Agricultural Machinery Sales continued a strong start to 2026 with an increase in sales recorded in February. Farming associations have welcomed the news.
Image: File
Agricultural Machinery Sales continued a strong start to 2026 with an increase in sales recorded in February. Farming associations have welcomed the news.
Willie Human, the chairman of the South African Agricultural Machinery Association, said that February tractor sales of 669 units were 5% more than the 636 units sold in February last year. “On a year-to-date basis, tractor sales are now approximately 8% up on last year. Thirty-one combine harvesters were sold in February, twelve more than the 19 units sold in February last year. On a year-to-date basis, combine harvester sales are now 50% up on last year.”
Human added that market sentiment continues to be positive. “Although commodity prices have softened, summer crop production looks as though it will be good. Farmers are, in some cases, holding back on making buying decisions until harvest time. They will then be able to see what their crop production is.”
Human concluded that industry predictions of tractor sales for the 2026 calendar are that these will be similar, or marginally lower, than those in 2025.
Wandile Sihlobo, the chief economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz), said that it was an encouraging start to the year in South African agricultural machinery sales. These strong sales come after a robust 2025, when South Africa’s tractor sales totalled 7,668 units, up 19% from 2024, and combine harvester sales totalled 207 units, up 3% from the previous year.
Sihlobo added that the data from the South African Agricultural Machinery Association shows that tractor sales amounted to 669 units in February 2026, up 5% year-on-year. The combine harvester sales were 19 units, up 63% from the previous month. These strong monthly sales follow the January 2026 uptick. The expansion in summer grains and oilseeds area plantings in the 2025-26 season, combined with relatively better financial gains from the robust production in the previous 2024-25 agricultural season, particularly in field crops, horticulture, and wine grape harvests, mainly supported these sales.
Sihlobo said that South Africa’s 2025-26 area plantings for summer grains and oilseeds are 4.62 million hectares, up 4% from the previous season.
“This comprises maize, sunflower, soybeans, groundnuts, sorghum, and dry beans. We are in the early days of the 2025-26 season, but judging from these planting data and the favourable rainfall in South Africa’s major crop-producing regions, we believe that 2025-26 may yet be another better year for South Africa’s summer grains and oilseeds, although a slightly lesser harvest than in the 2024-25 season,” he said.
Sihlobo concluded that the first production estimate for the 2025-26 season was at 19.82 million tonnes.
“While this is 3% less than the 2024-25 season, it remains an encouraging estimate. We must not forget that the 2024-25 summer grains and oilseeds were the second largest on record; therefore, being marginally lower than they were is not cause for concern. Ultimately, given such a promising season, agricultural machinery sales are likely to remain strong this year,” he said.
Dawie Maree, head of information and marketing at FNB Agriculture, said that increasing machinery sales are normally a good sign of improved agricultural conditions.
“It is also a sign of improved production conditions which is also confirmed by the increase in the grain crop estimates. The increased sales are also a result of the improvement in the confidence in the sector. But we can expect that machinery sales might flatten for the remainder of the season, given the movement of the exchange rate, expected fuel price increases, etc,” he said.
BUSINESS REPORT