A 317ac residential dairy farm at Cavandarragh, Castlederg in Co Tyrone will certainly draw more than passing glances from both sides of the border.
ith top-quality land, state-of-the-art farm buildings and excellent living accommodation, the holding is one of the most valuable pieces of farm property to come on the market on the island for some time.
The private treaty sale is guided by Savills and joint agents Pollock Estate Agency at €5.525m or £4.725m.
Located 8km from Castlederg and 10km from Newtownstewart, the holding is 20km from Omagh and 40km from Derry.
Cavandarragh Farm is described as “the largest dairy farm to come on the market in the North in a decade”.
The property includes Oakhill House, a modern tastefully designed farmhouse on an elevated position at the heart of the farm.
Completed in 2003, the 4,607 sq ft, two-storey home has substantial, light-filled living space on the ground floor, with five bedrooms and the family bathroom on the first floor.
Internal features include underfloor heating, cornicing, ceiling roses and bay windows.
An impressive outbuilding of stone and slate construction lies to the southwest of the house.
The main block of land comprises 298ac of top-quality arable ground in excellent heart.
The farm was a winner of the Northern Ireland silage growing competition for four years in succession and has produced potatoes, maize, fodder beet, winter wheat and spring barley.
The fields are of a good workable size and layout, and are serviced by an extensive network of internal farm roads with easy access from a number of public roads.
The current owners have made substantial investment in recent years, improving the fencing, drainage and water supply along with a programme of reseeding.
The grazing season lasts from the beginning of March until mid-November. Typically, four cuts of silage are taken annually from the rotational grass.
A huge array of farm buildings is laid out in two yards at Cavandarragh and Ratyn, both with direct access to the public roads.
There is winter accommodation for about 750 head of cattle and about 440 cubicles with ample underground slurry storage and fodder storage.
The yard at Cavandarragh Road hosts the dairy infrastructure made up of a 40:40, rapid-exit parlour and about 300 cubicles under a single roof.
Until recently it carried an autumn and spring-calving herd of 340 dairy cows, with replacement heifers reared on-farm.
The yard at Ratyn Road provides accommodation for younger stock and has general-purpose storage.
Three biomass boilers are installed at Cavandarragh Farm, and planning permission was granted in July 2014 for an anaerobic digester with underground tanks, a 500kW combined heat and power plant and silage pits.
The proposed project was not developed and the permission has since lapsed.
The entitlements to the Basic Payment Scheme are owned and included in the sale.
The farm is offered for sale as an entire or divided into eight lots:
1. Cavandarragh Farm extending to 183ac;
2. Oakhill House and paddock on 3.9ac;
3. A derelict house, outbuildings and paddock at Ratyn Road on 2.8ac;
4. Land extending to 19.5ac and a general purpose shed at Ratyn Road;
5. Land extending to 27.4c at Drum Road;
6. Land extending to 46.8ac at Drumclamph Road;
7. Land extending to 32.7ac at Ballynaloan Road;
8. A house site of 0.7ac at Ballynaloan Road.
James Butler, head of country agency at Savills, describes the sale of Cavandarragh Farm as an extremely rare opportunity to buy a dairy farm in excess of 300ac. He anticipates interest from farmers and agri-businesses based locally, regionally and nationally.
According to Keith Pollock of Pollock Estate Agency, offering the land for sale in the range of lots will present local farmers with a variety of options to acquire additional land, while there are also opportunities for residential buyers to buy a small-holding.
Source: independent.ie
