Crafar farm eviction fight resumes

Allan Crafar Photo / Christine Cornege

Embattled dairy farmer Allan Crafar is confident his bid to have an eviction notice thown out of court will be successful when the case resumes tomorrow.

The former head of the country's biggest private dairy operation is fighting to remain on his former property at Reporoa, 14 months after it went into receivership.

He will contest the case brought by receivers KordaMentha, in the High Court at Rotorua tomorrow morning.

The Crafar family is seeking to strike out an application from the KordaMentha to have them removed from their property, on the basis they signed a 'lifetime' lease agreement with their company Plateau Farms in 2006.

Associate Judge Anthony Christiansen said there was a "significant challenge" to the document's authenticity, but forensic examination of the lease document proved inconclusive.

Crafar, who is representing himself after he said he was denied legal aid, said the receivers were grasping at straws.

"Their argument is we shouldn't have done it because it was to the detriment of the lender.

"The fact is in 2006 lenders were trying to force money into our hands."

The lawyer acting for the receivers, Mark Sandelin said it would not be appropriate for him to comment ahead of tomorrow's hearing.

Meanwhile Crafar said he is continuing negotiations with an American backer to trade his way out of debt.

"I've had conference calls about it as late as Friday, but I tell you it's not a quick process."

In the meantime Crafar is continuing work for his son, who is a sharemilker for the receivers, but admits he is struggling.

"My son pays my telephone bill, but basically we are living out of our freezer and on charity. We caught three wild pigs on the side of the road the other day and put them in the pot.

"We have about $300 left in the bank."

"We don't have money stashed under the mattress like some people seem to think."