When Farm Equipment queried dealers about the impact that machinery shortages had on their business in the past year, many replied, "A lot!"

For dealers that quantified lost sales during the past year because of their inability to procure new machinery, many included used equipment sales lost because of lack of trade-ins on new equipment.

Asked, "How much additional revenue might you have booked in the first half of the year had more equipment been available to retail?" most dealers reported lost sales amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"At least 20% more on new with more on good used if we had the trades," says Marlin Bartel, Straub International, Marion, Kan.

Gary Vavrina, Vacin, Inc., Clarkson Neb., also felt the loss in both equipment categories, estimating 10% on new equipment on new and 15% on used.

In terms of lost unit sales, Gary Faircloth, Fairway Tractor Sales, calculated that at $20,000 to $25,000 per tractor, he could have made another $100,000 to $200,000.

On that same basis, Kari Mitchell, Mobile Ag & Industrial Supply, Bakersfield, Calif., reported "four to five units at $75,000 each."

For Randy Nicolai, Country Side Implements, Cannon Falls, Minn., lost revenues amounted to $350,000, and it was $375,000 for Tom Cavitt, Pettit Machinery, Gainesville, Texas.

"It's hard to say how much more revenue we would have booked earlier with better availability, but probably $400,000 to $700,000," says Darren Mead, Deems Equipment, Nevada, Mo.

In the case of multi-store dealerships, lost revenue could be multiplied several times. For example, Bobby Carey of Producers Tractor in Marvell, Ark., reported lost revenues of between $500,000 and $700,000 for his store alone.

While a Nebraska dealer reports that he could have sold an additional 20% between October and April had product been available, he also noted another trend that could prove to be worrisome. "We also saw a decline in new orders in direct proportion to rising new equipment cost," he says.