How many new combines were sold in Ireland in 2018?

A total of 31 new combine harvesters have been registered in the Republic of Ireland so far this year – up to the end of July.

That’s according to figures compiled by the FTMTA (Farm Tractor & Machinery Trade Association).

With the onset of the grain harvest last month, the association says that combine sales figures “became much clearer”.

Gary Ryan, chief executive of the FTMTA, explained: “This year’s figure certainly defies the pessimism that might have been prevalent on this topic at the end of last year’s harvest and during this year’s difficult spring.

Image source: Shane Casey

“A total of 31 new combines have been registered during the year – to the end of July.

While this figure is some way off the highs of 2013 and 2014 [when 65 and 61 new combines were registered respectively] it is a considerable improvement on last year’s market, which saw only 20 new combines registered.

Meanwhile, telehandler (telescopic handler) registrations (up to and including the end of July) “confirm a market that is continuing the strong performance of recent years”.

Telehandler figures

31 new telehandlers were registered during July, bringing the figure for the first seven months (January-to-July inclusive) to 257 (new) units.

That, says the FTMTA, is a 19% increase on the same period of last year (2017).

Wheeled loader sales

Wheeled loaders have also seen “strong activity”. 15 (new) units were registered during July.

That brings the year-to-date figure to 93. That is apparently a 33% year-on-year increase. It also “comfortably exceeds” the 83 such machines that were registered during the totality of 2017.