A highly profitable and immaculate Northland lamb finishing and store beef cattle farm is for sale by tender through Bayleys Northland.

White Rock Hills is a total of 381ha of mostly easy-contour, eye-appealing country overlooking the Kaipara Harbour, 10km east of the township of Maungaturoto.

Tenders close at 2pm on November 8, 2024.

Bayleys lead agent Lin Norris says from the moment of entry into the property along the 1.5km limestone-capped driveway to the central hub, the appeal of White Rock Hills is easy to grasp.

“Everything has always been done to a high standard by the current owners,” he says.

“From the fencing, water, and fertiliser history, to the maintenance of homes and buildings, tracks and laneways, the whole property is top notch.”

“This is very much a turn-key operation for someone to continue farming the property which has been owned and farmed by generations of the Lupton family for the past 128 years,” he says.

A feature of the property is the established laneways which lead to about 190 permanently fenced paddocks, including the 135 which form an efficiently managed bull farming unit.

There is an excellent farm water system which feeds troughs across the entire property plus a good array of farm buildings, including a four-stand woolshed and implement sheds, all maintained to a good standard.

Norris says it is regarded as one of the top performing properties in the Northland region and would match most trading operations in the country for its reliability and profitability.

Over the past four years, White Rock Hills has produced an average of 290kg/ha/year of lamb and beef as a ‘grass-only’ trading operation, finishing 3500-4000 lambs each winter and growing out Friesian bulls in two specific systems.

One involves buying about 430 autumn-born or early-spring-born weaner Friesian bull calves at around 110kg in September-October to help tidy up the lamb country before they are wintered in the cell grazing area. These bulls are sold store at around 20-22 months from December to February when they usually range from 420-500kg liveweight.

A second bull system starts with bringing in 200-250 spring-born bulls in November-December each year and selling them at between 360 and 400kg liveweight in April-May the following year.

“The lambs start arriving in early autumn at 31-33kg liveweight and they are all gone by November at above 48kg live weight, just in time for weaner bulls to begin grazing the lamb country and then the cell grazing area,” Norris says.

“The current owners have tried several different livestock options over the years, but the mix of winter lambs and bulls really suits the property which tends to be wetter over winter and drier over the summer months.”

White Rock Hills is farmed in conjunction with a nearby lease, a 155ha former dairy farm owned by the same Auckland couple who are partners with the Luptons in White Rock Hills. The property is just 1km away along a quiet rural road, and features a newly renovated four-bedroom home. It is also listed for sale through Bayleys.

“Being a former dairy farm, it has country and infrastructure that really suits growing out the bull calves before they head along the road to White Rock Hills,” Norris says.

Both farms are being offered as standalone units, but Norris says they present a great opportunity for a buyer to purchase both and continue the existing operation.

White Rock Hills offers three homes, all in excellent condition and recently renovated. The main homestead was relocated in 2000 to its more central location and has been extensively renovated. It features four bedrooms, large outdoor decking area and a new kitchen.

A staff member, who is keen to remain on the property after its sale, lives in the second, tidy four-bedroom home and a third home has been created from renovated stables to provide an AirBnB venture or for family visiting the farm.

Maungaturoto township offers a supermarket, cafes, eateries, farm shop and fuel station.

“Auckland is an easy one-and-a-half-hour trip south or Whangarei is just under an hour away to the north of the property.”

Having direct access from the farm to the Kaipara Harbour is an added bonus. “There’s 2km of riparian rights to the harbour so you can launch a small fishing boat at anything from the mid-point after high tide and the fishing is good too,” Norris says.

Considerable effort has gone into creating an eye appealing property, including riparian planting, fencing gullies, planting native trees and shrubs, and fencing to protect existing bush areas.

The work was recognised in the 2018 Balance Farm Environment Awards when White Rock Hills won the Beef + Lamb NZ livestock farm award and the Balance Agri-Nutrients soil management award for the Northland region.

A 13ha Scenic Reserve, gifted to the Department of Conservation in 1985 and a small QE II National Trust area add to the aesthetic appeal of the property which also featured on a Country Calendar episode in 2018.

Norris says selling White Rock Hills as a going concern is a preferred option for the vendors. Machinery is also available for purchase.

Click here for more information on the listing.