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24 Oct 2025
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24 Oct 2025
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Castlecomer-based auctioneer Joe Coogan, at his Auction Room, Ballycomey House, Castlecomer, achieved €540 per acre per year for one parcel of land
The price of agricultural land in Kilkenny will be the focus of RTE’s Ear to the Ground programme this week.
The report is set to reflect concerns in the farming community and is repeated at lunchtime this Sunday.
Prices for renting, leasing and buying farmland in Ireland are reaching historic levels, for many reasons - expansion in the dairy sector, investment opportunities and scarcity of supply.
For some farmers who have been in rental agreements for years, the future is now uncertain.
On Ear to the Ground, this week, Darragh Mc Cullough meets one farmer in Kilkenny adapting how he runs his enterprise to cope with the uncertainty.
The Kilkenny People reported last month that local auctioneer Joe Coogan had achieved €540 per acre per year for one parcel of land.
The 15.5 acres of good grazing land with no entitlements was situated beside a public road with water supply and cattle crush.
At auction, bidding commenced at €300 and concluded at €540 per acre per year.
Also on this week’s Ear to the Ground will be reports on the pig industry and climate change.
Pigs
The last 18 months have been cited as the toughest in a generation for pig farmers.
Global events caused spiking energy and feed costs while at the same time pig prices were slow to catch-up.
According to Teagcasc the average Irish pig farm has made losses of 600,000 over that period.
Helen Carroll visits pig farmer Roy Gallie in Kildare to find out how the global market impacts his enterprise and what needs to happen to get the sector back on its feet.
Climate Change
Last year the government announced that it was committing to a 25% cut in emissions from agriculture by 2030.
The dairy sector is coming under increasing pressure when it comes to how it will both tackle climate change, while maintaining farmers’ livelihoods.
Ella McSweeney spent the day with Wicklow dairy farmer John Kelly, to get his opinions on how he sees the sector changing in the future.
Ear to the Ground airs on RTE 1 television at 7pm this Thursday, February 16, with a repeat at 1.10pm on Sunday February 19.
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