KEY POINTS:
Carter Holt Harvey is selling nine newly developed dairy farms converted from forestry land around Tokoroa.
The total land for sale comprises 3500ha. Six farms will be sold by tender during the next few weeks and three will be marketed in February.
Bayleys Waikato country sales manager Mark Dawe said interest in the farms was strong.
"Given the global position, the ability to raise cash ... the criteria for satisfying banks and whoever else you may need to talk to is probably little bit further elongated but there are still a number of cash buyers out there in the marketplace and a number of people who are approved by their banks for finance," Dawe said.
The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand said the median price of dairy farms for the three months to October was $5.5 million, compared with $2.6 million the previous year.
Dairy co-operative Fonterra last week cut this season's forecast payout to farmers by 60c to $6 a kilo of milksolids.
The $6 forecast is down on last year's $7.90 payout - 24c of which Fonterra held back - but higher than the $4.46 the previous year.
Most farmers probably expected an announcement similar to that made by Fonterra, Dawe said.
"Although everyone would like the revenue to be as high as possible, I don't think that was out of kilter with where people expected to see it."
Inquiries and farm sale activity was lower than last year, he said.
"But certainly there is a reasonable amount of activity happening, probably not so much in the public arena.
"We've seen quite a number of auctions, for example, passed in but certainly from our situation a number of those have had offers submitted on them and they've gone to contract shortly after."
Bayleys senior country agent, Mike Fraser Jones, said Carter Holt Harvey was selling the farms as part of a planned conversion of forest land to dairy farms at a time when dairying land prices were strong, in order to divest assets outside core business activities.
"The company took particular care to comply with environmental best practices, with a view to complying with future nutrient controls that may be applied by Environment Waikato on the Waikato River catchment from Taupo and Karapiro."
