British farmers are provisionally estimated to have spent around £1.8 billion on farm equipment in 2014, a drop of 5% on a year earlier, reports the AEA. Tractors are generally the best indicator of activity and 12,433 units of over 50hp were registered. A decrease of 0.5% on the previous year, this was the third consecutive year of decline in terms of numbers sold and the total remains some 12% below the 10 year average. However, the average size continues to increase with a 2.9% rise last year to 155.1hp. Counted in terms of power sold 2014 showed an annual increase of 2.4% to 1.93 million hp. The next major sub-sector of the market is the combine harvester; sales in the last seasonal year (September to August) reached 800 units, up by some 4% on the previous season. However, the opening months of the current season (since September) have proved much weaker than a year earlier so that the value of sales on a 2014 calendar year base is expected to be 5-10% lower than in 2013.  Another major sector in terms of machine value is the self-propelled forage harvester, sales of which increased by 7% to 160 units in the seasonal year.  Grass growth was strong and the fodder crop was sizeable so demand for related equipment held up well whilst the increase in growing maize for Anaerobic Digesters also provided a stimulus for harvesters. Many other machine types saw a small decline in unit deliveries in 2014 with increases mainly concentrated in grassland equipment including mowers and fertiliser spreaders, although baler sales were slack. Sprayer units showed a recovery from the poor volumes seen in 2013.