John Deere is still the most popular tractor brand in the UK by a comfortable but narrowing margin, according to the latest sales figures from the Agricultural Engineers Association.

As usual, the EU’s competition rules mean the figures can only be made public 12 months after they are collated, so the ones we are able to publish refer to 2014’s tractor sales.

See also: 10 most popular tractor brands in the UK in 2013

At that time, the green giant had managed to sell 3,993 tractors, which although a 23-unit drop from its 2013 results, failed to make a big dent in its lead.

However, second-placed New Holland did manage to narrow the void between the two slightly, selling 88 more tractors than it did in 2013 to get to a figure of 2,645.

Third placed Massey Ferguson had an equally good year, shifting an extra 83 machines, as did its sister brand Fendt, which upped sales by 57 to move into fifth place behind Case-IH.

There was less to celebrate in the Claas camp, though. It dropped a massive 195 sales from 2013 to 2014 and was overtaken by Fendt in the overall rankings. Deutz Fahr also dropped 73 sales down to 298, putting it perilously close to 10th-placed McCormick on 288.

Overall, the market picked up slightly from a total of 13,490 in 2013 to 13,526 in 2014, but this was still a lot lower than the 14,964 that farmers bought in 2012.