Entitlement sales are expected to soar this year, as trading intensifies ahead of the 15 May BISS application deadline.

This comes as the Department of Agriculture confirms it plans to end the two-year amnesty on the 20% clawback that applies to the sale of entitlements without land.

A new active farmer requirement to receive scheme payments and a dilution in entitlement values is also said to be contributing to higher sales figures.

The first year of the amnesty already fuelled a 71% increase in entitlement sales in 2023, with figures obtained from the Department showing 53,689 entitlements traded via sales. The value of sales increased by 54%, rising from €5.25m to €8.15m.

Auctioneers say that many farmers considering selling entitlements in 2023 sat tight for the year to see how the value of entitlements evolved and opted to lease instead of sell. They are now expecting many of these farmers to sell rather than lease in 2024.

While entitlement sales have grown by 230% since 2021, leasing remains the dominant form of trading.

In excess of 300,000 entitlements with a value of almost €50m were traded in 2023.