For now, despite the sharp rise in prices, farmers are still managing to acquire land. But until when? And, above all, what will be the impact on future generations.
This amount of 29.1 billion euros “translates well the strategic challenge of this sector, continues Mr. Thirion, of which land is one of the three factors of production alongside capital and labor. Most certainly for the farmers.”
Very strong price increases
But, if it has a value, this land also has a cost: almost 40,000 euros per hectare on average, up 6.2%/year over the last seven years (2017-2023). Taking inflation into account, the increase during this seven-year period is limited to 18% but this nonetheless represents an average annual increase of 2.8%. “This means that buying land is a good investment,” insists Marc Thirion. “For those who have the financial strength”, he does not fail to add.
In France, it is better to buy a hectare of agricultural land than a hectare of forests
For the moment, the farmers who are the first buyers of cultivated land (55% of the area sold) are still succeeding. But until when? And, above all, what will be the impact on future generations. “Clearly, insists Marc Thirion, it is non-farmers who sell the land and farmers who buy it. Even though it is increasingly difficult for them to invest in land in view of the price which continues to increase and in relation to the other expenses necessary for their profession which they must face. But it is also in the transmission of land that this high price will have a big impact.” He thinks above all of the extent of the redemption that the exploiting child will have to make to his non-exploiting siblings. Movements through successions will also be studied in the next edition of the Observatory. “This relationship to price is fundamental. Because it can undermine our agricultural model. Where we can have a sustainable family farm but which we will have difficulty passing on…”
-Another impact of this price change, “farmers are freeing themselves from rental.” “It is indeed farmers who own agricultural real estate and, consequently, there is more and more land which is used directly and less and less for rent. This is a recurring observation over time but it is clearly quantified”, indicates the director of SPW agriculture. In 2000, 69% of the land was worked under a rental contract compared to 62% in 2023.
Flemish farmers worry about a decline in public agricultural land
Stability in the price of land, decline in that of meadows
An observation which may no longer be relevant in the 2025 Observatory report. On the ground, in fact, agricultural land prices seem to have stagnated last year. “The rise in rates has been there and their slight drop has not fundamentally encouraged buyers to get back on the hunt,” indicates Yves Lange, administrator of Comptoir land, a real estate agency specializing in rural land. “As much as forestry has remained very attractive – rising prices due to high demand and low supply,” he continues, “agricultural has become immobile. The same amount of land is sold almost every year and the underlying trends are similar. Last year, nothing really changed, even more so in the meadows segment, which is having difficulty finding buyers.” Although he recognizes that there is not as much information on the forestry market as there is on its agricultural counterpart.
