Productive avocado orchard for sale

Productive avocado orchard in sought-after Northland location placed on the market for sale

A medium sized and well-established avocado orchard in the heart of Whangarei’s foremost avocado growing district has been placed on the market for sale.

The 6.5-hectare property at Maungatapere on the western outskirts of Whangarei sits in a valley which was once a dairy and beef farming strong-hold, but is now Northland’s most concentrated conglomeration of avocado and kiwifruit orchards due to the location’s deep fertile volcanic soil base.

The orchard with its gentle sloping contour is planted with 706 trees (Hass on Zutano rootstock) and has production records over the past four seasons showing the orchard has harvested between 4,081 trays and 10,379 trays.

Now the freehold orchard and supporting infrastructure and buildings at 71 Highland Way is being marketed for sale by auction at 1pm on December 5 through Bayleys Whangarei. Salesperson and horticulture specialist Vinni Bhula said the orchard was separated into eight well sheltered blocks – all of which were enclosed by natural tree shelter consisting of casuarina and Leyland cypress.

He said that all fruit grown and picked at the orchard is transported to a commercial packhouse located only 14km from the property, which grade and pack for both the domestic and export markets.

“With up to a three-year waiting list for new or replacement avocado trees from approved nurseries, this Maungatapere block represents an opportunity for immediate entry into the avocado sector, or for existing avocado orchardists in Northland to expand their current operations,” Mr Bhula said.

Irrigation on the property is supplied from the Maungatapere Irrigation Scheme, with water circulated across the crop via a fixed computerized sprinkler system. The area has an average annual rainfall of 1650mm, with an average annual temperature of 15.7 degrees Celsius.

A catalogue of buildings linked to the Highland Way property and orchard included in the package, features:
• A 258sqm five -bedroom home with its own office
• A 144 square metre three-bay shed/workshop with mezzanine floor and three-phase power
• A small tractor storage shed
and
• A stand-alone agri-chemicals shed and filling station.

“The size of the orchard would be perfect for an owner/operator to run as is, or alternatively a purchaser could be totally hands-off and have the orchard fully managed by their preferred exporter,” Mr Bhula said.

Mr Bhula said that there was a range of machinery and equipment used for running the orchard – however were not included in the land and buildings package offering for sale, but could be negotiated on separately by any potential purchaser.

New Zealand has some 1400 commercial avocado growers – with most production taking place north of the Bay of Plenty and delivering crop year-round, with the biggest volumes coming during the summer months, Government statistics show avocados are the third largest fresh fruit export from New Zealand.

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