A productive avocado orchard in the heart of Northland’s premier avocado growing district has been placed on the market for sale – with capacity to substantially increase its production scale.
The 15-hectare property is located at Waiharara near 90-Mile Beach in the Far North, which is fast becoming a regional production hub for avocados due to its climate, contour, and free-draining soils.
Located some 40 kilometres north of Kaitaia, the generally rectangular-shaped orchard for sale at 101 Turk Valley Road features nine sheltered and contoured blocks – three of which are now in full production.
Production records from the orchard show that the orchard has been relatively consistent with 12,000 trays being averaged over the past four seasons. The mature trees are Hass on Zutano rootstock, while the younger trees are Hass on Dusa and Hass on Bounty clonal rootstocks.
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Now, the freehold orchard and supporting infrastructure and buildings at 101 Turk Valley Road are being marketed for sale by auction on August 18 through Bayleys Whangarei. Salesperson and horticulture specialist Vinni Bhula said the current growing orchard was part of what was once a larger farm which had been subdivided and specifically established for growing avocados some 16 years ago.
“The flat contoured property with sprinkler emitters on all blocks encompasses 8.65 hectares of plantings – comprising 1340 established producing trees and 1690 young trees which will come into production over the next two to three years,” Bhula said.
“Once the orchard is in full swing, production is conservatively expected to be in the range of 25,000 to 30,000 trays per year.
“Pollinator trees are planted throughout the blocks which feature sandy soils on a topsoil layer of approximately one metre. Open drains allow excess water to drain off the root areas.
“There is a clear opportunity to further expand production and output from the orchard – with some 2.5 hectares of land previously used for cattle grazing now ready for conversion into avocados which could start producing commercial yields within three to four years from planting.
“Two blocks are already in the process of being planted – with the land contoured and pan broken in preparation for this process to begin under the tenure of new owners if that is a course they would wish to pursue.”
Bhula said the orchard could be run either under management, or by an owner-operator. Commercial buildings linked to the Turk Valley Road property and orchard included:
-A 162-square metre four-bay implement shed and workshop – along with a garage attached to the side – used for tree maintenance and crop harvesting machinery storage
-A half-round barn
-An irrigation and fertigation shed, along with a separate agri’ chemicals storage shed
-A 20-foot container used for storage
- and a two-car garage.
Accommodation on the property consists of a tidy modern solar-powered two-bedroom home – often let to short-term guests via Airbnb – and a separate modern one-bedroom owner-manager or worker’s residence. Each dwelling has its own water storage tank.
An extensive catalogue of horticultural equipment and machinery included in the land and buildings sale of the Turk Valley Road property includes a New Holland orchard tractor, a Massey Ferguson tractor with 500-litre sprayer unit, a four-wheel drive ute, quad bike, fertiliser spreader, three ride-on mowers, woodchipper, and fruit pickers and clippers.
Irrigation on the property is supplied from a recently upgraded bore – with an automated irrigation and fertigation system. The Waiharara locale has an average annual rainfall of 1,500mm, with an average annual temperature of 15.7 degrees Celsius.
The nine blocks are enclosed by natural tree sheltering, with well-formed vehicle access tracks run between the segregated portions and planted rows to allow for mowing, tree maintenance, and crop harvesting.
- Article supplied by Bayleys
