Sitting midway between Invercargill and Gore and just five kilometres from Fonterra's Edendale site, the farm flows over rolling contour with a long sweep of road frontage.
Dallas Lucas of Southern Wide Real Estate said a husband-and-wife team ran the farm with casual staff employed when needed through the season, making all their own grass supplements on the farm and a 40ha runoff nearby which was available for lease by arrangement. Between the farm and runoff, about 400 tonnes drymatter of silage is harvested each year and it's the only supplement fed to the cows.
"The only feed bought on to the farm is calf meal. So they have a smaller gross income but a bigger profit."
The farm milks 580 predominantly Jersey cows at the peak of the season which are available for purchase by negotiation and those cows are wintered on the farm while young stock are grazed on both the milking platform and the runoff.
Central to the farm is the 60-bail rotary dairy built in 2006 with a circular 800-cow yard and "everything you need" from Protrack, drafting, dosatron and automatic teat spraying to automatic vat and plant wash. The shape of the farm and position of the dairy mean the longest walk for the cows is just 1.4km.
Among the other farm buildings are a five-bay haybarn, a large calf-rearing facility, two additional calf sheds, an old dairy converted for storage and workshop, two three-bay implement sheds, an older implement shed and sundry other buildings.
"It's a beautiful calf shed setup with a central race through the two main sheds and a smaller shed."
Adorning the farm is a character two-storied homestead with six bedrooms and two bathrooms. It is just one of the four homes on the farm that include a three-bedroom brick and roughcast house and two three-bedroom brick houses.
The farm can be viewed at www.southernwiderealestate.co.nz. For more information contact Lucas on 03 218 2795 or 0274 325 774.
