New report shows good Laois land prices rise sharply

The price of an acre of good farm land in Laois rose by €14,500 last year, according to auctioneers and valuers say the outlook for the agricultural land market nationally remains strong for 2025 and are forecasting prices will rise by 6% on average this year.

In a major new report with Teagasc, auctioneer, and valuer members of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI), operating in the agricultural sales and rental market, say average rental prices in 2025 for farm property are expected to increase by 7%.

The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland / Teagasc Agricultural Land Market Review and Outlook Report 2025 finds that average rental prices are expected to rise by 7% in Leinster and Connacht / Ulster, and 8% in Munster.

SCSI auctioneers and valuers say they expect land values to rise again, primarily due to better milk prices, strong competition among farmers and investors and recent changes to Ireland’s Nitrates Action Programme. Due to the latter, some farmers require more land to meet lower stocking rate thresholds, which further increases the demand, especially among dairy farmers in Ireland.

The report provided to the Leinster Express Laois Live says that the Central Statistics Office data shows that the share of agricultural land, which transacts for sale annually, is only around 0.5% of agricultural area and this, combined with strong demand for agricultural land is driving the increase in land prices.

This year’s annual survey, the twelfth in the series, provides a county-by-county breakdown of the prices of good and poor-quality land.

The survey found that on holdings under 50 acres, prices in Laois ranged from €8,000 per acre of poor-quality land to €14,625 for good land on holdings less than 50 acres, up from €13,786 in 2023.

Meanwhile, the price of an acre of good land in Laois on holdings between 50 to 100 acres last year was €14,500 – up from €13,333 in 2023 - while the price of an acre of good land on holdings over 100 acres was €14,725. The corresponding prices for an acre of poor land were € 7,488 and €7,069.

The survey found the most expensive land in the country last year was in Waterford with good quality land on holdings between 50 and 100 acres fetching an average sales price of €23,500 per acre. Mayo has the lowest land sales prices in the country at €3,075 for an acre of poor-quality land on holdings over 100 acres.

Waterford also has the most expensive land on holdings under 50 acres at €23,000 per acre of good quality land, followed by Kildare on €18,680, with Cork in third place at €17,875, just marginally ahead of Tipperary on €17,865. Carlow was next on €17,417, followed by Meath in sixth place. Nationally, Laois lies in twelfth place behind Wexford, Westmeath Louth, Wicklow and Kilkenny.

In Leinster, sales prices for good land in 2024 on holdings of less than 50 acres range from Kildare’s high of €18,680 - up from €16,400 the previous year – to €12,042 in Offaly, while the prices for poor-quality land range from a high of €10,200 in Kildare to €6,500 in Longford.
In Munster, sales prices for good quality land on holdings under 50 acres range from €23,000 in Waterford to €9,875 in Clare. Prices for poor quality land ranged from an average of €8,750 in Waterford to €6,100 in Kerry.

In Connacht/Ulster, sales prices for good land on holdings under 50 acres ranged from an average of €13,280 per acre in Donegal – down slightly on last year – to €7,625 in Leitrim. Prices for poor quality land ranged from an average of €6,500 in Cavan to €3,792 per acre in Leitrim, the lowest price in the country for holdings under 50 acres.

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Land rental prices for grazing/meadowing/silage, grazing only and potato growing in Leinster all increased by 9% on average to €295, €271 and €467 per acre respectively. The rental price of land for cereal crops increased by 8% to €317 per acre while rent for land rental prices for other crops such as maize and beans, increased by just 2% to €351 per acre.

In Munster, average rental prices for grazing and meadowing /silage declined from between 3% and 5% and now stand between €284 per acre and €294 per acre. Conversely, land rental prices for other crops such as maize and beans rose by 8% indicating a steady demand for animal feed crops.

Connacht / Ulster saw the highest provincial rental price inflation across grazing/silage and grazing-only lands, 14% and 13% respectively with the average price of the former reaching €208 per acre and the latter €177 per acre.

The survey of 169 auctioneers and valuers from all over the country, took place in February and March 2025. It found the volume of farmland going to market increased marginally during 2024 with probate sales continuing to provide the main source of farmland sales.  MORE BELOW PICTURE.

Teagasc economist, Dr. Jason Loughrey, says improved prices for livestock and milk is continuing.

“Last year, we saw strong price growth for milk – up 16% - and lamb – up 18%. On average, dairy farms and sheep farms recovered from a difficult 2023. Cattle prices were also up 4.5% compared to 2023 while the picture for pigs and cereals was more mixed. At the same time, overall input prices decreased with lower prices for significant inputs such as feed and fertiliser in particular.

“It is estimated that the average net margin per litre of milk produced increased by 84% to 13.3 cent per litre last year. Prices were higher in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the first quarter of 2024. This year, beef prices have reached record levels and were approximately 40% above the average for the first quarter of last year. So far this year lamb prices are up 19%,” he said.

He cautioned about the potential impacts of Trump's tariffs.

“The introduction of new tariffs on exports to the US is adding uncertainty for both the short and medium term. Exports of Irish butter to the US have grown rapidly in recent years and this market may become less lucrative given the imposition of 10% tariffs with the possibility that additional tariffs may be imposed,” he said.

Dr Loughrey noted that aside from the impact of tariffs themselves, the prospect of a trade war is also affecting exchange rates and global economic growth prospects.

“Having been close to parity with the euro in January 2025, the US dollar has since weakened in value. This has negative implications for the euro value of Irish agri-food exports traded in dollars and positive implications for the cost in euro terms of imports of key agricultural inputs such as feed, fertiliser and energy, which are also traded in dollars,” he said.

This year’s report devotes a special section to farm succession and generational renewal. It notes the average age of farmers is 59 years and only 4.3% are under 35 years.

The SCSI survey indicated the main reasons relate to cultural, taxation and succession planning.

Dr Frank Harrington, Chair of the SCSI’s Rural Agency Committee and Discipline Lead of Real Estate and Valuations at TU Dublin, said farmers want the Government to review the agricultural land tax to entice more land to the market to support the younger farmers.

“Land mobility continues to remain a significant challenge. Our report highlights that policy changes in taxation and financial incentives may be necessary to encourage more land onto the market for sale. More land on the market would assist younger farmers enter the market which could also help improve profitability in farming with a scaling up of food production,” he said.

The full report is available at https://scsi.ie/land/