Over 100 new farming arrangements accounting for more than 10,000ac of land were put in place last year through Macra na Feirme’s Land Mobility Service.

There was an increase in the number of farmers opting for partnership and share arrangements in 2017 as landowners sought to retain their farmer status but bring a young farmer on board to help with the workload.

Long-term leases accounted for 32% of the arrangements, and made up the largest proportion of deal types. Share-farming was the next most popular type of arrangement at 26%, while partnerships accounted for 22% and one in five chose farm-to-farm arrangements such as contract heifer-rearing.

The land mobility programme has seen a huge rise in demand for its farmer pairing service, with more than 400 arrangements covering 35,000ac since its inception in 2014.

“The average acreage in a deal would be about 95ac, with Cork and Kilkenny being the busiest counties due to the involvement of the co-ops in the area,” Land Mobility Service manager Austin Finn told the Irish Farmers Journal.

“About 70% of deals would be dairy or dairy-related because it’s an enterprise that delivers, and the rest would be evenly split between beef, sheep and tillage.”

Co-ops play a key role in the service, with Glanbia, Dairygold and Aurivo all active participants. Lakeland Dairies has confirmed it has received board approval to participate in the service, and Macra is also in talks with a number of other co-ops with the aim of growing the service further in 2018.

Read more

Almost 30,000 acres signed up in land deals

Farm transfer sessions should be compulsory for tax breaks