There has been some very positive news for agriculture. Farmland prices have increased by as much as 14.7% nationally during 2011, which is highly promising for the farming economy. Again, for a consecutive year, most of the farmland was purchased by farmers, with some even buying back, at a socalled discounted price, land that they had sold during the boom for excessive money. 2011 was generally a good year for farming and hopefully this positive trend will continue for the year to come. The average price paid throughout Ireland for agricultural land in 2011 was �10,064 per acre; this represents an increase of 14.7%, based on the average price of �8,776 per acre paid in 2010. When counties Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow are excluded from the survey, the average price paid for farmland in the rest of the country was �9,877 in 2011, compared to the considerably lower figure of �7,669 in 2010. Thus, there is a much higher overall increase at 28.8% countrywide when these counties are excluded. Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow is the only region in Ireland where the average price of farmland has in fact decreased. The total number of farms advertised was 391, out of which there were a total of 161 sales completed. The survey is based on 142 of these, as prices for 19 sales were undisclosed and therefore could not be included. Over the entire country, approximately 9,400 acres changed hands during 2011. These are the findings of the 19th Agricultural Land Survey carried out by Knight Frank Ireland. The survey is based on reported farmland sales in the two main farming newspapers, combined with research by Knight Frank. Methodology The survey is based on research by Knight Frank Ireland together with agricultural land sales reported in the Irish Farmers Journal and the Farming Independent, January to December 2011. The country is divided into 6 different regions, which are detailed below. Each region is further broken down into 4 different size categories. Land sales of less than 20 acres were generally excluded, as it was deemed that the land had been bought as sites for houses or for investment purposes. However, if it was specified in the reported sale that a farmer had bought the land, then it was included in the survey. Dublin/Kildare/Wicklow There was a decrease of 13.3% in the price of farmland in the Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow region. The average price paid was �11,056 per acre in 2011, representing a decrease from the previous year�s �13,055 per acre. Full report here: http://bit.ly/xLo1h8