Farming machine makers find new fields for growth

Asia-Pacific accounted for only 5 percent of AGCO's $9.7 billion in revenues last year, but the company－which recently opened its fifth factory in China－is targeting $1 billion in sales from the region before 2020 and expects its China business to quadruple by then.

The slowdown in agricultural sales in the US and other markets is probably too big for China to counter alone, although CNH International expects "significant acceleration" in the country overall, said Luca Mainardi, head of agriculture construction operations in China for CNH International.

"The main growth is from cooperatives, which have been growing rapidly in number in the past five years thanks to government support, "Mainardi said.

CNH sells tractors of 140-230 horsepower in China, the high end of the market, and just started producing combines there. Mainardi estimates there could be about 5,000 cooperative farms in the country, with their number growing by 15 to 20 percent each year.

Subsidies－which can cover up to 30-40 percent of the cost of a tractor or give incentives for deep ploughing－have also encouraged rapid gains in mechanization in a sector still dominated by lower-horsepower tractors and other machinery used on smaller farms.

Foreign players now account for an estimated 80 percent of the high-horse-power market, although they can expect to face greater competition from local counterparts in the future.

Under the national "Made in China 2025" plan, Beijing wants domestic companies to take 30 percent of the 200-plus horsepower market by 2020, and 60 percent by 2025.