With the work complete, the 250-cow farm just minutes from Reefton is now for sale at $3.1 million.
Shari McLaughlin from CRT Real Estate said the owners had spent the past few years developing unproductive land on the farm to dairy pasture, realigning fences for better management, upgrading the water system and regrassing all but eight paddocks so far.
"It's a real genuine, tidy, solid, husband and wife operation," she described the farm. "It’s well on the way to being a model unit."
The farm lies over two terraces and with all the cows wintered on the property, is on target to produce more than 100,000kg milksolids (MS) this season.
To achieve that, around 50 tonnes of meal is to be fed to the cows through the season, up from 12t fed last season. It's a low-cost method of feeding the cows, with meal bought in bulk, bagged and then fed to the cows in meal troughs in the dairy.
The only other bought-in feed is 20 big bales of straw a year, with everything else grown on the farm. Ten hectares of swedes are planted for winter feed and if there's a feed wedge at the height of the season, silage is cut for extra supplement.
Refencing has created 41 main paddocks that are set up for easy management on a 20-day round and though there's no irrigation on any of the paddocks yet, there are consents in place to install it, adding to the 2000mm average rainfall.
From the paddocks, the cows head out onto a ring race top and bottom of the farm to an upgraded 20-aside herringbone dairy with Reid plant that had a new line in the 10/11 season.
Eighty calves are reared out of the vat milk each year and in May head off-farm to be grazed through until the following May.
As well as the upgraded dairy, the farm features a range of farm buildings including a three-bay calf shed, a three-bay barn, workshop and three-bay implement shed.
A comfortable three-bedroom family cottage adds the final touch to the farm. The farm also has 100,000 Westland shares that will be available to transfer to a new owner.
For further information contact McLaughlin on 0800 278 583 or 0272 666 850.
