January's chart uses data collected from a global panel of 2,000 leading farmers to examine the business environment for agriculture and agribusiness in 13 countries – Brazil, China, Germany, France, Great Britain, Iran, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Zambia, South Africa, Thailand and USA. It focuses on investment areas in agricultural engineering solutions, and reveals that the focus of investments is on tractors, with between a quarter and a half of farmers in five of the countries surveyed planning to invest in these machines.
A record grain harvest in Russia saw that country lead the way in tractor buying intentions, but farmers there are also most likely to invest in a new combine harvester this year. The opportunity to minimize crop losses and boost profitability with modern harvesting technology is the main driving force for more than a third of the farmers questioned planning to spend money on this type of equipment.
In the Netherlands, meanwhile, the focus is on technology for grassland and forage harvesting. Once again, economics are driving this decision; lowering the cost of basic feed production is an important factor in improving the profitability of milk production.
Insights into agricultural developments
Launched late last year at Agritechnica, DLG-Agrifuture Insights has been introduced to supply insights into the developments that are taking place in the world's most important agricultural regions. The international agricultural sector and its environment are changing rapidly, and technologies, markets and market relations, structures and processes are all in a state of transition.
Demand for food is growing, digital networking is increasing, productivity must be boosted and conservation of resources improved. This new dynamism calls for ever-faster strategy decisions in agribusiness and in farming. Precise information is necessary for this, and identifying changes at an early stage is a crucial success factor when it comes to adapting products and services to the changing needs of customers.
Replacing and extending the scope of the DLG's Trendmonitor Europe survey, the focus of DLG-Agrifuture Insights is on animal husbandry and crop production, machinery and equipment, management, business climate and willingness to invest, identifying the top five investment areas and prevailing policies. It helps identify current trends in machinery, equipment and management, to assess the business climate and business expectations. This helps support agribusiness companies in developing strategies in international markets, and also gives farmer-entrepreneurs important stimuli for developing their business.
The DLG-Agrifuture Insights findings are reached by questioning a global panel made up of 2,000 future-oriented farmers. Surveys are conducted every February/March in the southern hemisphere and every August/September in the northern hemisphere, with the findings supplemented by continuous background research and regular interviews with top decision-makers.
