WHILE the national figures for machinery sales rose in 2020 to $2.1 billion from $1.8b in 2019, Western Australia dropped from 23 per cent of the total in that time to 15.9pc.
The break in the drought in the Eastern States in 2019 was the main reason for consumer confidence last year.
WA sales of new tractors, combine harvesters, balers, hay tools and windrowers dropped by $98.2 million in 2020 in what Agriview managing director Alan Kirsten said was a "subdued market".
The largest drop in value was due to the 20.8pc decline in combine harvester sales from $171m to $119m and a 5.4pc drop in tractor sales value from $247m in 2019 to $193m in 2020.
Mr Kirsten said the drop in the number of tractors in the 200hp plus range was the largest contributing factor to the decline in sales and revenue for dealers.
"It's been a subdued market in WA for the past couple of years but things are expected to pick up in 2021," Mr Kirsten said.
"WA didn't benefit from the instant asset write-off like the Eastern States."
The small tractor market, which consists of the 0-60 horsepower, 60-100hp and 100-200hp, picked up on the back of the instant asset write off as part of the economic stimulus package of the Federal government.
But that incentive didn't cover the more expensive tractors.
The 200hp plus range dropped from 443 units sold in 2019 to 309 sold in 2020 in WA.
That equated to a massive reduction in revenue and a drop in WA's percentage of the national figures from 28.3pc in 2019 to 21.5pc in 2020 for the 200hp plus range.
In financial terms the value of the small tractor market picked up across all horse power ranges mentioned above, while the 200hp range dropped $63m from $199m in 2019 to $136m in 2020.
Along with the rise in small tractor sales, balers and hay tools sales also rose in 2020 contributing to a slight rise in overall unit sales in WA from 1174 in 2019 to 1185 in 2020.
The unit sales totalled just 8.7pc of the national sales, down 1.9pc from 2019.
National tractor sales increased from 11,037 in 2019 to 13,640 in 2020.
Mr Kirsten said with the positive outlook for the season in WA already, on the back of recent rains and seeding going well, machinery sales were likely to increase in coming months.
