While the livestock sector grapples with foot-and-mouth and bluetongue, arable farmers are taking advantage of better prices to do some much-needed reinvestment.

And in many cases, it seems to be small-to-medium sized farmers who are finally getting a chance to renew ageing machines that are in serious need of replacement.

According to economist Chris Evans at the Agricultural Engineers’ Association, the body that represents machinery manufacturers and importers, combine sales are up nearly 31% on the same period last year.

In fact, 725 machines were sold in the most recent combine sales year, which runs from 1 September 2006 to 31 August 2007. That compares with 555 combines sold in the same period in 2005/2006.

In recent years it’s been contractors and larger growers who have been doing most of the buying, he says. And mostly they’ve been buying bigger combines to boost workrates and make the most of what seems to be an increasingly unreliable harvesting window.

Many smaller arable farmers, meanwhile, have simply not been able to justify buying new combines while grain prices were in the doldrums.

But better prices and a damp harvest that saw many older machines struggle have prompted a number of smaller farmers to venture into the dealer showrooms for the first time in some years.

Tractor sales are enjoying the same upward trend. In the period from 1 January to 30 September 2007, about 12,870 tractors were sold, 15.8% up on the same period last year. They’re expected to hit 15,500 by 31 December.

And the same combination of better returns and tough field conditions has also seen a run on cultivations equipment throughout the year, says Mr Evans. In fact many machinery companies have been struggling to keep up with demand.

A difficult, wet harvest, plus soaring grain prices, have prompted replacement sales to arable farmers.