Report: US farm tractor sales unchanged, but combine sales plummet in October

Sales of combines plummeted in October in the United States, but sales of farm tractors remained steady.

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers reported Tuesday in its monthly snapshot that the number of tractor sales for the month remained unchanged at 19,528 when compared with the same month a year ago. Strong sales of two-wheel drive tractors offset declines in the sales of their four-wheel drive counterparts.

Overall total sales of farm tractors to date are up 4.1 percent for the first 10 months of the year, with some 179,923 tractors sold in the United States.

But farmers bought just 583 combines in October, representing a drop of 49.3 percent when compared with the same month a year ago. Combine sales are down 21.3 percent so far this year.