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If evidence was needed that good-quality farms will always sell then the news that the 160ac Suircastle Farm in Co Tipperary, has sold is a prime example. Described by the agents as a model farm, the property, near Golden, Cashel, was on the market at €2.5m (€15,625/ac), and is believed to have achieved a figure in excess of that. The farm was bought by an investor from the midlands, Irish Country Living understands.
There is also a four-bedroom dormer residence in good condition throughout
Originally a tillage farm, it was purchased in 2003, and turned into a substantial dairy enterprise, milking over 300 cows. It has good facilities with housing for over 500 head in modern buildings.
The farm has been designed for the easy management of the current dairy operation with internal roads and a paddock-based system all centred around the farmyard. There is also a four-bedroom dormer residence in good condition throughout.
The farm is in two blocks, with a smaller 13ac section just up the road from the main part of the farm.
A well-maintained farm roadway and an electronic gate greet you at the entrance to the property. This is the only part of the main 147ac block that touches the road.
A lot of planning was put into the conversion from tillage to dairy. The cow lanes are well maintained and some even have a layer of “slig” on them, making them better than some country roads. Nearly all the paddocks are seven acres in size and they are designed so that it only takes five or six push-down stakes to strip graze them.
There is a 12-column, double A-roofed shed with 200 cubicles, automatic scrapers with a U-shaped feed passage and scratch brushes for the cows
The limestone-based soil makes this a dry farm, indeed most of the paddocks had slurry spread on them before Irish Country Living visited on 20 February.
There is a 14-unit herringbone parlour with automatic feeders and a 10,500-litre bulk tank. A 15-tonne meal bin sits at the entrance to the dairy and there is grooved concrete out the back in the waiting pen. There is a 12-column, double A-roofed shed with 200 cubicles, automatic scrapers with a U-shaped feed passage and scratch brushes for the cows.
There are two silage pits as well as a number of other multi-purpose buildings
Other buildings include a calf shed which can be converted to a straw shed in summer, a cubicle house in the lower yard with 84 indoor cubicles and 60 outdoor cubicles.
There are two silage pits as well as a number of other multi-purpose buildings. The house, built in the 1990s has a D1 energy rating. The bungalow is heated by two stoves and an oil-fired Stanley cooker.
Selling agents
“Even in the middle of the current coronavirus crisis, business can get done if you have the right property. Investing in land is still a sure bet, in these uncertain times,” Paddy Jordan said on behalf of joint selling agents Dougan Fitzgerald and Jordan Auctioneers.
Both agents report that there are several underbidders looking to acquire either a ready-to-go dairy set up or top-quality farm suitable for conversion.
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