Cork, Galway and Mayo have been rated as the best counties in Ireland to start a farm enterprise, according to a new study.
The research, conducted by Calor Gas, analysed each county’s suitability to start a farm across a range of data points including, availability of agricultural land to buy and the average hours of sunlight each county gets each year.
Each data point was given a weighted score out of 100 and the counties ranked out of a total score of 500.
Farm
The study found that Cork was ranked as the best county to start a farm with an index score of 359 out of 500.
The Rebel County came out on top with 128 listings of agricultural land (4,773ac in total) currently on the market.
While over €195 million was paid to farmers across 20 government farming schemes in 2023.
Coming in a close second in the rankings was Galway, with an index score of 351.
The study noted that there were 6,748ac of land available on the market across 165 individual listings.
Almost €147 million was issued in scheme payments to farmers in the county during 2023.
Rounding out the top three was Mayo, scoring 285 out of 500 in the index rankings.
Farms in the county received over €135 million in government grants last year, while the county also has the greatest number of land listings available on the market with 169.
Calor explained that the study involved analysis of available agricultural land currently on the market on Daft.ie.
The figures for the amount paid to farms in each county in government grants and schemes was provided by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue in response to a parliamentary question earlier this year.
The meteorological data for average rain and sunshine was sourced from weatherandclimate.com. While the quality of soil/fertility for each county was sourced from a 2021 report from Teagasc.
Commenting on the findings of the study, Louise Carrick, head of marketing and CX at Calor, said:
“Farmers have long been the lifeblood of Ireland, and their challenges aren’t getting any easier. It is however, such a rewarding way of life and is crucial to the success of our economy, but it is a tough job make no mistake about it.
“The average farmer is likely to be doing manual work well into their seventies at the current rate so if more younger people are getting interested in the sector, that can only be a good thing for the long-term success of the sector.”