Australian Farmland Values by State — 2026 Data

Australian farmland reached a record median of $10,516 per hectare in 2025 — the 12th consecutive year of national growth, but at +2.8%, the smallest annual increase of that entire run. After a decade in which values compounded at 12.2% a year over the last five years and 7.2% over twenty, the market has visibly shifted gears: transaction volumes sat 15.6% below the ten-year average, and the 2026 report flags the potential for the first material decline in the national median since 2013.

This article compiles the state-by-state farmland value data every rural buyer, seller, lender and adviser asks for: median price per hectare and growth rates from Bendigo Bank Agribusiness’ 2026 Australian Farmland Values report (calendar-2025 transactions), ABARES’ Farmland Price Indicator, sector-scale statistics, and the ATO’s foreign ownership register. Sources and methodology differences are set out below — farmland “value per hectare” varies with how you measure it, and this article keeps each measure attributed to its own series.

Quick reference — median farmland price per hectare by state, 2025

From Bendigo Bank Agribusiness’ 2026 Australian Farmland Values report (median price per hectare of farmland sold in calendar 2025):

*Composition effects — read the caveats below before quoting the SA, TAS or NT movements.

Three numbers in that table that don’t mean what they look like

The report itself is explicit that a median moves when the mix of what sold changes, not only when underlying values change:

• South Australia’s +20.4% is largely compositional. Three consecutive drought years shifted the 2025 sales mix toward high-value lifestyle and coastal country (Adelaide & Fleurieu), which the report says “artificially lifted” the state median. Four of SA’s seven regions actually declined.
• Tasmania’s −20.6% sits on just 86 transactions — a record low, down 61% over five years — and thin volumes make the median volatile. Only about 11,500 hectares changed hands, the lowest on record.
• The Northern Territory’s −1.2% reflects a shift toward cheaper Cattle Region sales; both NT regions individually rose.

The long-run picture

• 12 consecutive years of national growth (2014–2025). The last national decline was 2013.
• The 2025 rise (+2.8%) is the smallest of the streak — NSW’s growth has slowed three years running (+15.8% in 2023, +7.2% in 2024, +4.5% in 2025), Victoria has been essentially flat since 2023, and Western Australia posted its smallest rise since 2020 despite an eighth straight year of growth.
• The dataset behind the series covers 31 years of transactions — almost 310,000 sales across more than 350 million hectares, with a combined value of almost $245 billion.
• On ABARES’ separate Farmland Price Indicator (broadacre transactions of 50 hectares or more), national broadacre prices grew at an average 9.8% a year over the ten years to 2025, with cropping farmland (14.2%) and southern beef country (14.1%) the fastest sectors, and Tasmania (14.5%) and Victoria (13.3%) the fastest states over that decade.

Regional standouts of 2025

Strongest movers:

• NSW Far West: +129.7% to $1,144/ha — on only 33 transactions, a result the report itself warns may be inflated
• QLD Central: +96.4% to $1,252/ha
• SA Eyre Peninsula: +32.2%
• NSW North Coast: +17.4% to $15,214/ha — overtaking the Hunter as NSW’s highest-valued region
• WA Avon-Midland: +10.9%, above $10,000/ha for the first time

Weakest:

• SA North: −23.1%
• VIC Central: −10.8% and VIC Mallee: −10.6%
• TAS North West: −10.7% to $24,136/ha
• NSW Riverina Murray: −8.5% to $8,881/ha

The extremes of the national market: Victoria’s South & West Gippsland is the highest-valued region at $30,712/ha; the NT Cattle Region ($99/ha) and QLD West ($255/ha) anchor the other end.

The sector behind the values

Context figures from ABARES’ Snapshot of Australian Agriculture 2026 and the ABS:

The 2026-27 outlook is the sobering line in the series: ABARES’ June 2026 Agricultural Commodities report forecasts average broadacre farm business profit to fall by around 70% in 2026-27, on lower revenue and higher input prices — a squeeze on the earnings that ultimately support land values.

Foreign ownership of Australian farmland

From the ATO’s Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets (agricultural land report, at 30 June 2025):

• 13.0% of Australian agricultural land carried a level of foreign ownership — 50.26 million hectares, up from 12.7% a year earlier (recent range: 12.3% in 2021 to 14.1% in 2020)
• Interests were held from 73 countries. Largest holders by area: United Kingdom (7.66M ha), China (6.54M ha), Canada (4.93M ha), United States (2.70M ha), Switzerland (2.33M ha)
• By state, foreign-held shares range from 27.8% in the Northern Territory and 24.1% in Tasmania down to 4.9% in NSW/ACT; Queensland has the largest foreign-held area (17.07M ha at 12.7%)

What changed in 2025 — and what 2026 looks like

• A year of two halves. The first half of 2025 was subdued; growth returned in the second half as the RBA applied three rate cuts across 2025 — taking the cash rate from 4.35% to 3.60% — and seasonal conditions improved.
• Volumes stayed thin. National sales sat 15.6% below the ten-year average; Queensland’s 1,541 transactions were a historic low, and Tasmania’s 86 a record low. WA was the outlier, with transactions up 13.2%.
• The 2026 warning. With a more restrictive rate environment emerging across the first half of 2026, cost pressures from the Middle East conflict and a dry three-month outlook, the report flags “the potential for the first material decline in the median price of farmland at a national level since 2013”. ABARES’ Dr Jared Greenville framed the flip side in March 2026: slower price growth “potentially support[s] opportunities for expansion or entry into the sector”, while the high price baseline extends equity for existing owners.

Methodology — why farmland value figures differ by source

Two authoritative series measure different things, and they should not be mixed:

• Bendigo Bank Agribusiness, Australian Farmland Values 2026 (the successor to the long-running Rural Bank report series): median price per hectare of farmland sold in the calendar year, based on PriceFinder/Domain Insight transaction records. The median is of the total sale price, which can include capital improvements (and in the NT series, stock, plant and equipment). Municipalities with fewer than 4 transactions are not reported, and the report cautions it is “not intended for use as a farm valuation tool” — the sales mix can move a median without any change in underlying value.
• ABARES Farmland Price Indicator (March 2026 release, covering 2025): a stratified indicator of broadacre farmland prices built on CoreLogic records, restricted to arm’s-length transactions of 50 hectares or more, in nominal terms. Note ABARES revised its historical estimates in March 2026 due to source-data changes, so pre-2026 published levels are superseded — figures here are quoted from the March 2026 release only.

Sector-scale, export and profit figures are from ABARES’ Snapshot of Australian Agriculture 2026 and Agricultural Commodities (March and June 2026); foreign ownership from the ATO register dataset published on data.gov.au (March 2026). Every figure above was verified against the named source on 13 July 2026.

When farmland needs a formal valuation

The reports above track markets; they don’t value a specific property — and both publishers say so expressly. An independent rural property valuation is the instrument that does, typically for:

• Purchase, sale or family succession — an arm’s-length market value for a specific holding, including water entitlements, improvements and productive capacity that $/ha medians blur together. See how rural property is valued
• Capital gains tax events — disposals, apportionment around the 1 July 2027 CGT reset, or a retrospective valuation to establish a historical cost base
• Stamp duty on related-party and intergenerational farm transfers — state revenue offices require market value substitution; see stamp duty valuation and the family farm transfer concessions in several states
• Lending and financial reporting — replacement of stale book values, going concern valuations for operating rural enterprises, and compulsory acquisition where infrastructure corridors cross farmland

Frequently asked questions

What is the average price of farmland per hectare in Australia?

The national median was $10,516 per hectare for farmland sold in 2025, per Bendigo Bank Agribusiness’ 2026 Australian Farmland Values report — a record, up 2.8% on 2024. State medians ranged from $3,662/ha in the Northern Territory to $18,424/ha in Tasmania. Note these are medians of actual sales (which can include improvements) — the value of any specific property depends on its land class, water, improvements and location.

Which Australian state has the most expensive farmland?

By 2025 median price per hectare: Tasmania ($18,424/ha) and Victoria ($14,790/ha) are the most expensive, reflecting smaller, higher-rainfall holdings; Western Australia ($7,255/ha) and the Northern Territory ($3,662/ha) the cheapest, reflecting scale and pastoral country. The highest-valued single region in the country is Victoria’s South & West Gippsland at $30,712/ha.

Are Australian farmland prices still rising?

They rose 2.8% nationally in 2025 — a 12th consecutive year of growth, but the smallest increase of that streak, and the 2026 report flags a possible first national decline since 2013 given higher interest rates and a drier outlook. ABARES data shows the same deceleration: broadacre prices grew strongly over the decade (9.8% a year) but flattened from 2023.

How much Australian farmland is foreign owned?

13.0% of Australian agricultural land had a level of foreign ownership at 30 June 2025 (ATO register) — about 50.26 million hectares, held from 73 countries, led by the United Kingdom, China and Canada by area. Shares vary widely by state, from 27.8% in the NT to 4.9% in NSW/ACT.

Do these reports tell me what my farm is worth?

No — both major series say so themselves. They are medians of sold farmland and can move with the sales mix rather than underlying value (South Australia’s +20.4% in 2025 is the textbook example). A specific holding needs an independent rural valuation assessing its land classes, water entitlements, improvements and income, prepared to RICS and API standards.

Disclaimer

This article is general market information about Australian farmland values, not valuation, financial or investment advice. Figures are medians and indicators for sold farmland, attributed to their sources and reporting periods — they do not represent the value of any specific property. For an independent rural property valuation, request a quote or see our rural valuation service.

Sources:

• Bendigo Bank Agribusiness — 2026 Australian Farmland Values report and Agriculture Insights hub
• ABARES — Farmland Price Indicator (March 2026), Snapshot of Australian Agriculture 2026, Agricultural Commodities, June 2026
• ABS — Agricultural Commodities, Australia, 2021-22 (final issue)
• ATO — Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets, agricultural land dataset (30 June 2025)

Last verified: 13 July 2026. Farmland series are updated annually (Bendigo Bank ~May, ABARES ~March) — this article is reviewed against each new release. Spot an outdated figure? Contact info@landmark-valuations.com.au.

See also

• Rural Property Valuation Explained — how valuers assess land classes, water and improvements
• Australian House Price History 1980–2026 — the residential counterpart to these long-run series
• Stamp Duty Rates by State Australia — 2025-26 — transfer costs on rural and residential property, including family farm concessions
• Land Tax by State Australia — primary production exemptions vary by state
• CGT Reform 2027 — Impact by Capital City — the 1 July 2027 reset that also touches farmland disposals
• Australian Property Valuation Statistics 2026 — the market-wide data hub for this series
• Property Valuation Cost by State — Australia 2025-26 — what a rural valuation costs