Dozens of new harvesters have rolled into paddocks across Australia to take off the best winter crop in years for many districts.
The Wilson family in Western Australia's northern wheatbelt took delivery of a new Case IH 8250 on tracks in early October and are midway through canola harvest.
Mark and Suzanne Wilson, along with their son Tom and daughter-in-law Kristyn, farm close to 4000 hectares at Dalwallinu and east of Latham.
Tom Wilson said they weighed up whether to get duals or tracks when replacing their older John Deere harvester.
He said the stability, having other machinery on tracks, and trying to get into tram-lining were some of the key considerations when making the switch.
"Fortunately the crops have been quite favourable this year, so our crops are decent and we were thinking if we kept with our bit older machine we might still be harvesting January," Mr Wilson said.
"So we started to lookout for a new harvester the local dealer had one in stock here; we were very lucky."
When Australian Community Media caught up with Mr Wilson he was harvesting Trident and Bonito canola on the home farm at Dalwallinu.
Once the canola's off, he will start harvesting the family's crop of predominantly Sceptor and a couple paddocks of Chief wheat.
"I've only been on the harvester a few days but it's looking good so far, I'm enjoying it, hopefully it will be an asset for years to come," he said.
Machinery dealers are already reporting farmers are forward-planning to upgrade their equipment for next season.
Tractor and Machinery Association of Australia executive director Gary Northover there had been big order intakes in the first quarter of 2022 with those machines likely to arrive in the third or fourth quarter of 2022.
"In the last 12 month period we've seen about a 37 per cent increase on the same 12 months prior, with more lift to come," Mr Northover said.
"We think there's a bit of a lag in the numbers that will be reported in the next month or two that will inflate that position further."
Read more:
Mr Northover said fleet replenishment was occurring off the back of attractive market conditions.
"Not only has the market been very buoyant for harvesting there's been a lot of replenishment and restocking occurring," he said.
"Thinking back to the period leading up to 2018 and 2019 there was a dip there with drought and bushfires and consequently there was a pause in investment in this area."
Case IH ANZ hay and harvest product manager Tim Slater said an increasing number of customers have already signed up for units to be delivered in 2022.
"The promising forecast for the 2021 harvest, on top of the strong yields from the 2020 season, has meant demand has been especially strong for harvesting equipment this year, and looking ahead to 2022," Mr Slater said.
"Demand globally for machinery is very high and anticipated delivery times are extended from what we have seen in the past, so many buyers are planning further ahead than we have seen previously to ensure they have what they need for next year, and harvesting equipment is no different."
Demonstrations of John Deere's new X9 have been going very well, according to Australia New Zealand production systems manager Ben Kelly.
"Demand has been extremely strong and interest is really high, both for the X Series and S Series, along with the HD fronts," Mr Kelly said.
"We have already taken many orders and customers are excited to see the machines in the paddock."
New Holland broadacre product segment manager Marc Smith said dealers were actively taking orders well in advance in preparation for next season due to global shipment delays.
"Thanks to excellent harvest conditions, New Holland dealers are consistently seeing a big response from customers who are purchasing our CR combine range ahead of an expected bumper harvest season," Mr Smith said.
"Our Twin Rotor CR 8.90 and CR9.90 have been our most popular combine models across Australia in the lead up to harvest this season.
"We released our combine program for MY22 in September to assist customers in placing their orders for their headers in time for harvest in 2022."
Start the day with all the big news in agriculture! Sign up below to receive our daily FarmOnline newsletter.