Portfolio of blueberry orchards
Land, buildings and orchards encompassing three blueberry growing and processing properties in Rukuhia and Cambridge, central Waikato, go under the hammer next week.
The sites are being marketed for sale at consecutive auctions taking place at 11am on Thursday May 23 through Bayleys Hamilton.
Salespersons Scott Macdonald and Aaron Paterson say the “dominostyle” auction will allow the properties to be purchased as a substantial productive operation or individually by growers looking to expand their blueberry businesses.
“Each property brings something different to the combined portfolio. One is the ‘engine room’ of the business with crop and substantial fruit processing plant and infrastructure; one is the home block with the owner’s homestead and blueberry plantings; and one is purely crop plantings under netting,” Macdonald says.
At the nucleus is a 3.97ha property with 1.2ha in crop, adjacent to infrastructure consisting of:
● a 207sq m commercial-grade packhouse; ● a 53sq m insulated cool store; ● about 54sq m of staffroom
amenities accessed via double garage doors; and
● an enclosed 77sq m concrete floored three-bay storage shed, and interconnecting 43sq m high-stud open fourth bay.
Harvest records show the property at 390 O’Regan Rd in Rukuhia produced 4894kg from a range of blueberries varieties, in the recently completed 2019 season.
“Several unproductive areas in the property are earmarked for future planting. Forecasts are that land improvement and plantings on the under-utilised portion could vastly increase output,” Macdonald says.
The Rukuhia orchard is irrigated from bore-supplied water stored in four 30,000 litre tanks. A frost prevention system uses overhead sprinklers which runs across the crop that is planted in a near-rectangular land block with a protective shelterbelt hedgerow running down two sides.
Plant and machinery associated with the 390 O’Regan Rd property being marketed for sale includes a harvester, processing conveyor belt, weighing scales, picking trays and containers.
Just a few hundred metres away is a 4.12ha property that produced 9067kg of fruit this season from plantings of sky blue, centra blue, eureka and first blush blueberry varieties.
The property at 460 O’Regan Rd in Rukuhia includes a modern 278sq m four-bedroom/three-bathroom single level residence built in 2005. The homestead also has a heated swimming pool and spa pool adjacent to an expansive outdoor entertaining space.
Orchard management infrastructure on the property consists of a 112sq m concrete floor storage shed and a neighbouring 54sq m open-plan workshop accessible through double garage doors. Plant and equipment included are a delivery truck, tractor, commercial-grade ride-on mower, and a full inventory of vegetation maintenance machinery.
Rounding out the portfolio of orchards is a 4.54ha plantation at 3200 Cambridge Rd, Cambridge, which harvested more than 25,000kg of rahi, maru, harrisons, powder blue, sky blue, eureka, and first blush blueberries last season. The entire crop is planted under a netting canopy which stretches across virtually all the available land.
The 69-row orchard is irrigated by water supplied from a neighbouring property and stored on-site in four large tanks. Crop maintenance equipment is stowed in a small storage shed and in a 20-foot container. A gravelled race runs through the spine of the plantings to enable both easy plant maintenance throughout the year and efficient harvesting in the picking season.
Paterson says plantings across the three properties vary in age, raising the prospect that some of the older varieties could be uprooted and replaced with younger stock.
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