On Oct. 4, Trevor Blair, @TrevorBlair12, tweeted that SeedHawk cancelled the drill he was expecting for spring seeding.
In the Twitter thread he said he wasn’t given an explanation on why his order was canceled, but he was told all the dealer’s orders from SeedHawk were cancelled.
Trevor Hardy at Brandt Agriculture in Watrous is Blair’s dealer.
Related story: Lawyer: Devil in the detail with delayed drill delivery
“Trevor’s (Blair) contract wasn’t cancelled. He was just notified that his piece of equipment would not arrive by spring of 2023. Every SeedHawk customer was offered three options.
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“Option One is to keep the deal as is and receive the drill when it arrives, which will probably be in June, too late for 2023 seeding. Option Two is to cancel the order all together.
“Option Three is exchange that order for a model year 2024 drill. But that makes no sense.
“With that option, you have to account for price increase on the 2024 drill. Nobody is going for the 2024 deal because you know it will cost more, and it’s the same drill as the 2023 model. The price increase on the 2024 drill will be more than six percent. That’s for sure.
“We only sold five SeedHawks this year, because that’s all they had available for us. Last year we sold 10 SeedHawk drills,” said Hardy.
Dale Mantyka at Youngs Equipment in Raymore, Sask., also handles SeedHawk. Commenting on the overall state of the implement business, Mantyka told The Western Producer, “Just because you order something doesn’t mean you’re going to get it this year. Supply chains are broken and prices are changing every month.
“If a dealer and a farmer agree on a price for a certain machine and do the paperwork, the manufacturer cannot change that price. We’re bound by that contract. If we both agree on $100,000 today and the farmer hesitates about signing, the factory might take away more programs. The price might be $110,000 tomorrow.”
Mantyka urges farmers to sign as soon as they know for sure what they want. Dealers are being hit with price increases and availability issues. He says the situation is volatile with interest rates, steel availability, software and hardware, plus all the other components going into a drill.
“That’s the new norm. There’s no point in waiting for prices to go down. That’s never going to happen in today’s world. I’ve been in this business 40 years and I’ve never seen prices drop,” Mantyka said.
Jim Wood, Rocky Mountain’s chief of sales and operations, says SeedHawk gave him adequate warning this year about delayed delivery. The previous two years, the bad news came as a big winter surprise to SeedHawk dealers.
“SeedHawk is just like the other manufacturers. They do a pre-sell and then forecast their production, and of course they’re oversold. I think everyone in the industry is trying to be responsible about how much they think they can build and sell.
“Then they get into production and find they can’t get orbital motors or wiring harnesses. This year is the best SeedHawk has done yet in terms of projecting the shortfall so far out.”
Wood figures the United States is taking production materials that had previously been available to everyone. They had a good peak in 2013 and 2014, and they’ve been running on equipment purchased back then. Now corn and soybeans are at a good price, so American farmers are buying new equipment.
“If the problems impact only our industry, then I’d be more concerned. But it’s impacting everyone,” Wood said.
The largest SeedHawk dealer in the U.S. is Torgerson’s, with a dozen dealers in Montana alone. The chain is having the same problem getting drills as Canadian dealers, said Torgerson spokesman Marv Pratt in a phone interview.
“We’re taking orders now for spring 2024. Last year you couldn’t get one (SeedHawk),” said Pratt, adding that the factory couldn’t get many key components.
“We have customers who’ve ordered a drill and couldn’t get it. We make them aware of the situation before we let them order.”
Ben Voss, Raven’s sales director, said the current situation has been unpredictable because of the way COVID, supply chain problems and the Russian invasion have all combined to create a near-perfect storm. Voss has had a varied off-farm career as an engineer, industry executive and business owner.
Speaking from a farmers perspective, he provided some insight into why manufacturers have been forced to handle the situation as they have.
“Manufacturers took orders at a certain price at which they figured they could make a profit under normal conditions. Then the situation changed from bad to worse,” Voss said.
“It put many companies in a position where they could not meet the agreed price. They also couldn’t buy enough materials to build all the units they needed. They might build half what they want, or nothing at all. This situation may drive major changes in the implement industry.”
The price on a new drill is firmly established when the sales agreement is signed. It cannot be changed by the manufacturer, the dealer or the farmer. But what about delivery date. Does late delivery of a drill constitute breach of contract? If so, does it give the farmer legal basis upon which to sue the manufacturer or the dealer.
We asked five individuals who specialize in such matters, and their responses were nearly identical. First, they all declined comment unless they could read the specific contract. They pointed out there could be a variety of different types of wording in these contracts, so they would only comment on a sales contract they had studied.
Secondly, most such contracts contain a clause pertaining to force majeure or Act of God. It was the consensus opinion that force majeure can be applied to our current situation due to COVID-19, supply chain issues, interest rates and the Russian invasion. So, if you want a concrete answer on the delivery date question, that will be up to you and your lawyer.
