SHARING OPTIONS: The beautiful 224ac farm at Rathcoffey Castle was guided for €2m and experienced brisk bidding before being knocked down at a price closer to €3m. Overall agricultural land values decreased by 0.2% in 2020, according to the Sherry FitzGerald agricultural land barometer, which pools sale results from the group’s almost-100 offices. The first quarter saw prices back slightly but the group experienced strong growth later in the year. A combination of deflationary pressures stemming from 2019 saw values decline in the opening part of the year before COVID-19 further restricted market activity. The easing of restrictions later in the year saw values increased by 1% in the fourth quarter, this was the strongest rate of quarterly growth since 2015.