Top-quality East Cork farm guides at €10k/acre for online auction

The 74-acre farm at Boulta, Ballynoe, Co. Cork, which is ideal tillage land, according to auctioneers Dominic Daly & Co.

Coming up for public auction in just under a fortnight’s time is a 74-acre farm in East Cork, through Cork-city-based auctioneers Dominic Daly & Co.

The auction will be held online on Wednesday, April 27 at 3pm. Interested parties will have to register their interest beforehand.

The farm is all in one block and is just a kilometre to the east of the village of Ballynoe – close to the Waterford border, 20km north of Midleton and 19km southeast of Fermoy and 25km northwest of Youghal.

“It’s top-quality agricultural land,” said Mr Daly. “It’s laid out in five easily-worked fields and is currently in tillage, but it’s suitable for all purposes.”

The property slopes gently from north to south and is well-drained throughout. “It’s an executor sale,” said Mr Daly of the property, “With the entrance to the farm from Church Road in Ballynoe.”

The holding doesn’t have public road frontage but is instead accessed via a 700m-long roadway, which gives clear and uncomplicated access.

“It’s ideal tillage land,” says Dominic, underlining a quality that has become all the more attractive as Ireland’s agricultural industry attempts to shift its focus in a time when Ukrainian grain imports are likely to be severely curtailed for the foreseeable future.

Indeed, it will be interesting to see what use will be made of this substantial farm when the next owner takes over.  The governmental pressure might be towards tillage use at the moment, but as the agent says, this land is equally suited towards grazing and there is a healthy amount of dairying operations in the locality that would be potentially interested in using it as such.

The guide price is €750,000. At just over €10,000 per acre, it’s a level that would appear to be quite conservative. Some other good quality parcels of land nearby have achieved higher prices. 

When it comes to a public auction, however, one needs to pitch the price correctly in order to maximise the possibility of bids on the day. “We’re being reasonable in the guide price level,” said Mr Daly, “Just to bring on good interest.”

The interest has been very encouraging so far, according to the selling agents, with a good number of queries and expressions of interest so far. “I’ve had what I would call ‘heavyweight interest’ so far,” said Mr Daly, without going into too much more detail on the subject.

What is clear, however, is that there should be enough interest for bidding to progress on the day. This is the first time that the company have opted for an online public auction but it’s a well-trusted format and has proven itself to be every bit as successful as its ‘real-life’ equivalent – before, during and after lockdown.

The property comes without any entitlements and there are no outbuildings on the land. This shouldn’t be seen as much of a disadvantage, however, leaving potential buyers to concentrate on the essence of its value – its land.