The average value of English farm land has risen by 2 per cent to £10,100 per acre in 2014 with supply remaining at historic low levels, according to the latest data.

But the rate of growth has slowed and there has been no change in values in since June, the figures from Smiths Gore show.

They also reveal that values have risen by 5 per cent in the past 12 months and by 20 per cent in the past three years.

‘While demand for farms with houses and buildings has increased in the last year as non-farmer buyers return to the market for these types of farms after the recession, the strongest demand is from farmers buying bare land for purely farming purposes,’ said Giles Wordsworth, national head of Farms and Estates Agency at the firm.

The data shows that bare land values average £7,400 per acre and have risen 4 per cent in 2014, an increase of 2 per cent in the past 12 months and by 27 per cent in the last three years.

Farms with houses and buildings, known as equipped land, have risen by 2 per cent, 7 per cent and 20 per cent over the same periods and now average £11,000 per acre. And the value of arable land is increasing more than grassland at 8 per cent compared with 6 pre cent in the past 12 months.

Values are continuing to be supported by the lack of farmland available to buy, according to Smiths Gore. Some 10 per cent less land has been marketed so far in 2014 compared with 2013.

There are significant variations between regions. The South West and East of England are the most active, with 19,300 acres and 18,000 acres marketed respectively in the year to date.