A Northern Southland hill country sheep and beef station, offering scale and excellent presentation, is for sale.
Situated adjacent to Athol township, 31 kilometres north of Lumsden and 70 kilometres south of Queenstown, 2000-hectare Glenquoich Station has been in the hands of Mark and Gillian Evans since 2004. Mark says it has been a pleasure to farm.
“We have worked steadily to realise the farm’s potential. When we took over our immediate priority was fencing. We have built around 60 kilometres of new fencing, taking the station from just 35 paddocks and blocks with no water troughs, to 123 paddocks and blocks, and turning hill blocks in grass paddocks. We installed approximately 42 kilometres of farm tracks for better safe access around the farm, and put in more than 10 kilometres of novaflow drains.
“More recently we added satellite cattle and sheep yards on the far side of the property, reducing the lengths we must go to when moving mobs. We’ve also added duck ponds and fenced waterways, greatly enhancing the bird life, including pukeko, ducks, quail, and New Zealand falcon, karearea,” says Mark.
Mark’s parents Alistair and Stephnie Evans started the family association with Glenquoich Station in 1997 when they leased it, farming it in conjunction with other properties, and evolving the lease into ownership by a broader family partnership in 2004, a few months after Mark and Gillian were married. Previously 3000 hectares, in 2011 they sold one third of Glenquoich to fund the purchase of a North Island farm for Mark’s brother Greg and sister-in-law Barb. In their time on the farm the couple have raised three daughters: Adriana 19, now studying at the University of Canterbury, Chonelle 17 at the Southern Institute of Technology in Invercargill, and Gabrielle 13 at school in Gore.
Glenquoich Station is offered for sale by Derek Ayson and Andrew Patterson of PGG Wrightson Real Estate, Southland. Derek says the property is one of the best presented in the district.
“Glenquoich Station has been expertly husbanded with particular care for its easy management and premium productivity. During their tenure Mark and Gillian have sustainably and substantially increased the farm’s carrying capacity so that it now winters approximately 10,000 stock units.
“Glenquoich finishes around one third of lambs bred on the station, while selling steer calves as weaners in April and heifers in the spring. In recent years wintering 400 dairy cows has helped diversify revenue.
“Sitting between 300 and 900 metres above sea level, and with annual rainfall of 800 to 850 millimetres, the property presents a mix of fertile flat paddocks to native tussock hill blocks, it has an excellent balance of grazable land, with approximately 900 hectares cultivatable, some of which is growing lucerne, while kale, swedes, turnips and moata are also rotated,” says Derek.
Glenquoich homestead is a standout feature, consistent with the property’s strong aesthetics.
“A five-bedroom 1940s art-deco residence modernised to the highest standards and in keeping with the era is a stunning showpiece home. Renovation includes rewiring, replumbing and redecorating; taking out walls and strengthening the roof to make a large new open plan kitchen; extensively upgrading the heating; refurbishment of the interior rimu features; and the installation of double glazing and insulation. This classic homestead is set in a large established garden that has similarly received new life from Mark and Gillian, including a new rock wall constructed around the house and garden using schist sourced on farm,” says Derek.
Glenquoich Station has three separate sets of flats, including the free draining river flat, a heavier clay summer safe flat, and one in between.
Mark enjoys hunting on the farm.
“We have several patches of native bush, harbouring a few deer and pigs. Being able to go out hunting just because you can is a great bonus with the property.”
Others will also relish the chance to fish for trout in Eyre Creek, which adjoins the property, or the nearby Mataura River. Such recreational opportunities, alongside the Around the Mountains Cycle Trail, which goes through Athol, present as an additional revenue stream, possibly achievable via Glenquoich Station’s three-bedroom brick and roughcast cottage, also recently refurbished.
In addition, the Evans have documented the property’s eligibility for carbon credits, while the development of the 750 lot Kingston Village subdivision 30 kilometres north, and Meridian Energy’s White Hill wind farm, near Mossburn and in sight of Glenquoich Station, suggest other potential future revenue streams.
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