Australia's record-breaking year of tractor sales was achieved with the smallest farm machinery dealership network the nation has ever had.
The industry's distribution channel in 2021 was made up of just 365 outlets.
Back in the 1980s, when tractor sales were also going gangbusters, there were between 2000 and 2500 dealers.
Agriview has been tracking the number of dealers, both single businesses and group businesses, since it started in 2009.
Its managing director Alan Kirsten said in that time, single business outlets had decreased 41 per cent, while group business outlets had increased 31pc.
Mr Kirsten presented these findings at the Tractor and Machinery Association of Australia conference in Melbourne on Wednesday.
"What's remarkable to me is that we're able to pump through so much product," he said.
"As quick as we can get it, it's going through the system and dealers are doing a great job.
"But we're pumping it through very constrained outlets."
Mr Kirsten said the network was getting older and expected to see more outlets lost in the next few years, but hopefully not too many.
He said while the network was smaller, it was a better network.
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Agriview also conducts a quarterly business barometer, which found 80pc of dealerships would like to increase the size of their workforce.
While the survey had a small sample pool of just 49 respondents, Mr Kirsten said dealers were expecting their turnover of tractors and harvesters to remain unchanged.
However, he said the service and support capacity was going to be under pressure in the years ahead.
"Dealers have got to reinvest, but what do they reinvest with, we can't get the people," Mr Kirsten said.
"The industry has to come together, not from a brand perspective but more from an industry perspective, of trying to attract people into this industry to look after this product going forward.
"It's a great industry, I've been in it 40 years and I've had the best time."
