A total of 60 new tractors were registered in the Republic of Ireland during June, taking the total number of new tractor registrations for the first six months of the year to 1,290, according to the most recent data released by the Farm Tractor and Machinery Trade Association (FTMTA).

The data shows June registrations to be back 8% or five units on June 2023. Looking closer at the year-to-date figures to establish the situation for the first six months, new tractor registrations are back 11%, or 154 units, on 2023.

This comes as no major surprise, as tractor sales have declined across Europe and the US.

Since the introduction of the split registration year in 2013 (ie 241 and 242), June has always witnessed fewer sales than those typically experienced in the months before and after.

County by county

The counties with the most new tractors registered in June were Kildare (seven units), Cavan (five units) and Cork (five units). Counties Kilkenny, Longford, Offaly and Waterford all recorded no new registrations in June. Monaghan was the county to register the largest tractors, having registered two new tractors within the 241hp to 320hp power band.

Meanwhile, Co Cork recorded the most new registrations for the six-month period at 179 units, while Tipperary is ranked in second place with 119 units, followed by Limerick third place at 76 units.

Powerband

The most popular power band was the 101 to 120hp category, which for June 2024 accounted for 21.67% of all new tractor registrations. Tractors below 100hp accounted for 25% of new registrations, slightly higher than for the same month in 2023. The over 200hp category accounted for 6.66% of all new tractors. The monthly average tractor horsepower figure for June 2024 was lower at 122hp.

Used tractors

The FTMTA data shows that 202 imported used tractors were first-time registered in Ireland in June 2024, seven units less than in June 2023.

For the year-to-date, 1,439 used tractors were imported and registered for the first time, a 12% decline on 2023 when 1,634 units were first time registered during the six month period.

Northern Ireland

The Agricultural Engineers Association (AEA) figures show that there were 40 new tractors registered in Northern Ireland in June, up on from 33 units registered during the same month last year.

This brings the total year-to-date figure to 306 units, down 1.6% on the 311 units registered for the same period in 2023. This year, Northern Ireland has accounted for 5.2 % of all UK registrations, up from 4.6% last year. Northern Irish tractor sales have remained more buoyant for the year to date in comparison to the rest of the UK.

UK

The AEA figures also show that a total of 869 new tractors were registered for the whole of the UK in June, 23% lower than in 2023. Meanwhile, the-year-to date figure sits at 5,882 units, which is 13.2% behind 2023. That is also 8% below the average recorded between 2018 and 2022, and is the lowest total reached by this point in the year since 2020.