There were 128 new tractor registrations in the Republic of Ireland in September, according to figures from the Farm Tractor & Machinery Trade Association (FTMTA).

This brings the total for the first nine months of 2022 to 1,960, some 10% (226 units) behind the 2,186 units registered over the same period in 2021.

However, to put the success of last year’s new tractors registrations into perspective, numbers had surpassed the 2020 annual figures at this stage and were the highest recorded since the Celtic Tiger era when 4,531 new tractors were sold in 2008.

Interestingly, the 128 new units registered during September 2022 represent a 25% increase on the 102 new units registered during the same month last year.

The counties with the highest levels of registrations over the first nine months of 2022 were Cork (286 units), Tipperary (154) and Wexford (135). The counties with the lowest levels were Leitrim (10), Sligo (23) and Wicklow (27).

The 101hp to 140hp range was the horsepower band with the highest level of registrations, with 835 new units accounting for 42.5% of all registrations in the first nine months of this year. For the same period, tractors between 141hp and 200hp accounted for 37.7% of registrations while tractors 100hp or less accounted for 10.5%. Tractors over 200hp claimed 9.4% of new registrations.

The 141hp to 200hp power band witnessed the largest percentage increase in new registrations compared with the same period last year, going from 31.6% in 2021 to 37.7% in 2022 while the 101hp to 141hp category saw the largest percentage decrease going from 49.7% in 2021 to 42.5% in 2022.

Northern Ireland

Figures show there were 36 new tractors registered in Northern Ireland in September, down 14.3% on the 42 units registered in the same month last year, according to the Agricultural Engineers Association (AEA). This brings the year-to-date figure to 438 units, down 7.6% (36 units) on the 474 units registered in the same period in 2021. For the first nine months of 2022, Northern Ireland has accounted for 4.7% of all new tractor registrations in the UK.

UK

The association’s figures show that for all of the UK 1,070 new tractors were registered in September, 7.7% less than in the same month last year. At 1,070 machines, the monthly figure was 3% above the five-year average but 8% lower than the number registered in September 2021. This brought the total for the year to date to 9,297 units, 6% lower than in the same period a year ago but a little ahead of the average reached by this point in the year over the previous five years.