Source: 2015 Farm Equipment Dealers Business Outlook & Trends
Nearly one-half of North American farm equipment dealers are expecting that full-year revenues from the sale of new equipment in 2014 will be down vs. 2013. This is about the same percentage of dealers who are projecting declining revenues in the year ahead.
Half of the slightly more than 300 North American farm equipment dealers responding to Farm Equipment’s “2015 Dealer Business Outlook & Trends” survey expect sales revenues to decline in the year ahead compared with the year passed.
In today’s newscast we look at some results from Ag Equipment Intelligence’s “2015 Dealer Business Outlook & Trends” survey, Morningstar’s outlook on biofuels, Titan Machinery’s plans for inventory reduction and how dealers are shifting their precision farming priorities in 2014.
Do you use parts-to-labor ratio as a key benchmark in your operation? This important rule of thumb maintains that for every dollar of labor sales, your dealership should generate one dollar of parts sales. Both parts and service should be your dealership's most profitable departments and this ratio helps drive profits in both areas.
For the quarter ended June 30, 2014, revenue decreased by $6.8 million, or 2.8% as a result of a $9.0 million or 5.2% decrease in agricultural equipment segment revenue, offset by a $2.2 million or 3.1% increase in CIT equipment segment revenue.
Strong overseas sales of farm machinery, engines and construction equipment helped Kubota Corp. increase its consolidated revenues by 24.6% for its fiscal year ended March 31, 2014.
Godfrey Bros. in Jonesville, Mich., attributes its $1 million in revenue per employee to the large amount of cross-tasking and multitasking within the dealership. Kevin Godfrey, owner, says that everyone tries to help out wherever they can, regardless of what department they belong to.
Titan Machinery followed through on its April 10 announcement that it would close and/or consolidate 8 of its stores and reduce its overall headcount to improve the performance of its construction equipment operations and counteract the slowdown in ag machinery sales. This allowed the company to report that it increased its overall revenues by 5.4% during the first quarter of fiscal year 2015.
A little over 3 years ago in February 2011, Deere & Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Samuel Allen said he wanted to deliver three times as much profit at normal operating volumes and to double the company’s annual sales to $50 billion by 2018 as part of his John Deere Strategy.
Built on 90 years of expertise, Yetter Farm Equipment leads the agriculture industry in designing effective and innovative equipment for residue management, seedbed preparation, precision fertilizer placement, harvest attachments, strip-tillage, and more.
Montag is the industry’s innovative leader for precise, accurate metering of fertilizer, seed and other nutrients. The Montag system has become the standard for deep banding of fertilizer. Montag is also pioneering the technology for cover crop seed application. The new Cover Crop+ is able to meter the smallest seed, and can be mounted to tillage implements, combines, plus Hagie sprayers and detasselers.
At Machinery Scope, we believe you deserve the best risk management solutions for your investments in heavy equipment. Since 2013, we have been proud to offer extended warranty, appraisals, and inspections. Machinery Scope is a family-owned business built on our experience in farming and equipment dealerships. We understand your business and provide a personalized and professional level of customer service. Machinery Scope has built a strong warranty product with our customers in mind, offering the same professional level of service from the time you get a quote, through the processing of a claim.