by SUSAN MANN
You’d think it would be a recipe for attraction, farmer-style.
Canadian dollar worth a little north of two thirds of an American dollar? Check.
Used farm equipment above the Canadian/U.S. border? Check.
The combination has enticed some American buyers to Ontario for used farm equipment, but not like it did 10 years ago, says Wayne Bobier, co-owner and sales manager at C.L. Benninger Equipment (1995) Ltd., a Chatham-based equipment dealership.
“Ten years ago, when our dollar was at this same point for a long period of time then all of the Canadian dealers were advertising in the United States and selling a lot of stuff to the U.S. buyers,” he says. The Canadian dollar is currently valued at 72 cents U.S.
He says it will take two to three consecutive years of the Canadian dollar being at roughly the same value it is now compared to the American dollar for that to occur again. “And the U.S. agricultural economy has to get stronger for them (American farmers) to be wanting to buy,” he adds.
Bobier says he has talked to dealers in Ohio, Nebraska and Tennessee who said their business was down by 50 per cent last year. “Their yards are full of equipment and they’re discounting like crazy.”
If the Canadian dollar stays low, “then our used equipment will be attractive to them but it hasn’t happened yet, in my opinion,” he says.
Bobier says there haven’t been any Americans looking to buy equipment at his dealership.
Bob Weagant, president of Weagant Farm Supplies Limited of Eastern Ontario, says some American farmers are buying used equipment and pick-up trucks in Ontario but the American dealers and jockeys aren’t.
Jockeys are people in the industry located in an office in Iowa, for example, who would buy 10 used tractors in Ontario and other provinces and then sell them in Texas or other parts of the United States. “He would just jockey the stuff back and forth. Whenever there’s a 40- per-cent dollar differential and if there’s a market there, those guys should be buying. But they’re not buying here.”
Michael Hahn, president of Hahn Farms Ltd. of Stratford, says used equipment prices in Canada will increase due to the increased demand from the Americans and to increased prices for new equipment. “When the new price goes up the used price goes with it.”
Hahn says new equipment prices are going up because of the exchange rate. “Most of it (the new equipment) is built or sold in U.S. dollars.”
Similar to the other dealership spokesmen, Hahn says there are a few more American buyers now “but I wouldn’t say there was a lot more.”
Beverly Leavitt, president and CEO of the Canada East Equipment Dealers’ Association based in Barrie, says cross-border shopping of mainly used farm equipment “is pretty much the norm in the industry. When the Canadian dollar is low, then people from the United States do come over here to do their purchases. When it’s high, we find our Canadian farmers going across the border to buy equipment in the States.” However, “it’s not like it’s a mass exodus or anything like that.”
Leavitt says it’s mostly dealers along the Canadian/U.S. border that see the cross-border equipment shoppers. BF
Comments
Either dealers have allowed too much on trade in values or want to make too much the machinery in Ontario is still over priced even when considering the exchange rate compared to south of the border
This is nothing new ,when the US dollar is at a all time high again ,every sector in Canada feels the impact! We are getting call from US dealers and buyers looking for deals in Ontario in ATV'S and all off road vehicles ,This is nothing NEW! It may have a big impact on Canadian consumers trying to buy, only to find out it went south. If I was in the market to up date or buy new ,I wouldn't wait long, you may experience this yourself! This is good for dealers ,farmers and the economy in the US and may have a big impact on Canadian Consumers looking to buy! Time will only tell the effects the High US dollar is having in Canada! Bill Denby importer/ exporter
In talking with American farmers and from what I have been reading as of late , the US farmers who are in the market for machinery have taken to buying at auctions . They do price dealers but unless they are buying in a Multi Unit Discount (MUD) program they are telling me that they will search auctions for a better deal .
There has been much equipment upgraded in the US over the past couple of years and many farmers do not need to upgrade and are in the drivers seat when it come to making a deal . The US Gov gave producers the programs they knew would drive the economy . Here we get no programs from the Feds and the Province is all successful at driving business out of the province .
Most equipment dealers here in Ontario are sitting on over priced equipment that they are not yet willing to discount to move . They think fact that crop prices here are higher than south of the border that it warrants premium priced equipment here . They have forgotten that many of our inputs are coming here with the high US dollar price tag attached to it also . Costs of every thing is higher here too . Dealers here are going to be in for rough ride if things don't improve soon .
Equipment is a major part of the cost of a ton of grain. Ask any crop farmer and they will tell you that all inputs are too high. Even fuel which has dropped in price, is still too expensive when you consider the world price of oil.
This problem of input prices being too high is really all about the fact that we pay retail prices when we buy inputs, sell at wholesale prices and just accept the best price we can get from the marketplace.
The big equipment manufacturers have seen this glut of surplus equipment coming for a few years. Google them and you'll find they have been laying off staff and closing facilities. I feel badly for the equipment dealers who are local business people getting squeezed on both sides.
Farmers can't afford to buy their equipment now and the big companies enforce all manner of demands on dealers.
Farmers actually have a lot of power but can't ever agree on a strategy to work together so they effectively consign themselves to being pawns who are effectively controlled by large corporations and governments.
We farmers are too proud to admit this publicly and there is no reason to think this will change. In fact interest in marketing boards, co-ops and farm organizations is not nearly as strong as it was a few decades ago--stifled by a combination of shrill, short sighted opponents and apathy on the part of supporters.
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