The Best Counties to Start a Farm in Ireland

Agriculture, particularly in sectors like dairy and beef, not only sustains thousands of jobs but also drives exports with up to 90% of the country’s dairy, beef and sheep meat being exported each year.  Make no mistake about it, it’s a tough job but farmers remain the lifeblood of Ireland.  

With the average age of an Irish farmer being 58, and the need for young blood within the sector, Amazon Prime’s smash hit Clarkson’s Farm may have sparked that drive. With Google searches for Farming up 200% YoY and Clarkson’s Farm up 175%, more people appear to be taking an interest.  

But if you were to follow in Jeremy Clarkson’s footsteps and set up your own farm, where would be best to do it?  

Our team crunched the numbers on several data points for each county and we’ve compiled the ultimate ranking of the best counties in Ireland to start a farm.  

To do this we looked at the availability of listings and acres of agricultural land currently on the market, the average annual hours of sunlight and mm of precipitation each county gets, and the amount paid to farms in each county in government grants and schemes. Each data point was given a weighted score out of 100 and the counties were then ranked by a total score out of 500.  

Cork took home the crown as the best county to start a farm with an index score of 359 out of 500. With 128 listings of agriculturual land currently on the market and over €195 million paid to Farms in government grants and schemes in 2023, ‘the Rebel County’ takes top spot in the rankings.  

Placing second in the rankings was Co. Galway with an index score of 351. Famous for being the county with the largest Gaeltacht by area, county Galway boasts over 6,700 available acres of agricultural land and 165 individual listings.  

On the flip side of the table, Co. Dublin placed last in the index, no doubt in part due to its high population density and metropolitan centre limiting the amount of available land but it is amongst the counties with the highest soil fertility.  

Perhaps the surprise package in the bottom half of the table is the placement of Donegal, with an index score of just 149 out of 500. Known for its scenic landscape and wilderness, ‘the Forgotten County’ is placed in the bottom 10 counties to start a farm with just 62 listings of available agricultural land available on the market. 

Quality of land 

When it comes to the quality of the land, a good fertile soil system is the foundation of any farming system, irrespective of what type of farm you have. In particular, good, fertile soil is key for growing high-quality grass to feed cattle, and inevitably lead to milk expansion and increased income for beef and dairy farms.  

But where in Ireland has the best soil?  

Methodology & Sources 

We analysed the availability of agricultural land currently on the market by filtering the search on daft.ie for current listings for each county. For the total available land in acres in each county, we added together the total number of acres for sale in each listing. 

Figures for the amount paid to farms in each county in government grants and schemes, taken from an answer to a parliamentary question by the Minister for Agriculture in the Farming Journal. 

 We analysed the average annual hours of sunlight and millimetres of precipitation with data from https://weatherandclimate.com/   

Quality of soil/fertility for each county taken from a 2021 report from the Agriculture and Food Development Authority. 

Each data point was given a weighted score out of 100 and the counties were then ranked by a total score out of 500.