Market Trends of Europe Planting Machinery Industry
High Government Subsidies For Farm Mechanization
According to the Guardian, under the EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP) in 2017, farm subsidies more than USD 6.3 million was provided. Farmers in the region are highly dependent on European Union subsidies, for about half their income, which directly relates to the revenue of the planting machinery market in the region. The countries in the region with well equipped farm technology and an adoption of higher levels of mechanization, has witnessed a high level of yield from field crops, and is able to cope with the growing agricultural demand in the country, and its export commitments due to the subsidies provided by the government. In spite of the recent cuts in subsidies, the French agricultural community still receives EUR 9 billion (over USD 10 billion), per year, through the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The French farming community that receives these subsidies is powerful, and effectively represented, by the country’s primary main agriculture union, the FNSEA. This union has become even more aggressive, in recent years, to avoid being outflanked by a new competitor, Confédération paysanne, a radical rural organization.
Continued agricultural subsidies and strong farm unions will continue to contribute to the overall agriculture growth in the region, along with the growth of planting machinery, in the region.
Increasing Usage of Planting Machinery in France
The French planting machinery segment was valued at USD 112.8 million in 2017, and is estimated to witness a CAGR of 3.2% during the forecast period. In France, the production of seeders, planters, and transplanters increased significantly in the recent past. However, the production of fertilizers and precision seeders witnessed a declining trend. According to the IHS Maritime & Trade and the AXEMA, France is the sixth largest exporter of planting machinery across the world, and exported plant machinery worth EUR 60.3 million in 2017. Planters in France are used for those seeds that are larger in size and cannot be planted by using the usual seed drills. Furthermore, it helps to improve cropping frequency, which, in turn, provides increased seed planting and seed/fertilizer placement accuracies. According to UN Comtrade Database, in 2016, the major importers of French planters were Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Germany, however, it imported planters from Germany, Belgium and Italy in the same year.
