New tractor registrations in October have seen a slight rise in comparison to the same month in 2019, according to figures from the Farm Tractor & Machinery Trade Association (FTMTA).

The figures show a relatively stable, but improving, year-on-year picture for new tractor registrations.

A total of 85 new tractors were registered during October, up from 83 units in October 2019. This brings the total number of new units registered for the 10 months to 1,846, which is a drop of less than 4% on the 1,913 tractors registered by the same point in 2019.

The three counties with the highest levels of registrations thus far in 2020 continue to be Cork (251 units), Tipperary (129 units) and Wexford (128 units).

Meath is the only other county to have reached a three-digit number of tractor registrations at this time, with 102 units.

The horsepower band with the highest level of registrations to the end of October is the 101hp to 120hp range with 584 units or nearly 32% of all registrations.

Meanwhile, 88% of all tractors registered during the year so far had over 100hp, 56% had over 120hp and 29% had over 150hp.

UK

Meanwhile, in the UK, figures from the Agricultural Engineers Association (AEA) show that 671 new tractors were registered in October.

This meant the monthly total was 100 units lower than that in October 2019, a decline of 13%. At 8,541 units, registrations for the year to date are 22% lower than by the same point last year.

The AEA said that the annual total registrations could fall below 10,000 machines for the first time since 1998.