After four generations in the same family, a 105-hectare Morrinsville dairy farm sold in December.
For the past 22 years, along with his wife Wanda, Matt Gaddes has farmed the property purchased by his great grandfather John Henry in 1911.
“He started a Clydesdale stud, and ran a jersey stud, and the farm was mostly in sheep in his time. My grandfather Jack farmed it after his father, and when my parents Alan and Pat took over in 1981, they completed the dairy conversion. Dairy went very well from that point, and the district is fully heartland dairy now, among the most productive land in the country,” says Matt.
Matt always knew he would take on the farm, though it happened earlier than he expected.
“In the early 2000s Wanda and I were in our twenties on an OE. Dad had a manager on the farm who decided to move on. Dad asked me to come back and help for a year. I was happy to do that, though had then planned to go back to study. That plan didn’t come off and we’ve been here 22 years. Once we realised how quickly we could build up an asset in dairying, we knew it was the right option. Through the years we’ve progressively bought more of the farm from my parents.
“Not too many people understand how straightforward it is to build an asset in this business,” Matt says.
While Alan and Pat were eyeing retirement, Matt and Wanda had accumulated enough equity to purchase their own farm, which meant the time had come to sell.
Initially Alan and Pat took the reins to market the family property through another agency. Meanwhile Matt and Wanda sought out Ben Warren and Richard Thomson of PGG Wrightson Real Estate, Hamilton to help them look for a new farm.
“They took us over several other options, so we got to know the two of them. They knew all the details of the farms they took us to: all the paddocks, all the plant, all the production. We were impressed. They are straight talkers, have so much energy and are cool to deal with. We built trust there,” says Matt.
Progress for Alan and Pat with the other agency was slow. After several months with little to show for it, Matt and Wanda suggested the family take another tack, and the senior generation agreed: give these two guys a crack at selling the farm. It worked, as Matt explains.
“Ben and Richard took a different approach. They identified the people most likely to be interested and marketed directly to them. They were forthright and straightforward, putting the farm in front of the right eyes,” he says.
A short time later, a deal was done, as Ben explains.
“After sitting down with the Gaddes family, listening to their connection to the land and understanding their goals and aspirations for the future, we formed an accurate and intensive marketing plan to represent the property. “This is an expansive dairy unit that captures the essence of New Zealand’s pastoral beauty, while offering a highly efficient farming operation, yielding over 124,000 kilograms of milk solids from a herd of 300 cows.
“We presented that opportunity to genuine purchasers, which resulted in a successful sale in under four weeks,” he says.
Matt is delighted with the service he and the family received, and of course the result Ben and Richard achieved.
“They are amazing communicators, calling us daily, telling us who had been looking and what was being said. We were part of the process all the way through, we knew where the farm was sitting. It was an anxious time for us, which they appreciated: being involved in the process was the best, and now we are ready to move on,” he says.
With their equity in hand, Matt and Wanda, along with their three sons Jack, Oscar and Sam, are looking at 100-hectare plus dairy farms in Northland.
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