Only 13,500 acres of farmland were marketed in the first quarter of 2013, according to Estate Agents SmithsGore; the the company's Farm Agency said this is the lowest amount of land for sale recorded in the last five years.

Land and farm sales appear to be slow in coming to the Spring market which is traditionally the busiest time of the year.

The number of equipped farms (those with a residential element) that came to market in the last quarter is much lower than it has been in the previous five years.  9,950 acres were marketed compared with 12,400 acres in the same period last year, with only 46 farms for sale in the whole of England.

Bare land sales have been more consistent, with roughly the same number of sales and area for sale as last year. Giles Wordsworth, Head of Estate and Farm Agency commented, "Values appear stable but we will only be able to judge this in the second quarter, once more land has been marketed in what is usually the busiest quarter of the year. Despite a couple of strong sales already, there have not been enough transactions to demonstrate any notable trends.

"There continues to be a clear divergence between prime quality land in the right location and poorer quality land. Due to the shortage of land coming to the market, buyers continue to be increasingly discerning. Secondary or tertiary quality land that is unrealistically priced will struggle to find a buyer in the current market."

However, farmland values remain high and rising in spite of recession. Prices have risen by 22 percent since the start of the recession in 2008, from £7,400 per acre to £9,000 per acre now.

SmithsGore's Wordsworth continued, "The high commodity prices we have witnessed since 2008 have driven farm incomes up, making more farmers want to expand.  This demand, coupled with increased appetite from investors, has resulted in increased competition for fewer and fewer acres – 40 percent less land was marketed in  the first quarter of 2013 than in the same period five years ago."