A 105ac farm at Clonberne, Co Galway, has come up for lease and according to auctioneer David Moggan, it has attracted extremely strong interest so far.

“I put it online on Tuesday evening of this week and the phone has been hopping since,” he said.

A fragmented holding, it is being offered in its entire or in lots.

This is the first letting of the farm and it is available for a seven-year lease. Good land, suitable for any enterprise, the land is almost all in grass, with a small area in stubble.

There are two sets of cattle handling facilities located on the farm.

There is a four-bay double-sided slatted shed on the farm.

There is a four-bay double-slatted house included in the lease and there is a crush and cattle handling facilities included.

Similar facilities exist on another block of land, where there is a yard with a three-bay hay shed with lean-to and cubicles. There are BISS entitlements to the value of approximately €7,000 included and the farm can be leased with or without them.

General trends

On the general trends of leasing in the area, David said: “From late March onwards is when the land leasing market usually gets going around here.

"We’re finding any land we would have rented on a conacre and both parties seem happy then we are just renewing those. As a result, not a lot of new ground coming up for lease.

"Anything for lease or 11-month let, there’s huge demand. Across all, for longer-term lease, we’re noticing a lot of younger farmers across sectors but notably dairy farmers.

"When it comes to money, anywhere from €250 to €350 is there for good ground depending on size and facilities. Rougher grazing then is going from €100 to €180/ac.”

Busy week

The Claregalway auctioneer has a busy week ahead as he will be auctioning a 72ac residential farm near Belclare on Friday 22 March.

All in one block, the grassland farm with cattle sheds and dwelling house sells via online auction.

Commenting on the sale, David said: “There’s been strong interest in the auction and we’d be hoping we can do business on the day. It’s one of the best farms to come on the market in the Belclare area.”