UK tractor registrations are not only lower in the first six months of 2020, they have also changed in terms of power bands and UK regions.

According to the Agricultural Engineers Association, the total number of agricultural tractors with power over 50hp registered for road use in the first half of the year, was 5195 – down almost a quarter on the same period in 2019.

All power bands with the exception of the most high-powered machines witnessed a decline. All broad bands below 160hp and over 50hp saw a fall of between a quarter and a third in the first six months of this year, compared with January-June 2019.

The drop was slightly smaller above this power level but only machines above 320hp saw a rise in registrations, being up 9% year on year. This pattern suggests that the unusual decline in average tractor power seen in 2019 will be reversed this year.

The average power of tractors (over 50hp) registered in the latest six months was just over 170hp, up by nearly 5hp on the same period last year.

Registrations fell by 17% or more in almost all regions with the sharpest falls witnessed in the home counties (-49%) and Northern Ireland (-38%).

There were only two exceptions to the sharp declines. Registrations in Wales dropped just 9% and in the South East, they actually increased by 1%.

In Scotland, registrations have dropped from 893 in the first six months of 2019, to 625 in the same period this year – a fall of 30%, with Scottish sales making up 12.9% and 12% of total sales, respectively.