The farm property year got off to a good start on Friday 26 February when a 59ac grassland farm in Co Kildare was sold at auction for €780,000, or €13,220/ac. The buyer was a beef farmer from Co Dublin and the underbidder was a Kildare tillage farmer.

The auction was held online because of lockdown restrictions.

Auctioneer Eamon O’ Flaherty of Sherry FitzGerald Brady O’Flaherty, who conducted the auction, said that there had been significant interest in the farm before the auction and that five individuals registered to bid.

“Bidding opened at the guide price of €590,000 and quickly moved through the reserve of €600,000.

“After another 37 bids – all within the 30-minute timeframe of the auction – the farm was knocked down to the beef farmer from Co Dublin.”

“We were truly delighted with the result for our clients,” he said. “We did have a very strong level of interest in days before the auction, with over 60 enquiries from home and abroad from farmers and non-farmers.

“Of the five bidders on the day, four were farmers and this clearly shows the strong demand in north Kildare for good-quality agricultural land.”

The farm is located at Garvogue, Properous. Sherry FitzGerald Reilly were joint agents.