and might impose additional tariffs on farm shipments from America, Dave Schmidt braced for another blow to his business. 
The Salem, Wisconsin-based dealer of Deere & Co’s (DE.N) tractors, planters and combines is grappling with declining sales and higher levels of inventory as farmers have put off equipment purchases in the wake of rain-delayed planting in the Midwest and the yearlong Sino-U.S. trade standoff.

Schmidt says sales at his dealership, in general, declined by as much as 15% in the first half of the year, led by a fall in the demand for large equipment. In a sign of things to come, early orders for planting equipment for next season’s soybean and corn crops are down up to 25%.

He is not alone. Half a dozen dealers of Deere’s agriculture equipment across the Midwest shared similar accounts in interviews with Reuters. One of those dealers, in Geneseo, Illinois, said sales at his dealership were down 50% so far this year from the same period last year.

www.reuters.com/article/us-deere-dealers-sales-idUSKCN1UZ21F


This will affect a lot of other things too...fuel, chemicals, seeds...and normal things a family would buy...new furniture, vehicles, etc.!

[Deleted]

Geneseo is ridiculously close to where I grew up and I have actually drove a tractor to that dealership.

[kadee79]

Aug 11, 2019 11:15:42 GMT -5 @aj said:

Geneseo is ridiculously close to where I grew up and I have actually drove a tractor to that dealership.

I grew up in/around Decatur...the soybean capitol of the world...at least used to be.  A.E.Staley Manufacturing...processing soy & corn...STINKS TO HIGH HEAVEN!  ADM is there too...used to be lots more industry there than there is now.

[countrygirl2]

Hubs said his friend at the bank told him that land has dropped from $10k an acre to $6,5k and they expect it to go a lot lower.  This is going to hit here bad, and places that are totally dependent on farms its going to be devastating.  I doubt they ever get their markets back.  This will be devastating for so many related industries.  It takes awhile for all this to hit but once it does it will snowball.

I'm looking now at what I can cut just in case.  Our renters are for the most part at the bottom of the work chain and are already just one paycheck away from homelessness I'm sure.

We can drop ins on the houses, but I hear they are also eliminating deducting catastrophic losses off taxes.  And we can park the truck, that's a $1000 a year for ins and registration and my motorhome, not sure how much, maybe $600 or so a year? would save about $3k on the houses, can't change the post office, its commercial. But we can survive.  If it goes into a depression, would drive 1 vehicle only.  I can do austerity if needed.  Hope it doesn't get that way, but when I was young we were dirt poor.  I know how to do poor, don't want to but sure can. Gardening will be problematic with advancing age.

[busymom]

I don't think the stores will be setting any records on Christmas sales this year.  Especially in farm country.  That's how you know what kind of year the farmers are having.

[countrygirl2]

I think when all this finally hits, takes a long time for a big economy to wind down this country will be in deep sh**.  But you hear the repubs are wanting to give the very rich another huge tax break.  What can I say or do.  For everyone else will be a race to the bottom.

[bean29]

Aug 11, 2019 11:15:42 GMT -5 @aj said:

Geneseo is ridiculously close to where I grew up and I have actually drove a tractor to that dealership.

My Dad's family lives around the Sterling/Princeton IL area. Most of them Farm or work in Farm related businesses. IDK what effect the Tariffs will have on the long term viability of their businesses.

[kadee79]

Country Girl...another telling thing in your area & in Ill. should be farm auctions.  Watch your local papers in the classified sections & see if they are increasing or not.


When I still lived in Ill...one year that things were really bad for the farmers, my hubby (then hubby, now deceased) & I bought an Oliver tractor & several pieces of equipment as well as the change out front end for less than $300 at a farm auction.  We got a 4 bottom plow, a disc, a harrow & something else plus that front end that swaps from wide to narrow.  The year before that it would have been close to $1000 for all that.

[countrygirl2]

We are seeing 50 acres, 100 acres of land going up for sale here and there. I'm guessing farmers are trying to sell a few acres to keep them afloat. Normally any land around that comes up for sale is snapped up. Up by the city I saw a field that said auction, looked like quite a few acres.  It's got to be killing those guys.

If you look at the graphs I believe some of their highest earning years were under Obama, why would they be republicans?

We see a local dealership that had gotten into RV sales big time, now just a few on the lot and no more coming in.  They are smart.  The farm dealership across the road just has a couple of new big tractors, usually have a lot.  Oh they have disks and stuff but more low dollar items.  I think folks are hunkering down for what they expect to hit. This is farm country, it will kill our little community, lots of big farmers around here.

[kadee79]

Don't know if you saw it or not, but an admin. person got threatened when they were out to do a survey of crop yields in Ill.   That made the admin. pull them all back in...so their estimates will likely be way off...which is what I've already been seeing...estimates are high...the ones from government departments.