A west Gippsland dairy farm is on the market with price expectations of more than $18,000 an acre that have very little to do with record milk prices or desperate neighbours. It's all about location.
Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news
across the nation
or signup to continue reading
The 372-hectare farm is at picturesque Labertouche and, most importantly, it's about 25 kilometres from Warragul or 70km from Melbourne.
It is being offered as a whole or in three lots.
The main 178ha Pine Hill site has the dairy infrastructure and one residence, while the 189ha Eastern Portion provides an extra milking and fodder production platform.
The 5ha Alcorn Road property was established as a weekender.
CBRE's Matt Childs said he expected the Pine Hill and Eastern Portion combined would make more than $16 million.
The Alcorn Road lifestyle property would likely attract offers over $1.7m.
Mr Childs said the buyer would probably be a Melbourne-based high net-worth individual but Pine Hill also provided land-banking opportunities for dairy farmers.
"It's rare to get 900 acres so close to Melbourne that is completely versatile," he said.
"It's heavy carrying country with 1000-millimetre rainfall and someone will do very well out of it in the future while benefiting from its farming productivity now."
The farm was in great condition, he said, with a 50-stand rotary dairy built in 2007.
"This would be the ideal addition to the portfolio of a farmer wanting to upgrade their dairy," Mr Childs said.
"It's ready to go and you'd almost certainly be better off acquiring this than trying to build a new dairy."
The cows are being sold separately but the farm had been milking a 650-cow, split-calving herd and was forecast to produce 416,000 kilograms of milk solids in 2022/23.
The property has a feed pad, loafing area, workshop, vet room, staff amenities, office space, and shedding for calves, machinery and hay.
Its mix of sandy loams to heavier black loams are sown with a combination of rye and clover grasses and crops, including turnips, chicory, millet and plantain.
Located on the main lot, the modern manager's residence has three bedrooms.
The three-to-four-bedroom home on the Alcorn Road lot has an American barn and landscaped gardens with views towards the Baw Baw Ranges.
Expressions of interest close on June 8. Contact CBRE's Matt Childs, 0418 512 494, or James Auty, 0407 053 367.
Marian Macdonald
Writing for farmers in the Stock & Land, The Land, Queensland Country Life, Stock Journal and FarmWeekly, farming in Gippsland.
Writing for farmers in the Stock & Land, The Land, Queensland Country Life, Stock Journal and FarmWeekly, farming in Gippsland.
