Chance to own award-winning Culverden dairy unit

A fully-irrigated Canterbury dairy unit recognised this year for its environmental management, sustainability and efficient water use, is on the market.

Offers close at noon on the 10th of November this year for The Mound, a superbly developed 223.7-hectare property close to Culverden in the Amuri Basin, one of Canterbury’s prime dairy farming districts.

Bayleys Country Specialist Ben Turner says it is easy to see why the judges of this year’s Ballance Farm Environment Awards gave the property the region’s Supreme Overall award, and noted its clever management of water quality, sustainability, livestock, staff and risks.

“It is a very attractive looking property with numerous areas planted in natives, and there has been a big investment in drainage systems and sediment traps, which have significantly reduced nutrient and sediment loss into waterways to one of the lowest levels for dairy farms in the Amuri Basin,” he says.

The Mound has just received an A-grade audit report and last season recorded total Nitrogen loss of just 16 kilograms per hectare.

“Our vendors have developed an innovative approach to farming which has maintained profitability and contributed to the overall health and sustainability of the local ecosystem,” Turner says.

One of their most significant management changes was a reduction in the number of milkings from 14 each week to 10, so they could prioritise animal welfare and create a more enjoyable work environment for staff. The Award judges noted the reduction in milkings had a positive impact on both the herd and the farm’s overall sustainability.

The Mound is consented to manage effluent from up to 700 cows. It is currently milking a herd of 630 Kiwi-cross cows, which produced almost 266,000 kilograms of milk solids in the 2024-25 season. Turner says the herd is in the top 12% of New Zealand Kiwi-cross herds and last season had a 72% six-week in-calf rate and 11% empty rate.

Cows are milked through a centrally located 50-bail rotary shed supported with a Protrack automatic drafting gate, cup removers and a 700-cow yard with backing gate. Nearby the milking shed is a four-bay calf shed, a two-bay workshop with concrete floor, 80-tonne and 30-tonne silos, plus two hay barns.

Effluent is directed from a stone trap/wedge to a saucer where it can be applied to land if conditions allow or sent to a one-million-litre capacity Tasman Tank for later release onto two discharge zones, which total more than 200ha and are consented until 2044.

Turner says a key feature of the property is its location, which allows it to draw irrigation water from both the Hurunui and Waiau Rivers, through its shareholding in the Amuri Irrigation Company Scheme.

The Mound holds sufficient shares to draw up to 121 litres/second, which is applied to 207 hectares of the farm through a combination of pivot irrigators, covering about 132.5 hectares, and fixed-grid irrigators, which cover almost 71 hectares. Another 3.77 hectares is irrigated by K-Line pods. “For most of the time, water is drawn from the Hurunui River, but having access to water from the Waiau River means the supply automatically switches over when restrictions apply, so that provides exceptional reliability of production,” Turner says.

The entire stock water system was upgraded in 2022 to a 60mm main line, supplying water to two troughs in all 20 paddocks. There is also a mineral injection system situated next to the milking shed, and water storage has been bolstered to five 30,000 litre tanks to ensure there is sufficient back-up if required.

Turner says vendors operate a low-supplement system, built on The Mound’s exceptional pasture growth performance of around 14 tonnes per hectare of dry matter per year, grown on its quality, free-draining soils, supported by reliable irrigation water.

They have consistently replaced pasture, and this year will have 24 hectares of new grass, and about 12 hectares will be sown in kale.

About 100-150 tonnes of grass silage is made on the farm each spring, and about 200 tonnes of barley is fed to the herd, averaging about 300kg/cow.

There are four well-maintained homes, including an impressive four-bedroom, two-storey dwelling. “It’s a very impressive dairy unit in a prime dairying location of Canterbury, ready for new owners to take on a high-production, grass-based farm that has been cleverly set up for ease of management,” Turner says.