02 May 2025
Cultural, taxation and succession planning issues stifling land transfers – report
The recently published Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) and Teagasc Agricultural Land Market Review and Outlook Report 2025 provided a special section on the complex area of farm succession and generational renewal.
With only 4.3% of farmers under the age of 35 and the average age being closer to 60, the survey of 169 auctioneers and valuers pointed to cultural, taxation and succession planning issues as the main reasons for such low volumes of land coming to the market for sale. Notable on this front was a statistic from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), and included in the report, which show that the share of agricultural land which transacts for sale annually is only around 0.5% of agricultural area
Commenting on the publication of the report, Chair of the SCSI’s Rural Agency Committee and Discipline Lead of Real Estate and Valuations at TU Dublin, Dr. Frank Harrington said the overwhelming response of survey respondents was that the Government should review the tax treatment of agricultural land to entice more land to the market to support the younger generations of farmers.
“Land mobility continues to remain a significant challenge. Our report highlights that policy changes in taxation and financial incentives may be necessary to encourage more land onto the market for sale.
“More land on the market would assist younger farmers enter the market which could also help improve profitability in farming with a scaling up of food production.”
Given the aging farming demographic, Dr. Harrington noted “there is a greater likelihood that their land will be made available for long-term leasing rather than being made available on the sales market”.
Structures needed
Dr Jason Loughrey, an Economist at Teagasc, provided the research angle, noting that the need for policies that allow for gradual transitions rather than ‘abrupt’ retirement, especially given the number of farmers who indicate that they never plan to retire, are needed.
“While it appears that young farmers have difficulty in competing in land rental markets, insights from the Teagasc National Farm Survey suggest that a large volume of additional land may become available to land rental markets in the medium-term.
“This may support the prospects for younger farmers in some parts of Ireland. However, the availability of medium-sized and large plots of land will remain important for younger farmers in regions where dairy and tillage farming are most prevalent. We need to put the structures in place now to facilitate this type of land market activity,” he noted.
Read the Teagasc/SCSI Agricultural Land Market Review & Outlook 2025 here.
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