A new study has revealed Cork, Galway and Mayo to be the best counties in Ireland to start farming in.

The research, conducted by Calor Gas, analysed each county's suitability to start a farm based on the availability of agricultural land for sale and the average hours of sunlight each county gets each year.

Each data point was given a weighted score out of 100 and the counties ranked out of a total score of 500.

Cork was ranked as the best county to start a farm with an index score of 359 out of 500.

According to Calor Gas, there are 128 listings of agricultural land currently on the market in Cork and over €195m paid to farms in government grants and schemes in 2023.

Co Galway, with an index score of 351, came in second in the rankings.

Some 6,700ac are on the market in the Galway, with 165 individual listings.

Lifeblood

Rounding out the top three was Mayo, scoring 285 out of 500 in the index rankings.

Farms in the county received over €135m in government grants last year, while the county also has the greatest number of land listings available on the market with 169.

Head of marketing and CX at Calor Louise Carrick said: "Farmers have long been the lifeblood of Ireland and their challenges aren’t getting any easier. It is however such a rewarding way of life and is crucial to the success of our economy, but it is a tough job, make no mistake about it.

“The average farmer is likely to be doing manual work well into their 70s at the current rate, so if more younger people are getting interested in the sector, that can only be a good thing for the long-term success of the sector.”

Wexford, Roscommon and Tipperary occupied places four to six on the list.

For more information and to view the full research visit this link.