What value do you place on agricultural land?

What do you like about farm life? Most people would mention the sense of space and sky that stand in contrast to the urban living conditions. 

The Afrikaans agricultural weekly magazine Landbouweekblad reported last week that the world’s largest cattle farm is on the market. Situated in Southern Australia, Anna Creek Station is 23 000 km² (12 427 m²), the size of South African province KwaZulu-Natal. For anyone who enjoys that feeling of space that farming gives, this one definitely takes the cake!

It made us wonder about the general size and price of agricultural land on the globe, and we found that The Irish Farmers Journal had just done some homework in this regard. Drawing on information from the World Bank, it compared land in countries mostly from the developed world, with two agricultural heavy weights thrown in. The comparisons make for interesting reading. 

Look at the names of these countries for a moment: USA, Brazil, Argentina, France, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

Where do you suppose agricultural land would be the most expensive? The cheapest?

Where would you expect more of the country’s land to be given over to agriculture? 

Land price ranked reads: UK [€10,840 per acre], Ireland [€9,890 per acre], New Zealand [€9,410 per acre], France [€5,790 per acre], Argentina [€4,000 per acre], USA [€2,600 per acre], Australia [€1,020 per acre], Brazil [€778 per acre].

An acre is just over 0.4 of a hectare. You will have an idea of the average price in your own country (if it isn’t listed here), and be able to work out where you would fit on the list.

Land given over to agriculture: UK (71%), Ireland (66%), Australia and France (53%), USA (51%), New Zealand (50%), Argentina (49%), Brazil (33%).

There is a correlation between price and the size of the country. The money you pay for land also depends on its fertility … and profitability. In the USA, the price of agricultural land varies for the following activities: wine region, €14,900/acre; corn, €8,288/acre; dairy, €4,845/acre; wheat belt, €4,526/acre; cotton, €2,969/acre; sugarcane, €2,370/acre; pastureland, €2,245/acre.

Find a sample of South African prices here. The question of agricultural land value in South Africa is a loaded one. Commercial agriculture has pointed out repeatedly that enough land passes through the market every year for government to have met its land reform target long ago. The problem is: if word got out that government was about to buy land on this scale, the price of agricultural land would go through the roof! And so our land reform progresses slowly, chugging along …