Teagasc has urged farmers to “do their sums” on rented land this year, as auctioneers report strong demand and “some hot prices” for new leases and renewals.

Dairy farmers are again to the fore in the early lease deals concluded by Cork auctioneer Eamonn O’Brien, with prices for both stubble and good grazing ground running from €350/ac to €430/ac.

Trending higher

David Quinn predicted that rental prices in north Wexford will trend higher than in 2024, without hitting the heights of spring 2023.

Good grazing ground in north Wexford will make between €300/ac and €400/ac, he said. This was generally the price range where five-year leases were being renewed, Quinn explained.

These price levels tally with reports from farm advisers across the south. One adviser maintained that as high as €450/ac has been paid where good housing and yards are included, but prices ranged back to €180/ac.

However, Teagasc’s head of knowledge transfer Joe Patton said advisers had seen more caution among farmers regarding land rentals.

“I think what we’ve seen is more and more farmers being cautious and doing their sums on the value of additional rental land into their business,” he said.

“Some farmers have found that the value of land – particularly in a year when grass production is reduced – is lower in real terms because the tonnage of grass produced is down,” Patton maintained.

“You need high productivity on rental land to dilute the overall costs,” he added.

Rental prices

While Mitchelstown auctioneer Eamonn O’Brien agreed that the “craziness” of 2023 was unlikely to be repeated, he said the big correction in land rental prices that had been forecast had also failed to materialise.

This was a function of reduced supply, lands being taken out of the overall pool by solar farms, and continuing uncertainty regarding the nitrates derogation, he explained.

“There is no glut of land coming on the market, and the appetite for lettings remains strong,” O’Brien said.