Farmland prices expected to increase 6% in 2025
Sale prices for farmland are expected to increase by 6% this year, according to the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland and Teagasc's agricultural land market review and outlook.
The average price of non-residential agricultural land rose 7% last year to €9,907 per acre, and SCSI agents believe a lack of supply and strong demand for land, will continue to drive prices.
CSO figures show the share of agricultural land for sale annually is just 0.5%
More specifically, the SCSI identified better milk prices, strong competitions among farmers and investors and recent changes to Ireland’s Nitrates Action Programme for the projected increase.
Due to the latter, some farmers require more land to meet lower stocking rate thresholds, which further increases the demand, especially among dairy farmers in Ireland.
However, the introduction of US import tariffs could "temper rises in land prices," although many of tariffs on EU goods announced by US President Donald Trump this month have been postponed for 90 days.
“Dairy farms are projected to have a robust 2025 and will continue to significantly influence the demand for both owned and leased land," said Dr. Frank Harrington, chair of the SCSI's rural agency committee and discipline lead of real estate and valuations at TU Dublin.
"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.”
“But there are also several other factors which are supporting the positive outlook. After a poor start, last year’s weather improved, and as a result crop yields performed better than expected.
"We have also seen a marked reduction in interest rates, which of course means lower finance costs.”
“That said uncertainty in the global economy, along with recently imposed US tariffs on EU agricultural products are casting a long shadow.
"While it’s impossible to predict the outcome and potential impact, it’s clear these factors could introduce volatility into the land market and may temper some of the upward price momentum.”
The survey of 169 auctioneers and valuers from all over the country, took place in February and March 2025.
It found the volume of farmland going to market increased marginally during 2024 with probate sales continuing to provide the main source of farmland sales.
Waterford was found to be the most expensive part of the country for agricultural land, with good quality land on 50 to 100-acre holdings fetching an average of €23,500 per acre.
After Waterford, the most expensive areas to buy agricultural land at Kildare (€18,680), Cork (€17,875), Tipperary (€17,865), Carlow (€17,417) and Meath (€16,890).
The least expensive land is in Mayo where poor-quality land is selling for an average of €3,075 per acre on holdings over 100 acres.
SCSI agents expect average national land rental prices to increases 7% last year. In Munster, average rental prices are expected to rise by 8% while in Leinster and Connacht/Ulster an increase of 7% is forecast.
Last year rental prices rose 13% in Connacht/Ulster, 7% in Leinster, and 3% in Munster.
In Munster, average rental prices for grazing and meadowing /silage declined from between 3% and 5% and now stand between €284 per acre and €294 per acre.
Conversely, land rental prices for other crops such as maize and beans rose by 8% on average indicating a steady demand for animal feed crop growing.
By contrast, Connacht/Ulster saw the highest provincial rental price inflation across grazing/silage and grazing-only lands, at 14% and 13%, respectively, with the average price of the former reaching €208 per acre and the latter reaching €177 per acre.
In Leinster (excluding Dublin), land rental prices for grazing/meadowing/silage, grazing only and potato growing all increased by 9% on average to €295, €271 and €467 per acre, respectively.
The rental price of land for cereal crops increased by 8% to €317 per acre while rent for land rental prices for other crops such as maize and beans, increased by just 2% to €351 per acre.
Dr. Harrington said the SCSI believes that long-term leasing will remain the preferred model, supported by government policies that encourage security of tenure and investment in land productivity.
"As a result, nearly 84% of survey respondents noted that farmers would typically pay more per acre for similar quality land on a long-term lease compared to conacre.”
Dr. Jasong Loughrey, economist at Teagasc, said that the strong improvement in output prices for livestock and milk, which emerged last year, is continuing into this year.
“Last year, we saw strong price growth for milk – up 16% - and lamb – up 18%. On average, dairy farms and sheep farms recovered from a difficult 2023," he stated.
"Cattle prices were also up 4.5% compared to 2023 while the picture for pigs and cereals was more mixed. At the same time, overall input prices decreased with lower prices for significant inputs such as feed and fertiliser in particular.”
“It is estimated that the average net margin per litre of milk produced increased by 84% to 13.3 cent per litre last year. Prices were higher in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the first quarter of 2024.
"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%.”
Dr. Loughrey also warned of the uncertainty created by the introduction of US tariffs, and that the prospect of a trade war is affecting exchange rates and global economic growth prospects.
The average price of agricultural land by county. (Pic: SCSI/Teagasc)
The report also noted that the average age of farmers is 59 and that only 4.3% are under 35. The survey found that cultural, taxation and succession planning issues are mainly to blame for the lack of available land.
Dr. Harrington said the overwhelming response of survey respondents was that the Government should review the tax treatment of agricultural land to entice more land to the market to support the younger generations of farmers.
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