Following a year in which revenues turned out to be better than they had forecast, dealers are largely positive in their outlook for revenue growth from the rural lifestyle market, according to the 2026 Dealer Business Trends & Outlook survey. According to the survey, over 90% of dealers are forecasting their wholegoods revenues to be as good or better than in 2025. Tillers, chainsaws and power hand tools top the list of dealers’ best bets for improving unit sales in 2026.
During the National Farm Machinery Show held in Louisville, Ky., Feb. 10-13, Rural Lifestyle Dealer editors caught up with Joel Hicks, a product line manager with Kioti, who offered some perspective on where he sees the market heading in 2026.
“Most people are predicting that the market’s going to be flat or down, and we’re kind of setting ourselves up for a little bit of that,” Hicks says. “But overall, our perspective is that we can outpace what the market has been doing and take market share, especially in the compact, under 60 horsepower market.”
Tariffs are going to continue to put some pressure on rural lifestyle equipment, he says, noting that for this product class even the equipment that is assembled in North America has components that are being sourced globally.
And while lower commodity prices are contributing to large ag equipment sales being down, Hicks points out that rural lifestyle equipment is tied more closely to the general economy. “It’s tied to how strong the housing market is, as people still continue to buy land, large tracks break up, people move out into more rural areas.”
2025 Results vs. Expectations
Compared to their forecasts for 2025 revenues, dealers reported better results overall. In their outlook ahead of 2025, 75.8% of dealers were calling for revenues to be as good or better compared to 2024. As 2025 drew to a close, 81.3% reported their total revenues were as good or better than 2024. The percentage of dealers who said their revenues were roughly flat improved by 6.7 percentage points compared to the 2025 forecast. Just over 37% of dealers reported 2025 revenues were up 2-7% over 2024, up 6.3 points from the percent who forecast that level of growth a year ago. Fewer dealers reported their total revenue was up 8% or more than had forecast that level of growth a year ago (8.0% vs. 15.5%).
Source: Rural Lifestyle Dealer Business Trends & Outlook surveys
