Grazing ground appears to be commanding the greatest interest with many agents expecting prices to be similar to last year. Although few deals have been done, anything fresh to the market is still likely to make a premium above the annual rollover rate as a notable number of farmers still want to get their hands on a long-term lease.

However, the mood so far could be described as ‘‘more subdued’’ when compared with the hype that was experienced during the same period last year. That hype was significantly driven by the 2015 National Reserve and Young Farmers Scheme and the requirement to source “naked” land.

Despite a significant increase in the number of long-term lease arrangements that were made last year, agents report that dairy farmers and in particular young guys, are still eager to acquire a five- or seven-year lease.

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The biggest challenge for agents, however, will be to source fresh land for leasing as so much has already been taken out of the system.

Although there are attractive tax incentives for a landowner to enter a long-term lease, a significant number of farmers, particularly elderly landowners, have no intention of going down the leasing route. It appears they are comfortable knowing that their land will be only let for 11 months and if they are not happy with the tenant farmer after that period, they have the security of taking it back.

Maynooth auctioneer Sean Doyle said that the market is only starting to pick up with plenty of interest for grazing ground, but the market for cereal ground is slightly tougher. Prices are similar to last year ranging from €160 to €185/acre, but anything fresh could make €10/acre more. Potato farmers, in particular, are eager to get their hands on fresh ley ground for at least five years – two crops of potatoes (at approximately €450/acre) and three crops of cereals (at approximately €160/acre). These deals are averaging €250 to €280/acre over the five years.

Meanwhile, one agent in Munster suggested that the price of tillage ground could hit the floor. “I have been offered €80/acre for stubble ground for cereals this spring. This is less than half of what it made last year. Because grain prices have not shown any signs of increasing for the past three years, tillage farmers are not prepared to pay beyond this,” he explained.

Where a farmer has lost conacre and is finding it difficult to source replacement land, he has the option to rent out some or all of his entitlements to another farmer in 2016. This option might make far more economic sense rather than paying an exorbitant price to rent land, just for the sake of drawing down entitlements.