High agricultural land prices in Gelderland: ‘Laan tree growers are outcompeting other farmers’ | Vee-en-Gewas.nl

The land prices currently paid in these areas are substantially higher than the prices of the past three years. Agrivesta thus refers to the figures from Het Kadaster and the WUR, which show a slight increase in land prices in Gelderland and Overijssel.

200,000 euros

“There has been little supply of good land in these areas. This leads to higher prices,” says Marcel Joosten, expert and broker of Agrivesta for the Arnhem-Nijmegen region. “In the areas where avenue tree growers are active, land prices even rise to 200,000 euros per hectare and higher. Tree growers can imagine such high prices. ‘Where avenue tree growers buy, they compete away with other agricultural entrepreneurs.”

The same applies to West Betuwe and the Veluwe, says Agrivesta expert Gerrit Stap, who is active as a real estate agent in those areas. “In short, you can say that the tree sector determines the land price in the region in which the tree nurseries are active,” he says. Municipalities often impose requirements on where tree nurseries can use land. They therefore cannot and may not work everywhere. This adds even more pressure on the land. Overall, prices for tree nursery-suitable land are between 150,000 and 240,000 euros.

Solar panels

Land only suitable for grassland is a lot cheaper in the south of Gelderland, but there is also demand for those lands. Stap: “For heavy-oily clay soils with a siltability between 60 and 80 percent that are only suitable for grassland, the lower limit of the price per hectare is now between 70,000 and 75,000 euros. A relatively large amount of land is also disappearing due to the construction of solar parks. That also has a price-raising effect.”

Moreover, tree nurseries are hardly active in the Land van Maas en Waal and Rijk van Nijmegen. According to Agrivesta, in those areas, in the south of Gelderland, a lot of money is paid for good arable land. Agrivesta area expert and real estate agent Bart-Jan de Lorijn: “The lower limit currently appears to be 75,000 euros per hectare for plots suitable for grassland (heavy river clay). For good arable land, prices rise sharply to between 100,000 and 150,000 euros per hectare, depending on location, quality, plot shape and size. Low supply and high demand will probably ensure that there will be little or no change in this for the time being.”

Achterhoek and Liemers: dairy farming on land hunt

Different laws also apply to the Achterhoek and De Liemers than to the rest of the province of Gelderland. “Also because dairy farmers want to focus more on land-relatedness,” says Wouter Weenink, who follows the area for Agrivesta and is active as a real estate agent. “As a result, there is more demand for land. The implementation of extensification and the tightened manure policy also play a role. I also see more buyers compared to a number of years ago. The buyers who are there can simply afford that increase.”

Weenink saw prices between 70,000 and 95,000 per year in the Achterhoek and Liemers in 2023.
hectares. This year, 85,000 to 95,000 euros will already be paid there. “From the figures you can see that the
land price has risen 6.5 percent per year over the past 10 years. This means that land next to
means of production for the farmer is also found to be lucrative by investors, investors,
foundations and churches that find value retention and long-term continuity important.”

Overijssel also expensive: ‘Municipalities are looking for land, which puts pressure on the land price’

Agrivesta expert for Eastern Netherlands Fred van Dijk also sees land prices exploding in Overijssel. “There are
multiple parties wanting to buy land, which has a significant effect on driving up prices. Nature development and the construction of solar parks also play a role.”

According to Van Dijk, this increase started three to four years ago. “Municipalities have more
ambitions and that gives a different dynamic. Owners receive a purchase through a
municipality pays a significantly higher land price for housing or industrial estate than for sale
to a colleague. These sellers then also enter the market for replacements
to purchase land. That puts extra pressure on land prices.”