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Price is right: Why farm land is on the up and up

While city house prices boom, the cost of buying agricultural land is also skyrocketing, with enough heat to fuel further rises for another five years.

Oct 08, 2021, updated Oct 08, 2021
ABARES says Australia is headed for a record winter crop production despite some destructive weather. (File image)

ABARES says Australia is headed for a record winter crop production despite some destructive weather. (File image)

Queensland is among the leaders of a national farm land price climb that appears to be just the start of a surge that will take its sharpest turn upwards in 2023.

Agribusiness bank Rabobank says Queensland sits behind Tasmania and Victoria for the nation’s highest median farm land price surge, revealed in its newly-released annual Agricultural Land Price Outlook.

And there’s more growth to come, the bank says, fuelled by a booming agricultural economy and limited available land for purchase.

Not in the last 30 years have the macro settings been so supportive of agricultural land price growth, the report says, with prices of most major agricultural commodities either at, or near, record levels.

Rabobank senior analyst Wes Lefroy said favourable seasonal conditions had driven farm revenues to record levels.

“Strong production years and high commodity prices, alongside record low interest rates, have boosted farmers’ purchasing power,” he said.

“Nationally, our research is showing that farmer purchasing intentions are at the highest point in at least the past five years, with nine per cent of Australian farmers reporting that they intend to buy land within 12 months.”

Lack of supply is also playing a role in squeezing agricultural land prices higher, the report says, with 45 per cent fewer sales recorded in 2020 compared with 2019.

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Tasmania leads median price growth at a massive 28.3 per cent between 2019 to 2020. Victoria recorded 15.8 per cent growth in the same period, closely followed by Queensland at 15 per cent and Western Australia 14.1 per cent.

Growth in New South Wales and South Australia was lower, with these states recording year-on-year median price growth of 6.1 per cent and one per cent respectively.

Nationally, the median price for agricultural land in Australia grew by six per cent in the year to 2020.

 

 

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