The final count of registrations for road use of agricultural tractors (over 50hp) in the UK for 2012 was 13,951 units which represents a decrease of 1.0% on the 2011 level say the AEA

The average size of unit sold in 2012 is provisionally put at 148 hp which was 2.6% above the preceding year. Accordingly the total power sold increased 1.6% to nearly 2.1 billion hp.

As had been expected, the early months saw large levels of registrations, buoyed by a high level of confidence from the 2011 farming season when incomes had risen by around 20%, whilst there were also tax incentives to making investments which expired in spring. Thus the first half year saw an advance of over 4% on the equivalent period of the preceding year, whereas the second half saw a decline of some 8%.

Since the turn of the millennium tractor unit registrations have varied between a low of just over 10,000 units and a high of over 17,000 and last year’s figure was slightly above the average level. However, in terms of total power sold, this was some 13% above the average.

Farming conditions are presently much more subdued than they were a year ago with incomes having slipped by as much as 20% by some calculations. The problems associated with establishing crops, plus the costs of feeding livestock have been compounded by reduced Single Payments and the prospects of tax bills from better times falling due. Accordingly, we cannot expect that the early months of the year will see the same level of activity of a year ago but farming has good future prospects and as long as the weather permits some degree of catch–up with crop establishment then investment in the appropriate farm equipment will remain a priority for the farming community.

The month-by-month comparison shows similarity between 2011 and 2012, with the peak month being March