If ever there was an opportunity for someone to acquire a top-class working dairy farm, then this is surely it. Carrigeen Hall is definitely one of the finest farms to come on the market this year and with the abolition of milk quotas just a few months away, it is sure to attract a lot of interest.

The farm comprises a newly built bungalow residence, a working dairy farmyard and 185 acres of top-quality land. According to selling agent William Martin of Martin & Rea Agri Consultants, Cork, the farm has already attracted a huge amount of attention, with a number of interested parties arranging viewings this week.

“This is the kind of farm that will be sold by the end of the year,” added Martin.

Carrigeen Hall was originally part of a greater estate established by the Peard family during the 18th century. The remains of that estate can still be seen around Carrigeen Hall, where a number of fields are abounded by the old stone walls that originally enclosed the estate.

The farm

The land at Carrigeen is all in one block and laid out in a paddock system for optimum grassland management.

The farm is also serviced by an extensive internal farm roadway system, allowing ease of access to all parts of the farm. Some of the land has frontage onto the river Bride, a tributary of the Blackwater.

According to Martin, the farm is situated in “the heartland of some of the most productive agricultural land in Ireland”, with a range of dairy, beef, arable and equine enterprises in the area. The land is all in grass and is described as “lowland rolling landscape” that is dry and fertile, making it perfect for grass-based milk production.

The farmyard is centrally located and is in excellent working order. The dairy unit was built in 2007/2008 and includes a 30-unit Alfa Laval milking parlour, a 16,000-litre bulk tank, slurry storage (1,200m³), a further tower slurry store (1,390m³), cattle handling facilities and a cubicle house with 211 spaces.

Other farm buildings in the yard include an eight-bay loose cattle shed, a five-bay shed with 80 cubicle spaces, a four-bay calf shed, a calving unit, a four-bay hay barn with lean-to, double isolation units, a machinery shed, concrete yards and silage yards.

The farm comes with a milk quota of 1.14m litres, although with the abolition of quotas in March, this will make little difference to any buyer.

The house

The house is accessed via a gravel laneway from the main road and is situated close to the farmyard. The modern residence (3,585 sq ft) is a single-storey building, which was constructed in 2007 and includes a kitchen, dining room, TV room, sun lounge, office and five bedrooms, each fitted with an en suite and a walk-in wardrobe.

Carrigeen Hall is a top-class working dairy farm, that has been developed to a very high spec by the vendors. The farm comes with a Single Farm Payment of €33,600/annum, which may be reduced under the new scheme.

The farm is for sale by private treaty at an asking price of €3m and is being handled by joint selling agents, Martin & Rea Agri Consultants, Cork and Brady Group Agri Consultants, Cork. CL