According to figures released by the AEA, the recent downward trend in UK registrations of agricultural tractors continued in December, with the monthly total 23% lower than in the same month of 2018.

At 657 machines, the total was the lowest December figure for three years.

Strong growth in the early months of 2019 meant that total registrations for the year were 2% higher than in 2018, at 12,333 units.

"However,"  explains Stephen Howarth, agricultural economist at the AEA, "the 2018 figure understated the true size of the market due to a large number of pre-registrations in late 2017 ahead of the application of the 'Mother Regulation'. Therefore, the figures indicate that the size of the tractor market for 2019 as a whole will have been significantly down on the previous year, particularly in the second half of the year."
 
Stephen continued, "The downward trend has been apparent in the figures since the spring, when numbers are thought to have been inflated by machines being brought into the country ahead of the original Brexit date. Across May to December, registrations were 6% lower than in the same period of 2018.

"For the final quarter of the year, the annual decline accelerated to 16%; registrations in this period were the lowest for the fourth quarter since 2014 and for any three-month period in nearly three years."