It’s achieved 158,000kg milksolids in its best year from about 500 cows and winters up to 545 with only maize silage bought in when needed and occasional palm kernel, John Scott from LJ Hooker in Hamilton said.
The farm makes its own silage if there’s surplus and Scott said production could be lifted if someone wanted to add inputs.
“If someone wanted to increase production, the obvious way would be a feedpad.”
Around 30% of the farm is flat land, with another 50% easy rolling and the remainder easy hill or steeper. It’s the result of two neighbouring farms amalgamating several years ago and now it has a centralised dairy with wide races leading to 92 paddocks.
“It’s very well raced and well subdivided, so it’s got great rotation and the location of the dairy lends itself to two herds.”
While the 40-bail Waikato dairy is at the centre of the farm, two disused dairies from the original two farms are still standing and other farm buildings include a woolshed and a range of implement sheds, hay barns, calf shed and workshop. Added to that are three homes, including two with four bedrooms.
The farm lies halfway between Te Awamutu and Otorohanga in an area with a long history of dairying and with a number of large-scale, successful dairy farms. It’s an area that grows grass well, Scott said, with fertile soils and a good rainfall spread throughout the year. A mixture of Maeroa ash, peat flats, silt loam and some clay on the hills form the basis for the farm’s grass growth.
For the past few years the farm has been run by lower-order sharemilkers and Scott said the current sharemilker, who was now in his second season on the farm, was keen to stay on under new ownership. The herd of Friesian-cross cows will be available for sale at valuation.
The farm will be auctioned on November 1 and includes 160,078 Fonterra shares. For further information contact Scott on 07 846 5442 or 0274 464 697, or Neville Kemp on 07 871 9801 or 027 271 9801.
