As reported on page 6 of last weeks’ edition, historic figures from both DAERA and the Irish Farmers Journal show the average price of farmland in NI has risen from £3,900/ac in 2000 to £15,202/ac last year.

If a farmer spent £100,000 on farmland back at the start of the millennium, it would have bought just over 25 acres on average.

Looking at the latest market data, those 25 acres were worth almost £390,000 in 2025, so it has increased 3.9 times its original value.

If that £100,000 had instead been put into stocks and shares, then its value in 2025 would probably be worth less than the farmland investment.For example, with the London based stock exchange FTSE 100, the index has increased by just over three-fold, meaning £100,000 in 2000 was worth £332,500 last year.

Residential property is another common investment, however, finding accurate figures for the NI housing market in 2000 is surprisingly difficult.

Instead, the best market comparison is the NI house price index which started in 2005. Over the last 20 years, the index has almost doubled.

It means £100,000 tied up in residential property in 2005 would be worth £184,202 last year. Interestingly, our figures suggest the average price of NI farmland has increased by just slightly more, as £100,000 in 2005 would equate to £189,291 in 2025.

Other factors

Asides from overall changes in value, there are many other important considerations when comparing investments.

For example, tax planning is often a major factor when tying up money.

In addition, some investments can bring in significant income whilst also rising in value, especially if they are funded from savings and not a bank loan.

With residential property, there can be income from rent. Likewise, investing in farmland should hopefully allow a regular financial return to be made from the business of farming.

But going back to long-term changes in value, the real smart money since 2000 has been in gold, with some metrics suggesting its value has risen by more than tenfold.

Cryptocurrency is in a different league again. Bitcoin was created in 2009 and is now millions of times its original value, although it had a slow start and has been volatile in recent years. That brings us to risk, which is another important consideration investing money. Crucially, farmland is seen as a much safer bet than most other options, including gold and cryptocurrency.