John and Yvonne McCaskie owned a 24 hectare farm 18 kilometres east of Feilding in the Manawatu. Subdivided into nine paddocks, all of flat contour, they wintered approximately 50 two-year-old steers on the farm, with 100 to 120 steers traded in a full year. Wayne Brooks of PGG Wrightson Real Estate, Feilding marketed the farm, taking it to auction in late July 2015, where it sold under the hammer to a neighbouring dairy farmer for $1.15 million.
“We were planning to take the farm to market anyway, then found another property that we really wanted. Wayne told us to offer the farm for auction so we could sell sooner, in time to buy the other place.
“We were not sure if the timing was right, in a wet winter, and Wayne had to work hard to market the property, which he did. We were amazed at the number of people who came out and looked at it.
“We received a pre-auction offer, which we turned down because it was not quite enough.
“On the day of the auction it was a bit stressful. We had lived on the farm so long, and always been on the land, so to sell and move into town was huge. Although the auction room was packed, we didn’t go in ourselves. We felt more comfortable sitting out in the corridor, taking messages from Wayne, and from Sloane, the auctioneer.
“Although we had a reserve in mind, Sloane told us that was too low, and we should aim higher. He was right. We put ourselves entirely in his hands.
“In the end, two neighbours were bidding. They went past the reserve, and still continued on after that.
Wayne and Sloane and the other guys in the team were excellent. We couldn’t believe the price. We still haven’t stopped smiling!”
John & Yvonne McCaskie
