Friday, March 29, 2024

Great possibilities for growth

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Arawhata Dairy in Rangitikei spans 370 hectares, plus 47ha of lease property, that allows it to be a self-contained dairy unit to winter stock, produce much of its own supplement and achieve more than 1100kg milksolids (MS) per hectare.
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For sale by negotiation, Arawhata Dairy is 15km from Fordell and 30km northeast of Wanganui, in a valley with a mild climate and soils that grow grass. Last season the farm produced 201,181kg MS from 530 cows on the 188ha milking platform and 189,846kg MS the previous season from 470 cows.
The farm runs from the Whangaehu River across silt terrace flats to easy contoured hills, with some steeper country beyond, while a 34ha runoff included in the sale is within easy distance up the road.
Pete Stratton from Bayleys says more hill country was added to the farm a couple of years ago and that has created further potential for a farm already achieving good results.
“It’s got its own unique micro-climate because you drop down from Fordell to Kauangaroa where it’s very sheltered and it can grow a lot of grass.”
The retiring owner has always had sharemilkers on the farm who winter the cows on the hill country and retain dry stock through summer; take maize silage and up to three cuts of grass silage off the runoff each year as well as supplementing with palm kernel and molasses.
“They’ve got a big feedpad so they use it.”
The feedpad, plus a 40-tonne silo with crusher and a palm kernel storage bunker, sit beside the 44-bail rotary dairy with its circular yard which sits in the centre of the milking platform and is accessed from two central races leading to 51 main paddocks.
Three artesian bores supply water to a network of troughs with dosatron and the bore pressure provides water to the dairy without pump assistance.
“It’s very well set up with the dairy, feedpad and artesian water. It’s got three well-maintained and freshly-painted houses and just needs someone to take it to the next level.”
Those houses range from a four-bedroom homestead with a concrete tennis court and established gardens, to a four-bedroom herd manager’s house and a three-bedroom cottage.
An extensive array of supporting farm buildings include a former woolshed and covered yards complex that is now a calf-rearing shed and loafing barn. The former woolshed is a two-storied building, while the covered yards total 486sq m. Other sheds provide ample space for the farm’s requirements, including a haybarn and store shed on the runoff.
With everything well set-up, Stratton says the next step is to make more use of the hill country, with the potential to bring more flat and easy-contoured land into the milking platform.
“It’s still a developing dairy farm and the next tweak in the operation is using some of the easier country further away from the dairy where you could milk the heifers once-a-day. That would lift cow numbers as well as make more use of the hill country with more young stock.
“The dairy is big enough to handle growth, so there’s plenty of upside in the farm.”
As a supplier of Open Country Dairy, there’s no requirement to buy shares to continue supplying milk.

For further information on the farm contact Stratton on 06 388 0568 or 027 484 7078.

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