A FARM in Kildare sold for almost €30,000 per acre last year and was bought by “an equestrian buyer”, according to a report in the Irish Farmers Journal.

The national average price paid per acre of agricultural land last year was €12,000, which was 16% higher than in 2020, and the average price per acre in Kildare was €15,600. Only Dublin (€20,000) and Meath (€18,700) saw higher average acreage prices than Kildare in 2021.

According to the Irish Farmers Journal Agricultural Land Price Report, this was the sixth year in a row in which land prices rose.

A constant theme through 2021 was scarcity of agricultural land for sale. The total number of acres which changed hands last year fell by 11%, as collated by the Farmers Journal through public auction results and data on private treaty sales supplied by auctioneers in confidence.

The counties with the highest prices for farmland were Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Wexford, in that order. The counties with the lowest prices were Mayo, Leitrim, Galway and Roscommon.