The key takeaways from our third quarter 2021 results are: total company net sales of $338 million were up 16%.
Industrial Division net sales of $219 million, were up 12%, Agricultural Division net sales of $119 million, were up 25%.
Operating income of $30 million was down 3%, net income of $17.5 million or $1.49 per diluted share was down 13%, adjusted net income of $18.9 million or $1.59 per diluted share was down 8%.
Adjusted EBITDA was flat to the prior year third quarter and remained up 7% from full year 2020.
Total debt outstanding was reduced by $20.7 million during the third quarter and was down 21% from the prior year third quarter.
Our -- and our backlog increased to $645 million, which is up 154% over the prior year third quarter.
Third quarter 2021 net sales of $338 million, was 16% higher than the prior year third quarter.
Industrial Division third quarter 2021 net sales of $219 million, represented 12% increase from the prior year third quarter.
Agricultural Division third quarter 2021 sales were $119 million, up 25% from the prior year third quarter.
Gross margin for the third quarter of 2021 was $86.3 million or 25.5% of net sales compared to $78.6 million or 27% of net sales in the prior year third quarter.
Operating income for the third quarter of 2021 was $30 million or 8.9% of net sales, which was down 3% from the prior year quarter.
Net income for the third quarter 2021 of $17.5 million or $1.40 per diluted share was down 13% from the prior year third quarter.
If we exclude from the current year quarter, $1.4 million of after-tax charges stemming from accelerated stock award vesting related to the retirement of our former CEO as well as Morbark inventory step-up expense from the prior year quarter, third quarter adjusted net income of $18.9 million, was down 8% from the prior year result, while income before taxes was up $0.3 million over the prior year third quarter, mainly due to lower interest expense.
Net income was lower due to an income tax provision for stock-based compensation in anticipation of a 28% full year effective income tax rate as well as the non-deductibility of compensation expenses related to the retirement of our former CEO.
Third quarter 2021 adjusted EBITDA was flat to the prior year third quarter adjusted result as trailing 12 month adjusted EBITDA of $155.3 million remained flat to the trailing 12-month results that we reported at the end of the second quarter 2021.
This remains 7% above the adjusted 2020 EBITDA.
During the third quarter of 2021, we continued to delever the balance sheet by further reducing debt $20.7 million on the flat adjusted EBITDA performance.
We ended the third quarter of 2021 with a record high order backlog of $645 million which was an increase of 154% over the prior year third quarter.
Total company net sales of $338 million were up 16%, Industrial Division net sales of $219 million were up 12%, Agricultural Division net sales of $119 million were up 25%, operating income of $30 million was down 3%, net income of $17.5 million or $1.49 per diluted share was down 13%, adjusted net income of $18.9 million or $1.59 per diluted share was down 8%, adjusted EBITDA was flat to the prior year third quarter, but remained up 7% from full year 2020, total outstanding debt was reduced by $20.7 million and was down 21% from the prior year third quarter and our backlog increased to $645 million, up 154% over the prior year third quarter.
The increased pace of order bookings brought our backlog to a new all-time record of $645 million by the end of the quarter.
When the supply chain is significantly disrupted as we experienced broadly in the third quarter, our workforce is less productive as they have to shift production priorities frequently based on what products can be completed with the materials on hand.
Our effective tax rate in the third quarter was 37% compared to 27% in the third quarter of 2020.
The higher tax rate was primarily the result of a provision for stock-based compensation and an anticipation of a full year 2021 tax rate of 28%.

Summary:
The key takeaways from our third quarter 2021 results are: total company net sales of $338 million were up 16%.
Operating income of $30 million was down 3%, net income of $17.5 million or $1.49 per diluted share was down 13%, adjusted net income of $18.9 million or $1.59 per diluted share was down 8%.
Our -- and our backlog increased to $645 million, which is up 154% over the prior year third quarter.
Total company net sales of $338 million were up 16%, Industrial Division net sales of $219 million were up 12%, Agricultural Division net sales of $119 million were up 25%, operating income of $30 million was down 3%, net income of $17.5 million or $1.49 per diluted share was down 13%, adjusted net income of $18.9 million or $1.59 per diluted share was down 8%, adjusted EBITDA was flat to the prior year third quarter, but remained up 7% from full year 2020, total outstanding debt was reduced by $20.7 million and was down 21% from the prior year third quarter and our backlog increased to $645 million, up 154% over the prior year third quarter.
When the supply chain is significantly disrupted as we experienced broadly in the third quarter, our workforce is less productive as they have to shift production priorities frequently based on what products can be completed with the materials on hand.