Second-hand machinery to the rescue amid global tractor shortage

A range of problems, including weak commodity prices many years before the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, has contributed to the worldwide dearth of new tractors on the market. As a result, some farmers have had little choice but to turn to second-hand machines for their operations. Susan Marais reports.

- Susan Marais

FAST FACTS

There is a global shortage of new agricultural machinery on the market, which is making it harder for farmers to purchase the latest technology.

While it may be a developing trend in the US for farmers to buy less technologically advanced tractors that they can repair themselves, industry role players say this is not the case in South Africa.

New high-tech tractors make it easier for farmers to monitor and assess their crops, which helps them to optimise yields.

The past two years have seen a severe global shortage in the supply of new agricultural machinery, and its effects have been felt at every level of the value chain. The reasons for the shortage are varied: COVID-19-related lockdowns, supply chain problems, a shortage of microchips (a problem that has affected many sectors) and weak commodity prices. Combined, they have produced a giant headache for manufacturers, dealers and farmers.

To take just one example, agricultural machinery manufacturer Case IH has been struggling to get a backlog of 1 000 tractors into South Africa, according to Arno du Plessis, head of tactical marketing and portfolio at CNH Industrial for Case IH. “Farmers ordered these machines for the previous planting season and they still haven’t received them,” he explains.

The scale of this backlog can be gauged by the size of South Africa’s tractor market, which is a mere 7 000 units per year.

One of Du Plessis’s biggest concerns is the fact that there is only one freight-shipping per month from Europe and the US to South Africa. “If you miss that one slot, you miss out.”