Tractor registrations in March were similar to the same month last year, according to figures from the Farm Tractor & Machinery Trade Association (FTMTA).

The figures show that 238 new tractors were registered during March, down just two units on March 2019. This brings the total number of new units registered for the first quarter to 896, which is exactly the same number as at the end of March 2019.

“Perhaps unexpectedly, given the ongoing coronavirus crisis and associated restrictions, March registrations were only down two units on the corresponding month of 2019,” FTMTA chief executive Gary Ryan said.

“In reality, retail activity at farm machinery dealerships was continuing relatively normally, albeit with precautions in place, until the restrictions announced by the Taoiseach on Friday 27 March and the wider situation is unlikely to have had much of a bearing on March registrations of tractors,” Ryan said.

The farm machinery trade continues to operate in relation to the supply of parts, service/repair and delivery/installation of machines as essential services in support of farming. As a result, there will be machines delivered during April but it can be expected that this will be at lower than previously anticipated levels.

The counties with the highest number of registrations in the first quarter were Cork (133), Wexford (63) and Tipperary (60).

Between the three, they accounted for nearly 29% of all registrations during the period under review, while Cork represented a sizeable 15% of registrations on its own.

Over 90% of registrations were of machines with more than 100hp and 59% were of machines with more than 120hp.

UK registrations

Meanwhile, in the UK, 1,763 new units were registered in March, which represents a drop of 4.2% on the same period in 2019. “Registrations of new tractors followed the typical seasonal pattern, showing a large month-on-month increase in March, which is normally the peak month for registrations,” the Agricultural Engineers Association said. The UK total for the first three months of the year was 8% down on the opening quarter of 2019, with a total of 2,815 units registered.