According to figures released by the AEA, for the tenth month in a row, UK agricultural tractor registrations in August were above their level a year earlier.

The monthly total of 829 machines was up by more than a quarter, compared with August 2020, and was close to the average for the time of year during 2015-19. This brings the total for the year to date to 8,693 tractors, 23% more than in the same period last year and 6% higher than the 5-year average for the opening eight months of the year.

Stephen Howart, agricultural economist for the AEA said, "The number of machines registered over the latest 12-month period has now moved back above 12,000 for the first time since the end of 2019; in the year to August 2020, fewer than 10,000 tractors were registered.

"Numbers might have been even higher but for ongoing disruptions to global supply chains, linked to Covid-19, which have inevitably led to an increase in delivery lead times for some machines."