Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of Michael Cox of Piper Jaffray.
Michael Cox - Piper Jaffray
Good morning gentlemen, thank you for taking my question.
Richard Parod
Good morning.
Michael Cox - Piper Jaffray
My first question is on the G&A line item. I was just wondering if you could provide a little more color around the sequential increase in G&A this quarter despite the sales dropping off a little bit?
Richard Parod
G&A in total was down for the quarter in dollars. Are you referring to a percentage basis or you're looking at the year?
Michael Cox - Piper Jaffray
Well, just the G&A line item; it looks like there is 8 million, up from 7. Maybe I have my math wrong here, I was subtracting out the previous quarters.
Richard Parod
Just one moment; do you have that, Dave?
David Downing
For the year, Michael, we are actually down on G&A.
Michael Cox - Piper Jaffray
Okay.
David Downing
But I'd have to look back at that for the specific quarter number.
Michael Cox - Piper Jaffray
Okay, that's fine. Looking at the -- seasonally, it's nice to see the backlog stabilize on the irrigation side. Would you expect as we move through the seasonal flow period that will see sales and the irrigation business stabilize at these depressed levels.
Richard Parod
Well, I think it would be probably more fair or appropriate to talk about farmers' sentiment a little bit in terms of what we're hearing and seeing the recession. The way I would describe that today is that farmer sentiment is much improved over the same time last year.
If you recall last year, we had a large backlog in the going into the first quarter of fiscal 2009; however, orders dropped off precipitously at one point, because farmer sentiment was very negative as the recession will have started to have an impact. So that's much improved over that time. And I think that the farmers and our builders would describe the sentiment and position they are in today as more average or normal than anything else. So, I wouldn't call it depressed; I would say that they do it as a more normal perspective today.
Michael Cox - Piper Jaffray
Okay, that's helpful. And in terms of the cash and the balance sheet, certainly a good problem to have; could you talk a little bit about opportunities to deploy that cash?
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