Thanks Brent. I'll start with a review of our agriculture and turf business on Slide 5. Net sales were up 3% in the quarter-over-quarter comparison, primarily driven by higher shipment volumes and price realization, partially offset by negative impact of currency translation. Operating profit was $1.019 billion, resulting in a 14% operating margin for the division. During the quarter price realization offset material and freight inflation, while other production costs ran slightly higher than expected. With regards to material cost inflation, keep in mind that our steel contracts operate on a three to six month lag to spot prices. Lastly, changes in currency had an unfavorable impact to the margins of 1.5%. Before we review the industry sales outlook, let's look at the fundamentals affecting the ag business, on Slide 6.
Despite high production levels forecasted for the '19 and '20 season, corn's global stock to use ratio is expected to decline in response to record consumption outpacing supply. Conversely, wheat stock to use ratio is projected to increase in '19 and '20 due to a sharp production recovery from last year's drought stricken regions, such as Europe and Australia. Meanwhile, Soybean stock to use ratio was forecasted to remain at elevated levels through '19 and '20 marketing year in response to higher than expected yields in U.S. and the ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and China.
The inventory increase is further compounded by uncertainty for near term global demand as the African swine fever has significantly diminished the herd size in China. Slide 7 outlines U.S. principal crop cash receipts, an important indicator for equipment demand. 2019 principal crop cash receipts are estimated to be roughly $117 billion, a decline of 4% since last quarter, reflecting the recent pressure on commodity prices resulting from rising stocks, diminished market access and near term demand uncertainty. The confluence of these factors compounded further by U.S. late planting seasons have adversely affected farmer sentiment in recent weeks. As a result, further trade progress between the U.S. and China is becoming increasingly important to the near term sentiment. By region, our 2019 ag and turf industry outlooks are summarized on Slide 8. Industry sales in U.S. and Canada are forecasted to be flat to up 5% for 2019. However, as near term fundamentals have weakened, we anticipate large ag industry sales to be on the lower end of that range with Canadian demand turning negative due to adverse weather and currency fluctuations and further complicated by tariffs on certain crops, such as canola and lentils. Our small ag equipment compact tractors continued to show a strong order book for 2019, driven by healthy U.S. economy and GDP growth, while growth from midsized tractors is more modest due to the softness in the livestock and dairy sector. Moving on to the EU 28, the industry outlook is forecast to be flat in 2019, stabilized by healthy margins for the arable and dairy sectors in the south and west regions, offsetting less favorable conditions in the north central and northeast regions. In South America, industry sales of tractors and combines are projected to be flat up 5% for the year with strength in Brazil balanced by slowness in Argentina on account of high inflation and political uncertainty. Farmer sentiment remains quite positive in Brazil, which had a very strong first half of the year. Farm margins in the region continue to be supportive of equipment demand and sentiment has been boosted following record corn and soybean harvest in 2019. We experienced positive farmer sentiment at the recent Agri Show where equipment sales continued at healthy levels. Furthermore, this year's Agri Show featured the initial launch of our leading technologies to the Brazilian market, products such as Combine Advisor, Exact Emerge and Exact Apply were well received during their debut. Shifting to Asia, industry sales are expected to be flat to slightly down as key growth markets slow modestly. Lastly, industry retail sales of turf and utility equipment in U.S. and Canada are projected to be flat to up 5% in 2019 based on solid economic factors that are supported by continued consumer confidence. Putting this all together on Slide 9, fiscal year 2019 sales of worldwide agriculture and turf equipment are now forecasted to be up approximately 2%, which includes a negative currency impact of about 3 points. The reduction from previous guidance relates to recent softness in the North American large ag and dairy markets, as well as our decision to under-produce retail for the remainder of the year. Furthermore, we're reducing our full year operating margin forecast from 12% to 11% to reflect unfavorable movements in volume and mix, as well as the impact of the lower production schedules. Also, the unfavorable impact of currency is over a point. Before moving on to Construction & Forestry, I'd like to acknowledge the challenging conditions that many of our customers are facing right now. As such, we'd like to highlight a key initiative that is producing positive results for producers, and helping them better manage the many variables affecting their operations, even while end markets remain difficult. Over five years ago, the agriculture and turf division began executing the deliberate shift towards the crop production systems business model. This strategy reframed our approach to innovation and deeply impacted three primary areas of business; number one, our product portfolio planning; number two, our go-to-market strategy; and number three, the integration of precision ag technologies. Our production system strategy ensures that innovation efforts focus on the entire system of producing a crop, leveraging the entire suite of Deere products from the field prep to planting, protecting and harvesting, driving tremendous value for our customers by maximizing yields and decreasing input costs. The results from this approach have been clear. Today, Deere is producing meaningfully differentiated technology and has achieved its highest North American market share in over a decade. The strategy's first step involved in focusing efforts on product portfolios that optimize a crop system. To do this, we formed production system innovation teams organized by crops, such as corn, soy and small grains. These teams ensure innovation focuses on farming jobs that address our customers' biggest pain points and have the most potential to unlock value. The team then work across the various product platforms to allocate R&D investments accordingly.
Next, we engage our dealer channel to focus on the agronomic impact of our equipment. To do this, we conducted LEAD events around the country, LEAD standing for Leading Economic and Agronomic Decisions. These events hosted local customer demonstrations showing the agronomic impact of our technology and equipment. Today, many dealers now employ agronomist, and host their own LEAD events. Lastly, our integrated precision ag technologies are the most critical enabler of our production system strategy.
Today, John Deere is the global leader in precision agriculture and our unique combination of best-in-class machinery, dealer channel and advanced technologies deliver improved outcomes for every pass, every field and every season, bringing real value to farming operations with both reduced costs and increased yields. Precision Ag is the common thread across each production step, helping farmers and helping producers to manage their operations. It allows farmers to use the same guidance line from planting to spraying, or leverage a common display interface through each step. Increasingly, agronomic data is driving farming decisions and our digital platform provides an opportunity to integrate data across all the production steps and to use it through the entire season to create real value. The John Deere operations center is our digital platform that allows farmers to plan their work in the off season, monitor and control their operations in real-time and then analyze all the data. Today, we are the only ag OEM to have a comprehensive digital ecosystem, combining both agronomic and machine data into one application. Today, the operation center has over 145 million unique engaged acres in its system globally, leveraging data across each production step results in making decisions differently. It also allows for the precise soil prep at the beginning of season.
It makes each seed count in planting and gives every seed the best opportunity for success during the season. It makes every drop count in applications, adding the right amount at the right location, whether nutrient, herbicide, or pesticide. And lastly, it makes every grain and farming output count in harvesting so that farmers get maximum value from the work they've done throughout the season. Even small changes in these items can produce tremendous value for our customers, driving better yield and lowering cost of their operations.
With each production step, equipment can use the data gathered from every pass as connected machines deliver data to the cloud. Simply put, each production step informs the next and subsequent steps can measure the outcomes of prior steps. In order to unlock the power of data, we've designed our digital systems to be as open as possible.
Our systems, in other words, are compatible with those of many other industry players. Openness is an easy thing to say but a more challenging thing to do. At John Deere, we're committed to growing our leadership position as the most open platform in the industry based on these three important factors: number one, customer control; number two, customer choice; and number three, compatibility. Our first guiding principle is that customers control their data, while Deere provides the most secured means to protect their privacy. That said, customers do not farm alone and often employ trusted advisors as an integral part of their operation and the decisions they make. John Deere Operations Center gives customers the control to grant access to whomever they choose, providing secure collaboration environment for farmers. Regarding customer choice, the operation center maintains over 115 connected third-party providers. It provides unparalleled access to the industry leaders. From aerial image services to farm profitability providers, these connected partners make our digital platform more valuable and easier to use for customers.
Lastly, John Deere has a history of leading the industry in machine and technology compatibility. Thus, ensuring that our equipment works well in multi-colored fleets. We help pioneer the creation of standards that enable equipment interoperability, such as ISOBUS, the ADAPT standard and AgGateway. Our compatibility efforts also enable customers with mix fleets to bring their data into the operations center. In summary, while we've made great strides to-date, we're still in the early innings of executing this strategy. One of our next steps involves rolling out our latest technology to new markets, such as Brazil. As I mentioned, we're just now introducing Exact Emerge, Exact Apply and Combine Advisor to the Brazilian market, and have been very encouraged by the early results. We look forward to updating investors as we move ahead in these areas in the future.
I'll now turn the call back over to Brent Norwood. Brent?