As the season hangs in the balance with good rains badly needed, farmers are being urged to contact dealers to discuss their machinery requirements.

Geraldton Case IH dealer principal, Steve Purcher, said dealers gambled every year on forward ordering machinery stock.

"It's an annual process because you've got to have some product on hand to run the business," he said.

"In this game things can turn quickly and like this year, if it rains, we could be swamped with orders so you've got to weigh up what reasonable levels of inventory are needed."

Mr Purcher said while global supply is tightening, the US war effort for Iraq remains a big factor in lead times between ordering equipment and delivery.

"Reports indicate the US armed forces have taken most of the railway and shipping capacity and therefore they (agricultural equipment manufacturers) can't get gear to port to load onto ships," he said.

"That's been happening for a while and it's one of the reasons why a lot of tractors and tillage gear has arrived late into Australia.

"If you ordered a tractor in 2007 you may still not have got it and that's why you see a lot of dealers making orders now because they know if they don't they won't get anything here in time for the 2009 season.

"I know a lot of farmers won't make any commitments until it rains but if they want gear for next year they may have to bite the bullet and order now."

Dalwallinu John Deere principal, Ken Jolly, said that if dealers hadn't taken the initiative to forward order, farmers would have missed out because of the strong global demand for equipment.

"It's a business and you've just to keep making business decisions whether the market is up or down," he said.

"We've ordered everything we can get on the theory that farmers need to replace equipment and now we're waiting for farmers to come in and order.

"It's a funny game because if we had got an inch of rain last week I reckon we would have been inundated with orders.

"As it stands, farmers are reticent to make a move because they want to wait for the rain but like any business you've got to assess your future needs.

"This is a cyclical business and there will be an upturn but the question will be availability of equipment.

"And in this tight supply environment you can't wait for the upturn before you order.

"We've got some stock coming in every month but for combine harvesters, for example, our next shipment is scheduled for January or February 2009.

"We can't supply for 2008 now."