Farm machinery production in the U.S. and USSR 1970-1988| ��ƽ��

Production of tractors and combines in the United States and Soviet Union in select years between 1970 and 1988 (in thousands)

Characteristic	U.S. - Tractors	U.S. - Combines	USSR - Tractors	USSR - Combines
1988	52	8.4	559.2	110
1985	58.5	10.9	585.5	150
1980	119.3	35.2	554.9	164.1
1975	161.1	46.2	550.4	168.4
1970	135.5	41.7	458.5	133.5

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Release date

1991

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Region

Russia, Ukraine, United States, Central and Eastern Europe

Survey time period

1970 to 1988

Supplementary notes

Figures for the U.S. are based on sales, figures for the USSR are based on production.

For tractors, only those above 40 horsepower have been included from 1980 onwards, while Soviet data excludes low-horsepower garden tractors and motorized cultivators (but does not specify what counts as "low-horsepower".

Citation formats

In 1970, the Soviet Union produced more than three times the number of tractors and combines that were sold in the U.S.. Despite this, some estimates from this time (including official Soviet estimates) suggest that agricultural output per worker in the U.S. was five times higher than that of the USSR in the 1970s. The Soviet Union prioritized the production of larger vehicles over individual passenger cars, as it was believed that it would be more beneficial to the economy, but agricultural output failed to catch up with the west over the following two decades. In 1988, the difference between the two countries had increased to 11 Soviet tractors or combines produced for every one sold in the U.S..