One third of dairy farmers are actively hunting more land to lease this year.
A survey by the Irish Farmers Journal found that 34% of dairy farmers are currently seeking to lease additional land into the future.
Increased demand for land from dairy farmers due to tighter nitrates rules has resulted in a rise in rental prices this year.
Grazing ground for 2023 is generally making €350-450/ac, up €100/ac on 2022 prices. However, over €500/ac has been paid in exceptional cases.
Changes to the Nitrates Action Programme and the introduction of banding for dairy herds – which links a herd’s organic nitrogen rate per cow to its average milk yields – have contributed to the increased demand for land among dairy farmers.
While 48% knew the banding for their herd, 40% said they had only some understanding of the new measure, while 12% had no understanding.
Of those who were aware of their herd’s banding, 18% were in the 80kg of organic N/ha/yr, 48% were in the 92kg of organic N/ha/yr, while 34% were in the 106kg of organic N/ha/yr band.
In terms of slurry storage, 77% of the dairy farmers surveyed said they had sufficient capacity, while 23% admitted that they did not.
