Western land market is ‘relatively buoyant’
were somewhat skewed by the sale of Renville House on 135ac for €3.2m.
In 2017, there were two million euro farm auctions, with a 120ac residential holding at Moylough in Co Galway making €1.305m under the hammer of Murtagh Bros, Mullingar. A number of local farmers joined forces to buy the property.
The second was a 125ac non-residential farm at Tulsk in Co Roscommon that sold under the gavel of John Earley.
The farm had extensive shedding, good fencing and €17,000 in entitlements. Like the farm that sold in Moylough in neighbouring Co Galway, a local consortium of farmers won the day, beating off stiff competition from Tipperary and Cork.
The best per acre price was paid for a 14ac non-residential plot at Crossdoney near Cavan town. It sold under the gavel of Eamonn Gaffney for €190,000 or €13,500/ac.
A 16ac residential property at Lisdurran, Meelick, Swinford in Co Mayo made €212,000 under the hammer of local auctioneer Joe Mellett, while in Co Galway, Ger O’Toole of Loughrea got €13,140/ac for a 6ac piece at Feagh, Duniry.
The biggest farm sold in the region was the dispersed holding of former IFA man Phil Reilly. The 158ac farm is located on the Cavan/Meath border near Tierworker. The property was sold in seven lots and made a total of €909,000, or €5,753/ac.
Roscommon auctioneer John Earley says the per acre price of €7,621 for land in his area as revealed by the survey is “in the ballpark”. “We are getting €8,000 to €8,500/ac for good farm ground and €5,000 to €6,000 for poorer land,” he said.
Leased land
He believes things are changing rapidly in the land market and thinks the advent of larger dairy farms of 300ac and more will see a change to buying patterns.
“You may have less land purchase but you will have more neighbouring farmers leasing land to the local dairy farmer,” he said.
Mr Earley sees strong evidence that dairy buyers from outside the region are still looking for bigger holdings and refers to the sale of the 125ac farm in Tulsk where locals beat off opposition from Cork and Tipperary to buy the farm.