Patoka dairy farm offers excellent returns

The Ben Alpin Dairy Farm on Puketitiri Road, Patoka, is to be sold by tender. Photo / Supplied

Few Hawke's Bay dairy farms come to the market each year and now investors and farmers have the opportunity to purchase a property promising an exceptional level of return in a premier grass growing district.

The Ben Alpin Dairy Farm on Puketitiri Road, Patoka is to be sold by tender, and is expected to draw interest from within and beyond the region thanks to its "summer safe" status on free draining fertile ash soils and good proportion of flat to easy milking area within its title.

Comprising 351ha, including 240ha are flat to easy contour this partially contained dairy unit also includes 50ha of grazing land and 51ha of covenanted QE II bush land, a perfect habitat for deer and conducive to good hunting on the property.

Ben Alpin has been in dairying for a decade, ensuring a purchaser will be acquiring a property with a good standard of infrastructure including a 60 bale rotary dairy constructed in 2009 that includes automatic cup removers and De Laval plant and in-shed feeding system.

Calf facilities are capable of rearing up to 350 over busy spring months. A looped hydrant system dispenses effluent across 85ha of the property. Meanwhile, staff facilities at Ben Alpin are a high standard, including a three bedroom weather board home and a second three bedroom dwelling and a near new single person's quarters.

Bayleys Havelock North rural salesperson Tony Rasmussen says the opportunity to purchase Ben Alpin will appeal to owner operators from outside the immediate district who appreciate the value such a property delivers compared to more traditional dairying regions.

"You get a lot for your money with this property, it represents the opportunity for some of those operators to almost double the size of their farm business compared to where they may be farming now. The
result is you have a dairy unit capable of generating a very healthy level of return based on its capital value," he said.

That is also aided by the opportunity to run a low cost, low input farming system off a platform that is almost self-sufficient in terms of feed supply and grazing capacity.

"We already have a couple of farmers originally from outside the region who decided to make the move, and have now purchased a second farm in the area, turning out about 1000 kilogrammes of milk solids a hectare at very low cost."

Resulting soil tests from August this year have Olsen P levels range from 21 to 56, and all soil samples had a pH of greater than 5.6.

Tony Rasmussen says Ben Alpin's location provides a "best of both worlds" environment.

It is 44 kilometres from Napier and its farm support businesses, shops, schools and coastal attractions, while being located inland in an area known for good summer rainfall, typically averaging 1400-1600 millimetres a year.

"Ben Alpin represents a great opportunity for a farmer wanting to step up in scale. It also offers the flexibility around young-stock grazing options, and even the chance to consider some forestry on some of the steeper country. The on-farm hunting opportunity really is the icing on the cake bonus with this property," he said

Tenders for Ben Alpin close at 4pm on November 21.