Dairy Holdings Ltd selling five farms on the West Coast and Tasman

Dairy Holdings Ltd is selling its Shingle Creek farm along with four other West Coast and Tasman dairy farms. Photo / Supplied

A group of five dairy farms encompassing nearly 3000ha is being sold by Fonterra’s largest milk supplier Dairy Holdings Ltd (DHL) on the West Coast and Tasman.

The farms are in Springs Junction in the Buller District with another one at Maruia, in Tasman, and all of them supply Westland Milk Products.

The total land area is 2898ha with an additional 32ha of leasehold property and an effective dairying block of 1700ha, running 3570 cows this season.

The average milk production for the group is just over 1 million kgMS. The West Coast dairy farms are for sale for the first time in 16 years.

Colliers Rural, on behalf of DHL, is taking expressions of interest in the farms either as a portfolio or as individual farms, closing on November 23. The farms are being marketed as an opportunity for investors seeking scale and a sound return on investment.

Rural agent Richard O’Sullivan said improvements to the farms included developed pastures with a history of fertiliser application, upgraded effluent systems, rotary cow sheds and calf sheds.

Pivot irrigation on three farms assisted feed production and there were irrigation consents in place to irrigate additional areas, he said.

“It’s worth noting that there are significant areas of native bush that may provide for opportunities around sequestration with carbon benefits.”

The farms are:

• Shingle Creek, at Springs Junction - 808ha seasonal supply dairy farm.
• A farm at State Highway 65, in Springs Junction - 407ha as a seasonal supply freehold property milking about 950 cows.
• Another Springs Junction farm on State Highway 65 - freehold area of 611ha and milks about 650 cows.
• A Springs Junction farm on Westbank Rd - freehold area 371ha and milks about 870 cows, with a leasehold area of 27ha.
• Frog Flat, in Maruia - 698ha of freehold and just under 2ha of leasehold land with about 320ha of effective pastoral land.