A 135ha chunk of the farm is deer fenced with deer facilities that adds another option.
The group has farmed Tower Peak for the past eight years, using it as dairy support for the various dairy farms it owns in Canterbury. Weaners head to the station in December and go back to Canterbury about 18 months later as in-calf R2 heifers.
In all, the farm has been carrying up to 21,600 stock units and further development has now consolidated, providing opportunities to lift that further.
Spectrum Group’s managing director Mike O’Connor said it was a logical decision to sell the station, which is now too big for the group’s needs but it was also difficult to part with a property with such unique qualities.
“The unique qualities it has are its topography of easy country in the main and its fertility. It’s a farm we are very proud to own.”
Nearly 900ha of the station is flat land on top of terraces or valley floor, with another 900ha sweeping over rolling hill country with steeper faces and the balance steep native hill country.
Views from the farm take in Lake Manapouri in the distance, while tussock hills rise to the ranges behind it.
“There’s very little waste, even though it’s a big area. The subdivision and the water supply is up to the mark and in my opinion it has been very well managed.
“It has been regularly fertilised and its fertility is ahead of what you would expect of a sheep and beef unit.”
Supplements including pit silage and balage are made onfarm, with three rock-based, self-feed silage wintering pads catering for 600 weaners.
Crops are grown for winter feed and this year about 80ha of the farm was planted in a first crop of swedes, while 51ha was planted in new grass as part of the regressing programme.
The former sheep and beef farm was further subdivided for the dairy support operation, with a mix of post and wire and five-wire electric, adding up to 210 paddocks.
The entrance drive is 3.7km long, which puts the yards in the centre for easy management of a property of this size. Water is gravity fed from springs to a range of storage tanks and on to an extensive reticulation system with troughs in all paddocks.
Dallas Lucas, from Southern Wide Real Estate, said the water schemes in place had proved very reliable and well-able to service the intensive dairy support operation. Like everything on the property, it had been developed to an excellent standard.
“Tower Peak is one of the best farms in the province and it has served the Spectrum Group very well.
“The good thing about it is its versatility so you could look at sheep and beef or dairy conversion, subject to obtaining the necessary consents.
“It’s predominantly Excelsior soil type, which is a beautiful topsoil on top of free-draining subsoils.
“And it’s got a vast, vast area of easy country that’s well subdivided with good water from springs. The roading and access through the property is excellent.”
At the heart of the farm are a range of farm buildings and facilities that include a six-stand woolshed and extensive covered yards, six-bay implement shed, workshop and hayshed, and an automatic heifer weighing and drafting facility that was added in 2008.
The Spectrum Group employ a farm manager and 3.5 permanent stock assistants who have a range of accommodation including the large four-bedroom manager’s home, another four-bedroom home, a three-bedroom Lockwood home, and two self-contained staff units.
Manapouri is 12km away and Te Anau 40km, while Invercargill is 129km to the south and Queenstown 170km north of the farm.
Tower Peak has a deadline sale date of June 30.
More? Go to www.southernwide.co.nz ref SWI1571 or contact Lucas on 03 218 2795 or 0274 325 774.
