survey Archives - North America FarmQuip Magazine

War’s Impact on Input Prices Affects Ag Economy: Producers Concerned

newsroom — Thu, 28 Apr 2022 10:28:08 +0000

The Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer is a nationwide measure of the health of the U.S. agricultural economy. From the latest report, the Ag Economy Barometer has registered a dipped down 12 points from February and 36% lower than March 2021, marking the weakest farmer sentiment reading since May 2020, the early days of the pandemic. The decline was driven by producers’ weaker perceptions of both current conditions in the agricultural economy and expectations for the future. The Index of Current Conditions declined 19 points to 113, down 44% from March 2021, and the Index of Future Expectations declined 9 points to 113, down 31% from the same time last year. The Ag Economy Barometer is calculated each month from 400 U.S. agricultural producers’ responses to a telephone survey.

Image Courtesy of Purdue University

“Concern about the war’s impact on input prices and input availability on their farming operations was paramount in the minds of producers responding to the March survey and was a major factor in this month’s decline in sentiment,”

said James Mintert, the barometer’s principal investigator and director of Purdue University’s Center for Commercial Agriculture.

The March survey provided the first opportunity to ask producers how they expect the war in Ukraine to affect U.S. agriculture. Producers overwhelmingly said they expect input prices to be most affected (63% of respondents), followed by crop prices (33% of respondents), and livestock prices (3% of respondents). Responding to a related question, 19% of respondents chose “availability of inputs” as their biggest concern in their farming operation this year, which was equal to the percentage of producers who chose “lower crop and/or livestock prices” as their biggest concern.

Diving deeper into producers’ expectations for farm input prices in the upcoming year, 57% expect farm input prices to rise by 20% or more, and 36% think input prices will rise by 30% or more. And, just over one-fourth (27%) of producers say they’ve had difficulty purchasing crop inputs for the 2022 crop season. Producers report that supply chain problems persist across a wide range of inputs, with herbicides, fertilizer and farm machinery parts posing the most problems.

Image Courtesy of Purdue University

Producers continue to say that they expect their farm’s financial performance to decline in 2022 compared to 2021. The March Farm Financial Performance Index, which asks producers whether they expect their farm’s financial performance in 2022 to be better than, worse than or about the same as in 2021, was up slightly (4 points) at a reading of 87 but remains 30% lower than a year earlier.

“When producers think about how their farm will fare financially in 2022, it’s clear they do not expect commodity price strength to offset the dramatic rise in farm production costs they are experiencing,”

Mintert said.

Producers do not view this as a good time to make large investments in their farming operations as the Farm Capital Investment Index fell again in March. The index was 6 points lower than a month earlier and 59% lower than in March 2021 when it was near its all-time peak. In a pair of follow-up questions, 62% of respondents said their plans for farm machinery purchases in the upcoming year are lower than a year earlier, which is the most negative response to that question since May 2020. When asked a similar question about their plans for farm building and grain bin construction, 68% of respondents chose “lower,” which was the most negative response received to that question since its first inclusion in a barometer survey in May 2021.

Image Courtesy of Purdue University

Supply chain problems continue to haunt both the farm machinery and construction sectors and are one of the reasons producers don’t view this as a good time for large investments. For example, 42% of producers this month said their machinery purchase plans were impacted by low farm machinery inventories, consistent with industry reports that major machinery manufacturers are experiencing order backlogs.

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Over 66% U.S. Farmers Willing to Implement Soil Health Practices and Carbon Credit Program

NAFEM Newsroom — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 00:00:10 +0000

According to a new Corteva Agriscience survey of 600+ row crop farmers across 26 U.S. states, soil health practices continue to gain traction. Sixty-six percent of farmers report they have already implemented soil health practices such as using cover crops and/or reduced tillage that would qualify them to enroll in most carbon programs.

Even as soil health practices become more widespread, farmer participation in carbon programs remains relatively low. While 72 percent of respondents are aware of carbon offerings, only three percent are enrolled in a carbon sequestration program. Many farmers indicate that they would consider a carbon program if the payout per acre reached $20; however, it isn’t until the payout per acre would reach an estimated $40 that the majority said they would commit to participation in a program. A recent Purdue study highlights that farmers need to be incentivized to adopt practices and join a carbon program.

Forty-four percent of farmers who have not already adopted these practices report increased interest in on-farm stewardship during the past five years. Lack of access to necessary equipment and services, as well as concern about return on investment, were cited as the biggest barriers to practice adoption.

“We always start with the agronomy to make sure practices are a good fit. Carbon programs can help to offset the costs of new practices to further drive farm profitability and stewardship outcomes. The data shows that many farmers are interested in these practices and will adopt them with a higher payout. As an industry, this means we must work to remove barriers to increase practice adoption and provide farmers with holistic solutions such as carbon programs to drive prices toward that $40 level and beyond,”

said Ben Gordon, Portfolio Lead, Carbon Ecosystems and Services, Corteva Agriscience.

Other key insights from the Corteva Agriscience survey demonstrate how price points, barriers to entry and trusted advisors are important factors for farmers when considering carbon programs.

Pricing preferences

The majority of farmers don’t believe that a carbon program sounds appealing until they can get paid at least $40/acre to participate, confirming a recent Purdue article about what farmers would need to switch from conventional tillage to no-till.

Familiarity with carbon programs

Seventy-two percent of survey respondents said they had heard about carbon programs but didn’t know much about them. Twenty percent are actively looking into and evaluating such programs. Three percent are currently enrolled in one.
Almost two-thirds (66 percent) of respondents already utilize cover cropping or reduced tillage on at least some of their acres.

Barriers to adoption of soil health practices (cover crop and reduced tillage)

The biggest barriers to planting cover crops and/or use of strip or no-till are lack of access to necessary equipment or custom applicators, as well as concern that they may not see a return on investment.

Barriers to enrollment in a carbon program

In most cases, payment/acre as it stands today will not cover their costs to implement the required practices to become eligible for a carbon program.

Decision influencers

The individuals who have the most influence on farmers’ decisions related to planting cover crops or implementing strip or no-till are consultants/agronomists, other farmers and family.

Interest in on-farm stewardship and conservation issues

Fifty-eight percent of 617 survey respondents said they have become more or much more interested in on-farm stewardship and conservation in the past five years (40 percent no change, two percent less interested)
Among non-adopters of cover crops or reduced tillage, 44 percent said they have become more or much more interested in on-farm stewardship and conservation in the past five years.

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Presenting the Brand New Farm Equipment Business Survey

Marco Pinza — Fri, 31 Jul 2020 16:15:43 +0000

The North America Farm Equipment Magazine presents a free, anonymous survey to investigate the agricultural equipment market in the United States and Canadian markets.

What you need to know

The number of employees who work in your business
Your annual turnover range
The change in inventory level since the pandemic spread out

The topics we want to investigate

Our focus is on the end of the supply chain, the network of dealers, touchpoint between the manufacturing world and farmers. Of particular stake for us is to probe the following aspects:

The variety of services provided by farm equipment dealers;
Variability in the number of employees and turnover;
How market agents themselves rate their current business situation and their expectations for the short term;
Negative (and positive) effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the normal course of business and operations overall;
The brand-dealer-customer relationship, what retailers look for in a brand, and what do their customers expect from them.

Why we ask for your participation

Your information is important to us. We survey businesses of all sizes to ensure our statistics are representative of the US and Canadian markets.

This survey will contribute to the development of a full market esearch, which you will see published on our online magazine later on: your participation is fundamental for its completeness and truthfullness.

By filling out this form, you will receive results in advance, as well as see them published in September 2020 on our North America Farm Equipment Magazine online.

This research will give you access to a clear and concise view of the market trends and forecasts, drawn up by the market agents themselves. Don’t miss the chance!

CLICK HERE TO FILL THE SURVEY: IT ONLY TAKES 10 MINUTES!

FARM EQUIPMENT BUSINESS SURVEY

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Väderstad stands out in survey: “The strongest brand we have seen”

Marco Pinza — Thu, 30 Jul 2020 19:00:18 +0000

The analysis company Strat7 Bonamy Finch measured Väderstad’s brand against nine other companies on the Swedish market. 99 percent of farmers surveyed said that they were familiar or very familiar with Väderstad as a company and an overwhelming majority were positive about Väderstad’s brand.

Väderstad is a family company from Östgötaslätten that manufactures and sells high-performance agricultural machinery for soil cultivation, seed bed preparation and seed sowing and has 1500 employees in 40 different countries. Last year, Väderstad had a turnover of SEK 3.3 billion [USD 3.7 billion].

The analysis company Strat7 Bonamy Finch conducted the brand survey in March 2020 on behalf of Väderstad, via telephone interviews with farmers all over Sweden, where Väderstad was measured against nine other companies in the industry.

The result was very positive, with the interviewees having both an extremely high awareness of Väderstad as a brand, but also a very high awareness of Väderstad’s product programme and they were very positive about our products.

Our thorough survey of a large sample of farmers in Sweden shows how strong the Väderstad brand is. Strat7 Bonamy Finch has over many years conducted surveys for hundreds of brands from different product categories all over the world, but the Väderstad brand in Sweden is the strongest we have seen for some time,

says Leigh Morris, founder and strategy manager for Strat7 Bonamy Finch.

Bo Stark, who is responsible for the Nordic region at Väderstad, sees the results of the survey as a part of long-term work in the Swedish market.

This is based on work that we have been doing for many years where we have maintained the same focus and the same values. We are “never far away” and work closely with our farmers and our dealers. Our staff in the field is very knowledgeable and always on hand, especially during the growing season,

he says.

Source: Väderstad

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AGCO announces inclusion in Fortune 500 and EDA`s Dealer-Manufacturer Survey

Marco Pinza — Wed, 15 Jul 2020 15:00:21 +0000

Rankings add to company’s recent positive news and 2020 Momentum

AGCO announced its inclusion in the 2020 Fortune 500. This is the company’s 17th consecutive year to be ranked in the prestigious group of American companies.

AGCO’s Fortune 500 recognition follows a recent announcement of solid quarterly earnings and impressive feedback from the Equipment Dealers Association’s (EDA) 2020 Dealer-Manufacturer Relations Survey of dealers throughout North America. The EDA study rates manufacturers in several critical categories, including overall satisfaction, product quality and availability, product technical support and communications. AGCO is the survey’s only full-line original equipment manufacturer to exhibit gains in dealer overall satisfaction for the last six consecutive years. The company also places in the top three rankings across all the survey’s categories.

“AGCO’s Fortune 500 and earnings performances are clear indications of a strong and vibrant company. Our continued strength exhibited in the EDA survey is especially gratifying, as it directly reflects healthy relationships between AGCO and our dealers in North America,”

says Bob Crain, senior vice president and general manager of AGCO’s North American operations. The company’s parts support system fill rate – a key metric impacting dealers’ ability to service customers – has remained at the top of industry rankings throughout North America for the last three years. AGCO has made substantial step-change improvements in its parts system fill and dealers’ over-the-counter fill to the point that they are best in class.

Crain goes on to say,

“All of us – AGCO and our dealers – have worked diligently to ensure that our products and services meet the needs of farmers and ranchers across North America. As agriculture continues to fight economic headwinds, supporting producers to ensure an abundant and safe food supply is ‘Mission 1,’ and AGCO is proud to be playing a vital and reliable role in doing so.”

Source: AGCO Group

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Profi survey finds that spare parts from Fendt are good value

NAFEM Newsroom — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 14:18:06 +0000

Results from the survey conducted by proﬁ – the magazine for professional farming technology – found that spare parts from Fendt are the best value for money. proﬁ Issue 3 – 2019 compared the cost of spare parts for 120 kW/170 hp performance tractors. The Fendt 718 Vario was most impressive overall, as having the best value spare parts.

This 2018 survey was the 7th overall, asking 42 official dealers about 8 tractor brands. 27 spare parts vied against each other in the proﬁ price comparison, with categories including wear parts, non-brand and brand-standard spare parts. Wear parts for the Fendt 718 Vario cost around 10% below the average. The study also revealed the costs for engine oil, hydraulic fluid and cab filters. Fendt’s prices for non-brand spare parts – such as outside mirrors, brake light switches, door locks and ignition switches – were well below average. As for the brand-standard spare parts, including rear windows and diesel tanks, Fendt “ranks the least expensive, at just 71 per cent”.

Summarising the overall results, the proﬁ editing team concluded: When we added up the 3 shopping baskets, even with replacement parts, Fendt’s 718 Vario takes first place as the “best value” at just 81 per cent of the average.

Source: Fendt News

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