Despite the uncertainty looming over the agricultural industry with Brexit, sales of new self-propelled forage harvesters appear to be on track to hit a record high.

Manufacturers and importers of foragers have said that it has been a great year to date, despite the uncertainty.

The exact figures of sales of new harvesters cannot be officially verified until all of the machines are on the island and have been registered.

However, the Irish Farmers Journal understand that there has been a total 45 new machines sold, with 22 of these being registered to date.

In addition, industry sources have noted that a number of deals are still ongoing. Based on selling 45 new foragers, this would represent an increase of 28.6% on 2018 figures, when a total of 35 new units were sold.

If we take a look back at sales figures from the past seven years, 2017 stood out as being the best year, with 38 new machines sold, while 2012 was the worst year with sales of new foragers only reaching 22 units.

Taking a look at the various brands that contractors are buying, Claas has been leading the way for quite some time now, with this trend looking to continue for the 2019 calendar year.

Second

Fighting for second place are John Deere and Krone. It’s worth noting that Krone only broke on to the Irish market in 2016, but has built up a good reputation and is constantly building its market share.

After selling one of its 911hp flagship foragers last year, it is believed New Holland has sold a number of new harvesters this year. It’s believed that there have been no reported sales of the Fendt Katana.

Meanwhile, in the self-propelled mower market, Krone enjoyed a great year of sales in 2018, selling a total of 10 units. It is understood 2019 sales of new Big Ms are currently on par with 2018 in the Republic, while another 10 new units have been sold in the North.