The price of agricultural land nationally is projected to increase by 6% on average this year, according to Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI).
The auctioneers and valuers, in partnership with Teagasc, published the Agricultural Land Market Review and Outlook Report 2025, which said that average rental prices in 2025 are expected to increase by 7%.
The average price of non-residential agricultural land in 2024 was €9,900/ac, which is an increase of 7%, up from €9,297 in 2023.
In Munster, average rental prices are expected to rise by 8%, while in Leinster and Connacht/Ulster an increase of 7% is forecast.
Chair of the SCSI’s rural agency committee Dr Frank Harrington said that he expects land values to rise again due to better milk prices, strong competition among farmers and recent changes to Ireland’s nitrates action programme.
“Dairy farms are projected to have a robust 2025 and will continue to significantly influence the demand for both owned and leased land,” he said.
“Over three quarter of respondents to our survey (77%) ranked dairy farmers as the main buyer type of agricultural land. In addition, 62% of respondents expect an increase in demand from dairy farmers in 2025, with just 2% of respondents expecting this demand from dairy farmers to decrease.”
Land price
The report includes a survey of 169 auctioneers and valuers from across the country which found the volume of farmland going to market increased marginally during 2024 with probate sales continuing to provide the main source of farmland sales.
The survey found that in 2024 Waterford has the most expensive land in the country with good quality land on holdings between 50 and 100ac fetching an average sales price of €23,500/ac.
The next most expensive county was Kildare at €18,680, with Cork in third place at €17,875, marginally ahead of Tipperary on €17,865.
Mayo had the lowest land sales prices in the country at €3,075 for an acre of poor-quality land on holdings over 100ac.
Teagasc economist Dr Jason Loughrey said that the strong improvement in output prices for livestock and milk which emerged last year is continuing into this year.
“This year, beef prices have reached record levels and were approximately 40% above the average for the first quarter of last year. So far this year lamb prices are up 19%.
“However, the introduction of new tariffs on exports to the US is adding uncertainty for both the short and medium term.”
Generational renewal
The report also included a section about farm succession and generational renewal.
It notes that farmers comprise an aging workforce with the average age at 59 years and only 4.3% under 35 years.
Responses from the SCSI survey indicated the main reasons for such low land volumes coming to the market for sale relate to cultural, taxation and succession planning issues.
Dr Harrington added that many respondents wanted the government to review the tax treatment of agricultural land to entice more land to the market to support the younger generations of farmers.
“More land on the market would assist younger farmers enter the market which could also help improve profitability in farming with a scaling up of food production,” he added.
“The responses to the survey highlight that in the context of an ageing farming demographic, there is a greater likelihood that their land will be made available for long-term leasing rather than being made available on the sales market.”
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The price of agricultural land nationally is projected to increase by 6% on average this year, according to Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI).
The auctioneers and valuers, in partnership with Teagasc, published the Agricultural Land Market Review and Outlook Report 2025, which said that average rental prices in 2025 are expected to increase by 7%.
The average price of non-residential agricultural land in 2024 was €9,900/ac, which is an increase of 7%, up from €9,297 in 2023.
In Munster, average rental prices are expected to rise by 8%, while in Leinster and Connacht/Ulster an increase of 7% is forecast.
Chair of the SCSI’s rural agency committee Dr Frank Harrington said that he expects land values to rise again due to better milk prices, strong competition among farmers and recent changes to Ireland’s nitrates action programme.
“Dairy farms are projected to have a robust 2025 and will continue to significantly influence the demand for both owned and leased land,” he said.
“Over three quarter of respondents to our survey (77%) ranked dairy farmers as the main buyer type of agricultural land. In addition, 62% of respondents expect an increase in demand from dairy farmers in 2025, with just 2% of respondents expecting this demand from dairy farmers to decrease.”
Land price
The report includes a survey of 169 auctioneers and valuers from across the country which found the volume of farmland going to market increased marginally during 2024 with probate sales continuing to provide the main source of farmland sales.
The survey found that in 2024 Waterford has the most expensive land in the country with good quality land on holdings between 50 and 100ac fetching an average sales price of €23,500/ac.
The next most expensive county was Kildare at €18,680, with Cork in third place at €17,875, marginally ahead of Tipperary on €17,865.
Mayo had the lowest land sales prices in the country at €3,075 for an acre of poor-quality land on holdings over 100ac.
Teagasc economist Dr Jason Loughrey said that the strong improvement in output prices for livestock and milk which emerged last year is continuing into this year.
“This year, beef prices have reached record levels and were approximately 40% above the average for the first quarter of last year. So far this year lamb prices are up 19%.
“However, the introduction of new tariffs on exports to the US is adding uncertainty for both the short and medium term.”
Generational renewal
The report also included a section about farm succession and generational renewal.
It notes that farmers comprise an aging workforce with the average age at 59 years and only 4.3% under 35 years.
Responses from the SCSI survey indicated the main reasons for such low land volumes coming to the market for sale relate to cultural, taxation and succession planning issues.
Dr Harrington added that many respondents wanted the government to review the tax treatment of agricultural land to entice more land to the market to support the younger generations of farmers.
“More land on the market would assist younger farmers enter the market which could also help improve profitability in farming with a scaling up of food production,” he added.
“The responses to the survey highlight that in the context of an ageing farming demographic, there is a greater likelihood that their land will be made available for long-term leasing rather than being made available on the sales market.”
Read more
Farmland ownership to be examined
Land prices rose 6% for REA auctioneers
Big dairy demand for smaller non-residential grassland farms
Land Report: prices in Laois see another small increase
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