Machinery market trends in a tough 2024
© GNP Overall, 2024 was a pretty tough year for the UK machinery market, says the Agricultural Engineers Association (AEA).
Poor finances and low farmer confidence, particularly in the arable sector, meant November 2024 saw the lowest number of new farm tractors registered in the UK in any month since December 2000.
The monthly total of 408 machines of 50hp or larger was 1% lower than in November 2023. This brought the total between January and November 2024 to 9,450, a drop of 15% compared with the same period of 2023.
The AEA collates the figures and expects information for the full year 2024 to be available next week.
See also: Farm cash flow advice as pressure mounts
With the market typically quiet late in the year and demand already subdued, it is too early to say with any certainty whether the Budget and farmer protests had suppressed tractor sales, the organisation says.
New Holland CR10 combine © James-Andrews
Machinery categories
Sales in other machinery categories were also mostly down on the average levels of recent years. Combines are recorded on a seasonal basis (September 2023 to August 2024) and were down 20% to 400 machines, the lowest level since 1985 when the AEA began keeping electronic records.
AEA economist Stephen Howarth says: “It’s been a fairly slow start to the 2024-25 season too, but we’ve only got a couple of months’ data in so far.
“Foragers are up marginally at 155 machines, still a little below average but within the range seen in recent years – possibly doing better than some categories because most are bought by contractors rather than farmers.”
© Krone
Sales of telehandlers (January to October/November 2024) were down about 20% compared with 2023. However, Stephen points out that 2023 was a record year and 2024 will be close to the recent average.
“This market has been on an upward trend over the past decade or so, taking share from mid-range tractors (50-150hp),” he says.
Implements
AEA tracks wholesale deliveries of implements to dealers, which were down by about a quarter year-on-year in January-October/November 2024, or about two-thirds of the average of recent years.
“That probably overstates the fall in sales, as dealers are holding high stock levels and some demand will be met from stock, rather than via orders from the manufacturer,” says Stephen.
Better signs for grassland kit
Grassland and baling equipment saw even bigger declines, but there are signs that demand has begun to pick up for these recently, given strong livestock/milk prices.
Arable equipment deliveries fell by less than some other categories in January through to October/November 2024, but there is no indication of demand improving here yet, says the AEA, with a few categories doing better but almost everything below the average of recent years.
Push for machinery grant news
The market for products for which grants were available under the previous government – for example the Farm Equipment & Technology Fund – has almost completely dried up, says the AEA.
Farmers and growers are waiting to see whether similar grants will be available in future, it says.
This includes a lot of the types of equipment used in regenerative/conservation farming systems.
The organisation has written to the farming minister to stress the need for clarity on the government’s plans for future grants.
Perspective on other markets
It is a similar picture in North America, where the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) reports total US farm tractor sales in January to November 2024 at 200,138 units, a fall of 13.4% compared with the same period of 2023.
The largest size category, 100hp-plus machines, saw the biggest fall, down 16.4% to 20,774 units.
Self-propelled combine sales in the same period stood at 5,120 units, down 24.1% compared with 2023 levels.
The AEM also reports on sales in Canada, where a total of 21,190 farm tractors were sold in January to November 2024, a fall of 17% from the same period of 2023. Self-propelled combine sales fell 12.3% to 1,673 units.