Grainswest - Spring 2022

Spring 2022 Grains West 24 “Thank goodness for that,” he said. “I think the manufacturer doesn’t like that provision at times, but for our customers, it gives thempeace of mind.” The bottom line is newly purchased equipment, especially air drills and seeders, will not arrive by springtime, period. Many manufacturers in Western Canada face the same issue—it’s difficult to get raw materials and various components, which are often sourced from Asia. Delays of six-plus months are now normal. “Because of delivery dates on new equipment, there’s an incredible run on used [equipment],” he said. According to WEDA, between May 2020 and September 2021, dealers asked the same or more for used combines on the lot. Normally they would discount machinery at a rate of perhaps two to five per cent each month it sits to trigger sales, but at certain points during that stretch prices were up, not down, those same percentage points. “That’s a once in a generation type thing. We saw a shrinking supply of used equipment and increasing demand on it because of the bottleneck. That’s been the most profound effect just because of limited supply getting smaller and smaller.” According to manufacturers, so long as the pandemic continues to diminish, they are banking on a return to normal service levels by 2023. All Schmeiser can tell farmers is they need to have an upfront talk with their local dealer about delivery dates. This will help farmers plan for the near future, even if iron shows up late. The same is true for farm retailers. The state of affairs was downright nasty in the spring and summer of 2020, and while those days are in the rearview, they’re not out of sight. “Last year, the crop input supply chain in general was in relatively good shape” said Trish Meyers, Federated Co-op Ltd. director of Ag Solutions, in Saskatoon, SK. “Going into 2022, there’s a strain on certain products. However, the whole channel has been planning pretty diligently for the upcoming growing season.” Meyers’s biggest PSA to farmers is directed at those planning to buy fertilizer just in time for spring seeding. Many farmers opted to postpone purchases as prices escalated back in the fall. Those same farmers will still require fertilizer, but on a tighter timeline. “The 2022 crop will still get seeded, and fertilizer will be in demand, but now there’s a backlog of product that needs to move to farm in a short period of time,” she said. “We know there’s going to be a need. It could be tricky getting it on farm. If seeding starts across the Prairies at the same time, that puts extra pressure on fertilizer logistics.” Farmers have continued to build out on-farm storage, including smooth- walled fertilizer bins and this does help farmers who don’t rely on a retailer to store their inputs. For a time, the issue was finding a retailer that had fertilizer on hand, but now it seems as though the delivery co-ordination may be a bigger question mark. Federated Co-op, for its part, is in constant contact, sometimes daily, with manufacturers to monitor inventory, parts and more. Despite this, there certainly could be instances where farmers must go with a second choice or a different company’s logo on their desired farm inputs. “There should be enough canola seed and crop protection product for growers, it may just not be the product,” she said, and suggested one product such as canola hybrids, could be substituted for another. “Our frontline team is working with growers to find the best solutions.” INPUTS AND IMITATIONS You’ll hear this same sentiment on the seed side, depending what product you want. The hot and dry conditions of 2021 impacted seed production harder than did supply chain issues. GETTIN’ CREATIVE When Schmeiser noted supply chain interruptions resulted in chaos, he meant it. Equipment dealers are doing whatever they can to help customers, he said. Recently, a farmer’s five-year-old high clearance sprayer needed a replacement fuel tank. Canadian law states a manufacturer must have parts available for farm equipment for at least 10 years. During the pandemic, the manufacturer’s third-party supplier that makes the fuel tanks went out of business. Now what? “This is where our dealers have become creative,” said Schmeiser. A dealer staff found the same sprayer at a salvage yard—one that had been written off in a fire, however the fuel tank was in pristine condition. They removed it and installed it in the farmer’s sprayer. It’s not nicely packaged and fresh from the factory, but it works, and during a pandemic, it’s often been whatever works. “We are in a customer relationship business. If we lose the trust, we lose the customer.” FEATURE