From farm to dinner plate

Happy Valley Dairies in Southland - the only ‘farm to dinner plate’ dairy product processor in New Zealand who has the dairy shed and the processing plant under one roof, is now on the market with Bayleys.

The family business - including the dairy farm - is located just five kilometres from the small Southland town Tuatapere, and produces it’s all its own milks, yoghurts, and creams which are stocked in supermarkets and gourmet food stores.

The real estate agent marketing the property, Murray Jackson of Bayleys Southland, says the milking and processing of the Happy Valley Dairies products are done at the same facility, which means they have control and supervision of their dairy products right up until they are delivered to the retailer.

“They milk the cows in a herringbone shed that is next door to the processing plant but under the same roof. That means they milk the cows, process the milk into cheese, yoghurt or for domestic milk sales, pack and store the end product and then deliver it themselves to the customer,” says Jackson.

The property is some 225 hectares, with approximately 190 hectares of flat land with medium balance, and is currently subdivided into 60 main paddocks and two holding paddocks, with post and wire and post and netting fencing, and some deer fencing.

The farm buildings include a 40 aside herringbone cowshed, 3400 square metre wintering barn, two woolsheds, a 12 bay calf shed, two hay barns, a workshop a 680 square metre dairy factory capable of processing 250,000 milk solids per annum.

According to Jackson, Happy Valley is currently milking 420 cows with 45 yet to calve, producing a total volume of 200,000 milk solids with the factory presently using 30,000 milk solids annually.

Happy Valley Dairies use montebliarde bulls which are a French breed used for making cheese - they have strong udders, low semantic cell count and are large and strong cows, so can withstand the southland weather.

Jackson says the milk produced by Happy Valley is of the highest quality, which is achieved by breeding cows with BB casein.

“The owners believe this type of milk produces the best cheese, using original Dutch recipes, and produces good old fashioned tasting milk with cream on top,” says Jackson.

“Happy Valley Dairies milk is a niche product as it is non-homogenized, which means the fat particles are not broken down, and the fat rises to the top of the bottle causing cream on top. By not breaking down the particles the milk is healthier – with homogenised milk the fat particles are broken down so much that they are small enough to fit through the linings in our arteries, which can cause heart disease and other health problems,” says Jackson.

The homestead is a seven-year-old 260 square metre five bedroom, two bathroom cedar home, with central heating, gas cooking, swimming pool, glass house, hen house, a huge entertainer’s deck and looks out at beautiful rural views.

The second home is a 1950’s well looked after three bedroom plus office brick house, with diesel heating, a double garage and two sleep-outs.

Water is troughed throughout, with rain water used for domestic supply - the average annual rainfall in the area is approximately 1100mm.

Happy Valley Dairies business and farm are for sale by deadline private treaty with offers invited until February 18th, 2010.

For more information contact Murray Jackson on 03 218 7917 or 021 754 417