Editorial: land sales - fundamental changes to farming landscape

The latest CSO data on agricultural land sales shows a continued restructuring of farmland in the west of Ireland.

As Noel Bardon reports on page 18, the western counties of Galway, Mayo and Roscommon again recorded the highest volume of agricultural land sales last year.

Some 12,782ac was sold in the west region, almost three times what was sold in the southeast region of Waterford, Kilkenny, Carlow and Wexford.

The CSO data differs from the Irish Farmers Journal's annual Land Report in that it is based on stamp duty payment records from the Revenue Commissioners and Property Registration Authority data, among other sources. It excludes commonage land, inherited land, land with dwellings on it and land bought for either construction or lifestyle purposes.

The latest figures mean that almost 56,000ac of land has changed hands in the west in the last five years.

The changes are no doubt driven by farm income and age factors, with the region dominated by suckler and sheep farming and higher age profile.

The sustained trend of high volumes of land sales indicates a fundamental change to the western farming landscape and rural communities in that region. Policy-makers should take note.