Farm equipment logjam not clearing any time soon

Guy Deroche of Notre Dame Motors was pleasantly surprised about parts orders this fall when delivery was better than expected.

Supply chain disruptions were a hallmark of the year, forcing producers and agri-businesses to scramble for inputs, for manufacturing components, for livestock ear tags and a long list of consumer products.

There were few big issues for the machinery parts desk, but the same could not be said of new equipment.

Why it matters: A shortage of new equipment will affect producers who would normally be in the acquisition phase of their replacement cycle.

Notre Dame Motors, like most ag machinery dealers, is having trouble getting new equipment on the lot, which Deroche links to manufacturers’ issues with sourcing components.

Some orders are still a year to a year and a half out, he noted.

“Some of [the producers] are just waiting, and some of the equipment we can’t even get prices on them, so they’re saying, ‘well, we’ll just put it on the back burner and look at it in three months or six months or something’,” Deroche said.