Economics
It's Too Wet to Buy Tractors in Canada
- Threat of harvest losses comes amid already tight farm margins
- Machinery inventories relative to sales climb to a record
Purchases of farming-related machinery and equipment on the wholesale market have dropped 6.6% so far this year.
Photographer: Shannon VanRaes/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
It’s been so wet in Canada that farmers aren’t buying tractors.
The weather has been a slog in the Great White North. Soggy fields and freezing temperatures have delayed the fall harvest in recent weeks, and many crops are still sitting in fields. Growers aren’t sure how much of a loss they’ll face if the reaping can’t get done before the winter settles in, and that’s coming at a time when depressed global grain prices are already keeping farm margins tight.