A 152 hectare Waikato dairy farm, situated in the region’s farming heartland, is for sale for the first time since 1967.
In Piarere, Tirau, 46 kilometres south east of Hamilton and 23 kilometres south east of Cambridge, the farm has been held in the Watkins family for 55 years.
Martyn Watkins’ family farm was across the road when his parents Harold and Ella bought the farm, as he explains.
“We farmed as a family, alongside my three brothers, with Dad having financial oversight. It was mainly sheep and beef. We would go shearing and haymaking for extra income, with everything we brought home going into the same bucket. Our parents managed to buy extra property, and eventually we had enough land to share out between us. Although we carried on working on each other’s farms, by the time we were each married all of us were ready to split and make our own way as separate family units, which the four brothers did in a totally amicable way.”
This was in the 1980s.
Martyn and wife Kay took the Piarere farm, at that stage just over 100 hectares, one brother took a farm in Mamuku, one in Te Kuiti, and Martyn’s youngest brother stayed on the original family farm.
Over the next few years, during which time they added the back half of a neighbouring farm to their property, Martyn and Kaye tried goats, then trended more towards grazing heifers, until by the mid 1990s a big change became logical, as Martyn explains.
“We were so close to being a dairy farm, with similar pasture management practices and stock carrying capacity, it seemed like the right time to make a shift, and in 1996 NZ Dairy Group shares were relatively affordable. Several other farmers in the district were either considering going to dairy or already had done. We were unsure whether it was the best thing for our farm, though took the plunge and did the big conversion for the 1996 season.”
“Although in hindsight it seems like an easy and obvious decision, at the time it was huge: the biggest challenge ever, both physically and mentally,” says Kay.
Two of Martyn’s brothers also went to dairy at around the same time.
Taking on a lower order sharemilker was their preference to manage the farm. Starting with a 330 cow milking herd, and continuing grazing some heifers, after a few years they expanded the milking platform. Over the past ten years they have averaged production of 140,000 kilograms of milk solids, though previously, with higher inputs, they achieved up to 160,000 kilograms per annum. They also carry 25 replacement heifers on steeper parts of the farm, with the other replacements grazed off.
Trevor Kenny of PGG Wrightson Real Estate, Hamilton is selling the Watkins’ farm. He says it is well-maintained, presentable and frequently admired.
“This is in a blue chip location, with extensive million-dollar views over Lake Karapiro and surrounding countryside. These features, alongside the premium levels of care spent on the farm, make it a hugely attractive proposition. Complementing its wonderful outlook, the beautification the Watkins family has undertaken to showcase this property and its stunning natural vistas down to the lake, make it a lovely farm to work on.
“Unsurprisingly, a farm of this quality easily achieves the Fonterra 10 cent premium milk payment, earned for its sustainability credentials and milk quality.
“Aesthetics, locality and performance set this farm apart as one of the best Waikato rural properties offered to the market this spring,” he says.
This property is for sale by tender, with offers sought by 4pm on 17 November.
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