Sitting on silt soils just a few kilometres from Edendale, the 243ha farm has an estimated production of 400,000kg milksolids (MS) from 303ha this season and has the ability to go well over 1300kg/MS/ha, according to Southern Wide Real Estate agent John Hay.
"These Edendale silts are suitable for horticulture, including flower production – they grow tulips on them. So they're very sought-after soils.
"There's a band of blue-chip soils through there and this farm is right in the heart of it."
Combined with the fertiliser programme, the farm soil tests show pH levels at 5.8-5.9 and phosphate levels ranging between 30 and 53.
A lower-order sharemilker on the farm has been following a predominantly grass-based system and Hay said different systems would produce different results, but the farm had the right ingredients for top production.
It has no consistent past production records as the milking area has varied each season with areas sown in tulips.
As part of its regime, last season the farm purchased around 60 tonnes of drymatter (DM) in the form of silage, PKE and some grain, while 120t DM in the form of baleage and silage was made on the farm.
The entire farm is flat to very gentle contour, with a mix of established trees adding to the character of the farm. Around 12ha of the farm was winter crop that has been sown in new grass, with a further 12ha sown in a winter crop for next year, and the entire farm has been regrassed in the past seven years.
Well-designed lanes provide access around the farm and are surfaced from a consented gravel pit that also provides nominal royalties for the gravel sold off-farm.
The heart of the operation is a 54-bail rotary dairy built in 2001 and featuring meal feeders and a 500-cow yard. A new effluent system is being installed using a screen separator to capture the solids before storage in a 3 million litre lined holding pond. Underground hydrants take the effluent to uni pods, spreading it over 86ha, with a travelling irrigator available as a backup.
The vital water for the dairy and paddocks is an "excellent system" sourced from a bore at 30m and fed through a 75mm loopline that reduces to 60mm.
Apart from the dairy, the farm has a host of other facilities that encompass 300sq m calf sheds, implement sheds, workshop and a concrete feedpad.
In the comfort zone is a three-bedroom GJ Gardner home built in 2008 as the homestead, with further accommodation provided in a renovated three-bedroom house and a single person's quarters.
Stock and plant are also available at valuation. For further information contact Hay on 03 218 2795 or 0274 350 138, or visit www.southernwiderealestate.co.nz web ref SWI905.
