A total of 485 new tractors were registered in January, an increase of 15% on the 420 units registered during the same month last year, according to new figures from the Farm Tractor & Machinery Trade Association (FTMTA).

All 26 counties in the republic of Ireland saw new tractor registrations during January. Cork continued to deliver the highest number of registrations with 57 units, followed by Tipperary which ranked second with 47 units and Wexford with 43 units. Leitrim (two units), Sligo (four units) and Monaghan (five units) recorded the lowest level of registrations.

The 101hp to 120hp power band remains the most popular, with 116 units or 23.92% of all registrations.

Meanwhile, 96.5% of all new tractor registered were in excess of 100hp, 72.6% were over 120hp and 28.9% were over 160hp. This contrasts with 89%, 64% and 23% for the respective power bands in 2022.

Northern Ireland

Agricultural Engineers Association (AEA) figures show that 60 new tractors were registered in Northern Ireland in January, up just two units or 3.4% on the 58 new tractors registered in the same month last year.

Overall, there were 644 tractors registered in the UK in January, a notable increase of 28.8% on January 2021.

The growth in January registrations experienced across Ireland and the UK is partly a result of the strong financial year witnessed across a number of sectors including dairy and tillage in 2022. This, coupled with farmers ordering in advance of 2023 price increases, are two contributing factors to the positive 2023 registrations so far.