{"id":15541,"date":"2015-10-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-10-11T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/head-for-the-beach\/"},"modified":"2015-10-12T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-10-11T11:00:00","slug":"head-for-the-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/news\/head-for-the-beach\/","title":{"rendered":"Head for the beach"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

The owners of a 314 hectare farm near Dargaville have decided it\u2019s time to retire and are selling the undulating property that hugs the coastline at Mahuta.<\/p>\n

Over the past few seasons the farm has averaged 242,500kg milksolids (MS), including its winter milk contract from 350 autumn-calving cows, with a top production of 270,518kg MS. The hub of this operation is the 41-aside herringbone dairy with Alpha plant and Protrack in place, and a meal feeding system fed from three silos.<\/p>\n

Good, easy rolling contour over most of the farm is underpinned by free-draining Red Hill loam soils which allow effluent to be spread throughout the year. Central races lead to the 102 paddocks that include 20ha of chicory and a range of annuals that have been planted through the seasons.<\/p>\n

Twelve hectares of maize grown on the farm is fed out as green feed as well as 200 tonnes of silage through the summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another 750t of maize silage and 600 bales of grass silage is brought in from leased land. Built beside the dairy is a 300-cow feedpad to feed the supplements to the cows through the year.<\/p>\n

Effluent is sprayed on to the paddocks by a travelling irrigator which is electrically operated and is included in the sale.<\/p>\n

All young stock are grazed off the farm, while all the cows are wintered on, splitting the herd between the 300 spring calvers and 350 autumn calvers.<\/p>\n

Megan Browning from PGG Wrightson Real Estate says it\u2019s a great place to farm with the sea running alongside it.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it\u2019s a nice and easy property to farm with good infrastructure.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The dairy is quite central and all the houses are close to it and it\u2019s got the winter milk contract as an extra bonus.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vendors have been farming there for 10 years and they\u2019ve decided they need to retire and have a new venture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another bonus for the farm is its nine titles, ranging from 5.5ha to 75ha, especially as it lies just 12km from Dargaville and has a few kilometres of beach on its western border. The beach can be accessed from the farm or at nearby Matuta Gap.<\/p>\n

Ample facilities serve the farm including a calf shed, implement shed with five front bays and three back bays, a workshop, a four-bay tractor shed, two haybarns and a covered bunker for palm kernel.<\/p>\n

Completing the picture are three homes including two three-bedroom houses and two units for single workers.<\/p>\n

The herd is also for sale at valuation, and 250,000 Fonterra shares. The farm will be auctioned on October 14 and can be viewed at www.pggwre.co.nz ID DAG21761.<\/p>\n

For further information contact Megan Browning on 09 439 3344 or 027 668 8468.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s almost too good to be true \u2013 the chance to farm alongside a Northland beach with a 650-cow herd that has a winter milk contract to provide extra revenue and cashflow throughout the year.\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":15542,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t