Needless to say, 2025 was a tough year. The Trump administration’s trade war sent shockwaves across U.S. agriculture. Commodity prices softened. Tariffs on steel and other inputs drove up machinery costs. And that, in turn, impacted every farm equipment brand’s bottom line.
Year over year, large equipment sales — four-wheel-drive tractors, high-horsepower tractors and combines — dropped about 35% to 45%, according to Greg Roberg, vice president of sales at AgDirect. He’s cautiously optimistic that 2026 will provide opportunity for a reset.
“It’s not going to be a record year by any means for us, but it should be pretty close to normal compared to what we expected or saw last year in this up-and-down environment that we’ve been in,” Roberg said.
What “normal” looks like is still to be seen. If history is an indicator, what goes up probably won’t come down. Expect the current machinery prices to stabilize into the foreseeable future.
A silver lining in 2025
But while challenges still abound, 2025’s sales slowdown could have a silver lining. Given 2025’s volatility, Roberg said farmers opted to hold onto used equipment rather than buy new. That could have some benefits for those looking to break their purchasing hibernation with the 2026 planting season by tipping negotiation power in buyers’ favor.
“We came through 2021 and even maybe early ’22 where equipment was pretty much all bought up coming out of COVID. We had supply chain challenges. Those are pretty much a thing of the past,” he said.
End-of-year data recently released by Sandhills Global backs up Roberg’s theory. November brought a slight uptick in used agricultural equipment sales.
“With the end of the year approaching, sales are starting to tick up, leading to some optimism for the end of the year,” said Ryan Dolezal, manager of TractorHouse. “However, sales are slower compared to past years, so it’s still vital to price competitively.”
Even so, that increase won’t claw the machinery industry out of 2025’s pit.
An equipment market bottom?
Compared to November 2024, data from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers documents that U.S. total sales of agricultural tractors declined nearly 20% while combine sales decreased by more than 35%. John Deere reported a 12% revenue decrease to about $45 billion for the full year. CNH Industrial’s bottom line similarly declined, as did Agco’s.
As the calendar flips to 2026, the lingering effects of tariffs are starting to bite into wallets. Commodity prices are still down. Will 2025 be remembered as the trough’s bottom? Maybe.
“This month’s numbers reflect the continued economic pressures farmers have been navigating for the past several months.” said Curt Blades, senior vice president of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers.
Speaking to November’s North American equipment sales data, Blades said: “While we’re seeing a short-term slowdown in sales, equipment manufacturers remain focused on supporting farmers with the tools and technologies that deliver efficiency and long-term value. As we move into 2026, we’re watching market conditions closely and remain confident in the industry’s underlying strength.”