Farmers looking for more land are being dragged into bidding wars with a new breed of buyer – the well-heeled rewilder.
The scarcity of farms and fields up for public sale in recent years has meant that agricultural land values are almost back to the record highs seen at the end of 2015, outperforming all other asset classes and matched only by gold.
Prices have risen by 16% in the past year, the strongest rate of growth since 2014, with the average value of farmland in England and Wales standing at £8,190 per acre, according to the Knight Frank Farmland Index.
Will Matthews, head of farms and estates at Knight Frank, said competition from a wide range of buyers meant guide prices were often exceeded. He said values reached as high as £20,000 per acre as city investors, universities and wealthy environmentalists tried to outbid each other.
