OVER the course of 2018, auctioneer for second-hand agricultural machinery and plant, Cheffins, based in East Anglia, has held 41 sales, with more than 35,000 lots offered throughout the year, at the firm's Cambridge machinery sales at Sutton, on-farm auctions and vintage sales, with overall sales totalling more than £50million, £1million more than 2017.

On-farm sales grossed more than £11million across 24 auctions as succession issues and higher values for machinery drive the market.

The two biggest sales of the year were in Lincolnshire and County Durham, on behalf of Rainthorpe Farms Ltd, and Leslie Brown Contracting, which both grossed more than £1million.

Alongside these were six sales which amounted to more than £500,000 apiece. These two events really set the bar for on-farm auctions and are two of the largest dispersal sales to have taken place throughout the year.

Second-hand machinery sales at Cheffins, Sutton, saw gross values up by 2.5% in comparison to 2017. Across the same number of lots, the sale ground reported higher values across the board, with the December sale total being 25% higher than in 2017. Similarly, the total amount of machinery sold in the fourth quarter of 2018 topped around £9million, and is 32% higher than the previous quarter.