Talking with precision dealers about their revenue outlook during the last several months, most have shared variations of the same story — cautious optimism with a caveat.
A challenging spring in many areas is compounding the prolonged effect of the slumping ag economy, a combination precision dealers cited as a concern.
However, results of this year’s seventh annual Precision Farming Dealer benchmark study — with contributions from nearly 180 farm equipment dealers, input retailers and independent precision companies — indicate an overall positive financial outlook for 2019.
Based on the responses gathered during the first and second quarter of 2019 from 31 different states and Canada, about 28% of dealers reported precision revenue growth of 8% or more in 2018, slightly ahead of the revenue forecast in last year’s report.
This marks the third consecutive year dealers exceeded their higher-end revenue expectations. However, 2018 revenue in the 2-7% range was about 10% off of initial projections, with almost one-third of study participants reporting modest precision revenue growth last year.
So what are dealers expecting this year? Overall, some 57% forecast revenue growth of at least 2% over 2019, with about 20% projecting growth of at least 8%. These totals reflect a more conservative forecast compared to a year ago, but only about 6% of study participants project a revenue decline of at least 2% this year.
You can find the complete 2019 benchmark study report and analysis coming in the Summer issue of Precision Farming Dealer and extended coverage of past studies at PrecisionFarmingDealer.com.
Post a comment
Report Abusive Comment