Good agricultural land in Longford can command up to €12,000 per acre

According to the recently published Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland / Teagasc Agricultural Land Market Review and Outlook Report 2023, Longford prices range from €6,000 per acre for poor-quality land to €12,167 for good land.

The survey found that Kildare has the most expensive land in the country with good quality land going for an average €15,056 an acre, followed by Meath where the average is €14,867.

The average price of good quality land on holdings of less than 50 acres in Kildare is €15,333 per acre, followed by Meath on €15,200 and Waterford on €15,000. Tipperary on €14,938, Wexford on €14,857 and Carlow and Cork on €14,250 round off the top six places nationally. The average price of an acre of good land in Longford is €12,167 down from the €13,670 recorded in 2021.

In Leinster prices for good land in 2022 on holdings of less than 50 acres range from Kildare’s high of €15,333 – which is similar to the previous year - to €11,500 in Offaly, while the prices for poor quality land range from a high of €9,417 in Louth to €6,000 in Longford, up from €4,970 in the previous survey.

The land with the lowest value across all holdings size is poor quality land in Mayo where the average price is €2,866 per acre. In Connacht/Ulster, prices for good land on holdings under 50 acres ranged from an average of €12,143 per acre in Donegal to €6,140 in Leitrim and for poor land from €5,375 in Galway to €3,300 in Leitrim, the lowest price in the country for holdings under 50 acres.

Auctioneer Jonathan Quinn, of Sherry Fitzgerald in Longford town, who is a member of the SCSI’s Rural Agency Committee, said strong demand for good quality land from dairy farmers is driving the market.
“Eighty-three per-cent of agents in our survey believe there is likely to be an increase in demand from dairy farmers to purchase farmland in 2023 and they are continually ranked throughout the survey as being the most likely purchasers of land across the country. However, as outlined in this report it’s also likely that changes to the European Nitrates Directive, particularly measures aimed at protecting water quality will have an impact on land prices, especially rental prices.”

“In order to maintain current levels of milk production – and to comply with the directive - many dairy farms will need to either increase their land area or reduce milk production. We’d expect the impact on sales and rental prices will be more acute in regions where dairy is the dominant farm enterprise and where stocking rates are higher.”
“Last year was also a good year for tillage farmers and Leinster based auctioneers and valuers say demand for good arable land or land close to any sizeable dairy farms attracted strong interest and competitive bidding.

That demand is also reflected in strong price growth in the dairy heartland of Munster where agents say one of the main drivers of the market was a heightened interest from individuals with their own funds looking to invest in land and guard against the effects of general inflation.

While land prices are lower in Connacht / Ulster, the region recorded the biggest increase in prices for good quality land and is forecast to do so again this year.”

“Provincially, rental values are expected to increase the most in Munster – 17%, followed by Leinster on 15% and Connacht/Ulster on 10%.
Approximately 88% of agents expect the volume of farmland available for lease this year will either remain the same or increase, up from 62% last year and this is positive for the market given the constrained land su2pply situation” Mr Quinn said.