The insatiable demand for machinery has seen farmers buy-up big in end of financial year auctions.
More than $55 million of equipment changed hands in one auction alone, busting a long-held Australian industrial auction record.
Ritchie Bros sales director Finlay Massey said registered bidders and buyers hit levels previously unseen in its national unreserved end of financial year auction on June 22 and 23.
"The auction was an outstanding success," Mr Massey said.
"We have set several new records for GTV (gross transaction value), registered bidders and buyers.
"Our new sales record of over $55m is exclusive of buyer's premium and GST and surpasses a long-standing record from 2008."
There were 4097 online bidders from 36 countries registered to bid on the more than 2150 items up for grabs in the auction.
Roughly 95 per cent of the equipment went to Australian buyers, with the remaining 5pc off to the US, Canada, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.
Mr Massey said what this result represents to industry is that there's no signs of slowing down yet.
At times, second-hand trucks and transport equipment went for above the price of new assets.
A 2019 Drake 6 Rows of 8 trailer went for a whopping $760,000.
Top prices paid for trucks included $370,000 for a 2018 Kenworth T900 Legend 6x4 and $365,000 for a 2021 Kenworth K200 Big Cab 6x4.
On the tractor front, a 2010 John Deere 8270R sold for $150,000 while a 2013 Case IH Magnum 340 went for $149,000.
Delays in securing new utes also led to solid money being paid for popular models like Toyota HiLuxes and LandCruisers.
A 2019 dual cab HiLux sold for $51,000 and a 2018 model made the same money.
Another 2018 dual cab HiLux went for $49,000 and a 2017 model went for $47,000.
The 2012 Toyota LandCruiser 79 series offered was snapped up for $36,000.
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Lloyds Auctioneers and Valuers held a number of EOFY auctions across the country, with similar trends witnessed at these events.
Civil, transport and machinery auctions took place in Western Australia, Darwin and south east Queensland.
The auction house also held a northern NSW machinery and equipment sale and a CQ plant and machinery auction at Mackay.
Lloyds head of business development Glenn Screech said demand is being driven by the lack of new OEM equipment being allocated to Australia from manufacturers.
"A great range of equipment is in demand, this includes larger mining equipment, civil equipment, agriculture and all the way through to light vehicles," Mr Screech said.
"With delays in new equipment, quality second-hand equipment is achieving record prices and in many cases larger companies are holding onto their equipment for far longer than traditionally seen in the Australian market."
In the SEQ auction, a 2006 Cat 140H grader sold for $190,000 while a 2007 Hino 700 8x4 Beavertail made $60,300.
A 2019 UD Quon Trout River Live Bottom returned $175,000 and a 2009 J Smith & Sons quad axle low loader made $145,800 in the CQ sale.
In northern NSW, a 1999 JCB 718 16 tonne articulated dump truck proved popular, selling for $75,000.
When it comes to paying for new and second-hand gear, National Australia Bank's equipment finance loans have increased 32pc on pre-pandemic levels.
NAB regional and agribusiness executive Julie Rynski said this wasn't just due to higher prices, the number of transactions had also gone up; 2020 and 2021 had seen a 20pc increase in volumes.
Ms Rynski said loans for agricultural equipment were in line with overall growth and excellent harvests almost across the board.
She said tractor and harvester sales had been particularly notable, with tractor volumes up 25pc on 2020.
"We're seeing sales of mining, earthmoving and construction equipment growing, with demand for credit up 24pc over the last three years," Ms Rynski said.
"Trucks, trailers and buses are up 18pc and the real standout being cars and light commercial vehicles, with loans seeing a 42pc increase in demand."
Ms Rynski said they had seen great demand for equipment and equipment finance across Australia and this was despite the sometimes significant delivery delays.
"With the ongoing challenge of supply chain issues pushing out delivery times, we're seeing strong activity in second-hand markets, although supply hasn't been able to match demand," she said.
"We're also seeing higher bidding prices with second-hand tractors in particular demand and finding as much as 90pc of retail value.
"Our famers are a resilient and optimistic bunch, with good seasonal conditions and high commodity prices, we expect growth across regional Australia to remain strong."