Cheffins, which conducts the largest monthly sale of tractors and agricultural machinery in the world, has reported sales of £10.07m throughout Q2 2018, representing a 13 per cent increase on the same time period last year.

A combination of favourable exchange rates for overseas buyers, stronger commodity prices and a lack of stock has led to sales figures being the highest seen since 2014 when the machinery market was at its peak. The Cheffins monthly machinery sales based near Ely, Cambridgeshire (pictured), saw only a marginal increase in stock in Q2 2018 of three per cent, illustrating value uplifts across a range of makes and models of tractors, combines, plant and other machinery.

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Around 80 per cent of stock sold at the Cheffins Cambridge Machinery Sales is destined for overseas with buyers from around 30 different companies competing for the best kit. The top five buyer nationalities over the past three months included: Ireland, Spain, Bulgaria, Poland and Belgium with a total of £4,030,000-worth of machinery being sold to these countries. UK-based buyers have also seen a return to the market with over £2m-worth of machinery being sold direct to domestic purchasers in the past quarter.

Bill Pepper, Director at Cheffins Cambridge Machinery Sales comments: “As the future of subsidies for UK farmers continues to be uncertain and prices for new agricultural machinery rises year-on-year, we have seen a return of domestic buyers within the second-hand market. These buyers are competing against overseas purchasers who have continually benefitted from the weak pound since June 2016.

"The rise in gross sales goes to prove the strength of the second-hand market as a cocktail of high demand against a lack of supply has led to competitive bidding throughout the industry, and, in fact the June sale saw the highest total grossed since 2014. Ireland has been the strongest buying force in the market this quarter, topping Spain which led the charge in the same time frame last year. This is the result of Ireland’s strong dairy sector and the strength of the euro.

"Eastern European buyers have also increasingly come into their own as their burgeoning agricultural sectors sees demand for good quality kit without the high price tags to match. The construction sector also remains buoyant which has been illustrated by the percentage of plant stock selling, particularly to Asia and the Middle East.”