North American farm equipment dealers are forecasting 2016 sales to be down 11% year-over- year. A net 51% of dealers are forecasting a sales decline (18% increase, 13% about the same, 69% decline), according to the December 2016 Dealer Sentiments & Business Conditions survey conducted by Ag Equipment Intelligence and Cleveland Research Co.

A year ago, dealers were expecting a full-year drop off of 13%, with a net 38% of dealers forecasting a sales decline for the year.

For 2017, dealers are forecasting a drop of 4% in sales on average. Last year at this time, they were expecting an average 9% decrease for 2016.