Demand expected for farm selling in strong dairy area

The area in Mid-Cork around Bweeng and Donoughmore has been closely associated with the dairying industry for the last 130 years or so.

After more than a century, agriculture has become more of an industry and less of a way of life, with larger farms being the norm, as we move into a new era.

What has not changed, however, is the importance of agriculture to this part of the world, the general vibrancy of the agricultural scene here, and the dominance of the dairying sector.

At the moment, a 42-acre non-residential holding represents the best of all of the above, and its sale has been generating lots of interest, with one offer already on the table for it.

It is located in the townland of Beenalaught, a little over a kilometre from the village of Bweeng, and 6km north of Donoughmore.

The larger town of Mallow is 16km away, and Cork is easily accessible (29km to the city centre) via the N20 main Cork-Limerick road.

The property is laid out in two parts which are close to one another, fronting onto the same public road.

Lot 1 is a 36-acre block laid out in a number of paddocks and with a large amount of road frontage.

Just a few hundred metres away is Lot 2, a six-acre parcel of land, laid out in one field, with good road frontage.

“The quality of this land is very good,” says John O’Connell of Mallow-based selling agents O’Connell Auctioneers. “It’s very good grazing land, not really good as tillage land, and it enjoys very good road frontage.”

The R619 secondary road forms a long section of road frontage just south of the River Martin which forms a section of the boundary at the northern end of the holding.

“It’s very close to the Donoughmore milking area, so there would naturally be good demand for it,” says John, “and it’s under offer at the moment, the 36-acre section, that is.”

The interest has been brisk, and is focused primarily on the larger of the two lots, with three people actively interested at the moment.

“There are no entitlements with it,” John confirms. “It would be an ideal purchase for a dairy man as an add-on to an existing holding. It’s relatively small, and it’s within the reach of a lot of people, and there’s always great demand for land anywhere near the Donoughmore area.”

Although there have been no offers on the smaller six-acre lot, a number of people have been looking at it, according to the selling agents. Some of these are looking at the possibility of getting planning permission to build a dwelling, but the agent doesn’t holdout much much chance of getting planning permission.

I would imagine that it will end up being sold only as agricultural land. It’s a bit away from the main part of the village.

This is good agricultural land within the reach of a wide range of people in an area where there is always a residual hunger amongst dairy farmers to increase their holdings. With offers already coming in for this farm, it would appear that the likelihood of the main portion selling quickly is strong, and the remaining parcel shouldn’t be too long after that.

The asking price for the property is €10,000 per acre. It’s a good price expectation and one that should be achieved without too much difficulty. These days, with land prices officially sliding ever so slightly, it would be foolhardy to expect much higher.