The number of new tractor registrations in November was slightly lower than the same month in 2019, according to figures from the Farm Tractor & Machinery Trade Association (FTMTA). Despite this, the overall yearly figures show little change.

A total of 38 new tractors were registered in November, down five units on 2019. That brings the total new tractor registrations for the first 11 months of 2020 to 1,884 units. This is a drop of less than 4% on the 1,956 units at the same point a year ago.

FTMTA chief executive Gary Ryan said: “Given that December is generally a month of quite low levels of new tractor registrations, with only 12 units registered in December 2019, the final outcome for the year is unlikely to differ significantly from the current position.

“A drop of approximately 4% on the 2019 number seems a good performance in light of the trials and tribulations endured this year and is indicative of a welcome level of customer confidence.”

The counties with the highest levels of registrations in 2020 are Cork (257), Tipperary (129) and Wexford (129), followed by Meath (107) and Galway (98) .

The 101hp to 120hp power range had the most registrations to the end of November, with 592 units or over 31% of all registrations. The situation in the higher power categories remains unchanged on October, with 88% of all tractors registered during the year so far having over 100hp, 56% over 120hp and 29% over 150hp.

UK

Meanwhile, figures from the Agricultural Engineers Association show 638 new tractors were registered in the UK in November. This was up over 100 units on 2019, a jump of over 22%.

Despite registrations being up 5% year on year over the last four months, at 9,179 units, the total for the year to date is still nearly 20% lower than the same period last year, following the sharp decline in the spring.

Used imports

Registrations of used imported tractors into Ireland have continued their recovery from the record lows of the second quarter, when fewer than 100 used imports were registered. This was due to the closure of the NCT centres under the public health restrictions.

November saw 401 used imports registered, up from 234 last year. A total of 2,623 used imports have been registered during the first 11 months of 2020, a drop of 9% on 2019, which saw the highest level of imports in over five years.