Substantial pastoral station placed on the market for sale

Substantial pastoral station placed on the market for sale

An expansive sheep and beef station has been placed on the market for sale. Waipaoa Station spreads across 1667 hectares some 58 kilometres north-west of Gisborne.

Waipaoa Station winters 16,500 stock units over 87 subdivided paddocks of easy-medium terrain, in conjunction with 358.5 hectares of adjoining leased pasture land subdivided into a further 12 paddocks. The property is being marketed for sale by Tender through Bayleys Gisborne – with tenders closing on June 16th 2017.

Bayleys Gisborne director James Macpherson described the quality of fencing, roading, pasture, and infrastructure across Waipaoa Station as being of a very high standard.

Building infrastructure on Waipaoa Station includes a huge 10-stand woolshed, a four-bedroom/two bathroom homestead with expansive verandah and rural views, a 10-bedroom single persons’ students quarters complex with its own 104 square metre commercial-grade kitchen, dining room, and adjacent classroom facility/communal lounge area, an inground swimming pool, and an excellent three-bedroom stock manager’s residence.

Mr Macpherson said Waipaoa Station was farmed across virtually the entire landholding, including the 358.5 hectares of adjoining leased pasture. Waipaoa’s lease of the neighbouring grazing land runs through to 2022.

Typically, the combined property was capable of sustaining a total of 16,500 quality stock units, including:

· 6,258 breeding ewes – predominantly Romney-based

· 2,050 hoggets

· 420 Angus / Hereford Cross Cows

and

· 450 trade cattle (depending on the market)

“Waipaoa Station achieves a 136 percent lambing percentage, breeding its own replacements, with the remainder sold as store or finished. Angus and Hereford-cross cows are mated – with all progeny sold. Meanwhile, the trade cattle are usually grown and sold when the markets are strong. All heifer replacements are bought in.”

He said the station received consistent levels of rainfall over most the year. In addition, a natural spring located on the property provided water to nearly 1,000 hectares of the station’s land – with water fed through a gravity reticulated water system, assisted by two booster pumps, feeding a network of troughs. Meanwhile, natural creeks and man-made dams also provide reliable water.

The self-sustaining Waipaoa Station Farm Cadet Training Trust operates independently on the property and is a charitable organisation established by Waipaoa’s owners Rob Telfer and Andrew MacPherson in conjunction with other members of the farming community.

The farm’s fully accredited ‘hands-on’ learning programme produces five qualified agricultural sector trainees annually – with students aged between 16 and 19-years-old either directly taking employment opportunities in the rural sector, or entering university for further upskilling. Cadets’ training at Waipaoa takes them to National Certificate levels three and four.

Mr Macpherson said any new owner of the property would of course have the option of either continuing the Waipaoa Station Farm Cadet Trust in its current format – with the potential of even expanding the student intake - or finding alternative uses for the buildings to sustain a conventional large-scale farm workforce.

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