Louth saw an increase in the number of farms offered for sale on the market in 2021. Average price was firm and in line with recent years.

The number of farms that came up for sale was 12, up from seven in 2020. The total area involved was 453ac, up from 207ac. Eight of the farms were under 40ac in size and four larger. None of the holdings captured by our survey were residential.

Two of the farms were offered by auction, the other 10 by private treaty. Eleven of the 12 farms went on to sell, an indication of the good demand for land in the county.

Average sale price was €12,374/ac, which 14% up on the year before. The highest price was €18,045/ac, which was paid for a small parcel located at the north of the county, sold by private treaty.

The lowest price recorded was €5,741/ac. This 27ac holding near Ardee was sold at auction.

Largest

The largest holding found in our survey was 110ac at Kilcurry, north of Dundalk which was sold by private treaty by Property Partners Laurence Gunne. The price made was excellent, although neither price nor identity of the buyer can be published.

Of the 11 farms that sold in Louth last year, almost half (45%) were bought by the business category, the broad grouping with off-farm income.

Dairy farmers and mixed-enterprise farmers were the next most successful buyers, each getting 18% of the holdings that sold. That left less for tillage farmers – strong buyers in this county in other years – and beef farmers. Both categories got 9% of holdings that sold.