The cost of leased land in Cork has topped €400/ac this year on the back of buoyant dairy farmer demand.

Michael Barry from Dick Barry and Son Auctioneers in Fermoy, Co Cork, has said that €400/ac for leased land is the new norm in north and east Cork.“It’s crazy at the moment and there isn’t much land coming available.

“Two pieces of good dual-purpose land that would be suitable for both dairy and tillage made over €400/ac, and that’s naked land.

“I’m a long time at it and I’ve never seen anything like it,” he added.

Joseph Coogan, a Kilkenny-based auctioneer said that this spring land was making between €400/ac and €450/ac and he expects it to rise even further.

“In spring, the good milk price was driving demand for land and now the nitrates directive is driving it big time.

“A good block of agricultural land which is well-fenced and has road frontage is making at least €15,000/ac,” he said.

A north Tipperary-based auctioneer reported that leased land is making €330/ac, while land for sale is making between €12,000/ac and €13,000/ac for larger holdings and between €15,000 and €20,000/ac for smaller holdings.

“There hasn’t been an awful amount of land available on the letting front. We have a lot of people on the books looking for both leased lands and land for sale,” William Talbot from Sherry Fitzgerald Talbot in Nenagh said.

Tillage land

Kay Smith of Smith Harrington Auctioneers, deals with the sale and lease of agricultural land around the Navan area in Co Meath and said that at the moment demand for tillage land in the area is strong, and it is making €300/ac.