Each year for the Dealers Business Outlook and Trends Survey, dealers are asked to provide their unit sales projections for a number of product categories. Those projections are used to determine dealers’ best bets for improving sales in the year ahead. For the third year in a row, precision farming equipment & technology topped dealers’ list of best bets for improving unit sales, with 88.24% of dealers forecasting sales to be as good or better than 2025.

With grain prices continuing to remain low, dairy provides a bit of optimism for equipment sales for dealers and manufacturers alike. The “best bets” list confirms that livestock and dairy customers will provide opportunities for dealers in 2026, much like this year. Coming in at No. 2 is feeders/mixers (87.5%) and at No. 3 forage harvesters (86.2%). Both were in the top 5 last year, but it should be noted that for each product, over 70% of dealers are anticipating sales will be flat. 

Rounding out the top 5 is lawn & garden equipment at 86.1%, which jumped from No. 7 in 2025 to No. 4, and farm loaders at 85.7%, which jumped from No. 11 last year to No. 5. Utility and compact tractors both made it into the top 10 at No. 7 and No. 9, respectively. 

Coming in the bottom of the list were 2WD tractors over 100 horsepower, 4WD tractors and combines. Pull-type sprayers fell from No. 8 on the list in 2025 to No. 12, while self-propelled sprayers jumped 1 spot from No. 14 in 2025 to No. 13 in 2026. 

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