UK registrations of agricultural tractors over 50hp reached 11,851 units in the first nine months of 2011, an increase of 3.8% on the same period in the previous year.

According to industry body the Agricultural Engineers Association, the regions showing the largest increases were Northern Ireland (up 15%) and Yorkshire/Lancashire (up 12.5%).

Sales in Scotland were up by 9.8% and the East Midlands showed an increase of 8.2%.

By contrast, the eastern counties saw a decline of 3.9% which, says the AEA, reflects the impact of the drought and lower cereal yields. Sales in Wales were down by 4.1% too and in the northern area by 2.5%.

The average power of tractors registered this year has been just over 146hp, a rise of 2.3% on last year. So total horsepower sold rose by 6.3% to 1.734m hp.