October saw the highest number of tractors registered in the UK since 2016, according to figures from the Agricultural Engineers Association (AEA).

Registrations of agricultural tractors last month were once again above both last year’s level and the recent average for the time of year. At 1007 machines, the monthly total was 9% higher than in the same month last year, the association’s figures show.

It was the highest number recorded in October since 2016 and was as much as 30% above the five-year average for the time of year.

That brought the total for the year to date to 10,709, AEA said, which is 5% more than in the opening ten months of last year.

That is already higher than the annual total in three of the last eight years, most recently 2020.