Friday, March 29, 2024

Southern smarts

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A smart irrigated dairy unit for sale in Southland produces 295,000kg milksolids (MS) from 690 cows and keeps 300 of them on farm for winter.
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Most of the 210ha freehold farm at Aparima is set up with irrigation, with river water pumped to a 50,000 cubic metre pond before heading out to 34 hydrants and two RotoRainers. When needed, the system applies 3.5ml a day over 200ha every 16 days onto paddocks that have been regrassed within the past seven years.

Andrew Patterson from PGG Wrightson in Invercargill said the recently installed irrigation provided consistent production for the farm that is for sale at $9.5 million plus GST.

"It has reliable rainfall, but this irrigation is a low-cost system set up to bolster those drier periods. Irrigation adds further ability to run a low-cost, high-production operation."

Aparima is 12km from Otautau and the farm is flat contour with sealed road frontages on two sides and lanes leading to all 40 paddocks. The dairy operation also has the use of 30ha of river accretion, taking the total farming area to 240ha, with an effective area of 230ha.

Crops on the farm typically include 9ha of fodder beet and 4ha of autumn fodder beet, so the farm now has 20ha in young grass with the remainder in permanent pasture.

The dairy is a 46-aside herringbone with Dairy Master plant and two 16,000 litre milk vats, and a 350-cow rectangular yard. The farm supplies Open Country Dairy, so owns the vats.

Effluent is collected in a 90-day clay-lined pond that feeds to a travelling irrigator, which has consent for 700 cows until 2018.

A woolshed and covered yards have been set up for calf rearing, along with a three-bay shed, while other infrastructure includes a four-bay implement shed/haybarn, two two-bay implement sheds and a manure bin.

A feature of the property is the four-bedroom McRaeway homestead built in 2008 with a bolstered-block exterior. Two other homes complete the picture, including a renovated brick and roughcast three-bedroom home, and a four-bedroom weatherboard villa.

A 50:50 sharemilker has a contract running until June 1, 2015. For further information contact Patterson on 03 211 3144 or 027 434 7636. The farm can be viewed at www.pggwre.co.nz.

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