Recent rainfall and high commodity prices, underpinned by continued government stimulus measures are leading to optimism in the agricultural machinery sector.
Tractor and Machinery Association executive manager Gary Northover said the prospects for machinery sales had improved considerably in recent weeks despite issues related to the the the COVID19 pandemic.
"We have seen considerable rainfall in most parts of drought affected Australia which has led to a renewed optimism from farmers knowing that they can now get crops planted with a fair degree of certainty that they will yield results," he said.
"The broadacre market has a long way to go before we see large tractor and harvester sales return to recent highs, the rest of the market however is bouncing back."
Mr Northover said economic initiatives launched by the Federal Government were directly stimulating the sector.
"The increase to the accelerated depreciation allowance to $150,000 is a major boost to the industry and has certainly been a driver for activity," he said.
"Sales in March enjoyed a strong bump, up 5 per cent in unit numbers."
However, Mr Northover acknowledged sales figures were still well back in dollar terms comparative to last year and the majority of the increase could be attributed to what is often termed the 'leisure market' as opposed to the higher horsepower broadacre segment.
"Unit sales were strongest in the under 30 kilowatt (40 horsepower) range, up 29 per cent for the month off the back of the accelerated depreciation incentives," he said.
"The 30 to 75kW (40 to 100hp) range was in line with last March.
"And while the 75 to 150kW (100 to 200hp) category had another strong month, the 150kW (200hp) and above range was down markedly, 21pc for the month and now 15pc behind year to date which explains the large difference between unit sales and turnover."
Mr Northover said when breaking the data up by states, Victoria was up another 32pc on the same month last year, and NSW was up 13pc for the month but still behind last year.
"Queensland was down another 9pc and now 15p behind last year," he said.
"The story in Western Australia was somewhat grim, 30pc down for the month, 17pc down year to date.
"South Australia recorded its first rise for some time, up 27pc for the month, now 3pc ahead of last year."
Regarding supply, Mr Northover said the machinery industry now had clarification the supply of machinery, parts and service fell under the agricultural essential services banner.
"The TMA has been lobbying both state and federal governments to ensure the suppliers of machinery, parts and service are included in this definition," he said.
"I am pleased to say that we have received advice from the Federal Agriculture Minister that this is the case which will prove to be a great encouragement to our industry to continue supporting agriculture in this country."
