Big dairy farm with lease potential in Meath

It’s not very often an active dairy farm on a large land block comes up for a long-term lease, however Raymond Potterton Auctioneers have Dowdstown Farm at Dalgan Park, Navan, Co Meath, on the market. The farm is being offered for lease as a working dairy farm and comes to market with a 16-unit double-up DeLaval milking parlour and cubicles for 330 cows.

Dowdstown Farm is located 4km south of Navan. The farm is adjacent to the M3 motorway and is within a two-minute drive of junction 7 (Skryne/Johnstown R147 Junction). The farm bounds the River Boyne and River Skane.

The farm in total is about 400ac exclusive of woodland. It is all in grassland except for about 25ac which grew a maize crop this year. There are 94ac on the opposite side of the R147 (the former Dublin to Navan road). In theory, the cows could walk to the rest of the grassland as there is a full-height machinery tunnel under the M3.

The farmyard consists of two main cubicle sheds, providing 330 cubicles and 16-unit double-up herringbone De Laval milking parlour, two calf-rearing sheds, hay shed with lean-to, silage pits and meal bins as well as slurry and effluent storage throughout.

The lease particulars from Potterton & Co says the farm is being offered under a 15-year lease (with a 10-year mutual break) commencing on the 1 February 2021. Circa 28ac near the farmyard will be leased under a five-year lease only.

Potterton & Co are guiding a price of €300/ac or €120,000 per annum. They also suggest Dalgan Farm currently has 163.08ha EU entitlements with a net unit value of €278.03 each. This gives a gross 2019 payment value of €45,341.13 and the proposal in the lease details is that about €27,200 (circa 60%) is returned to the farm owners, equivalent to €68/ac for the duration of the lease.

Stephen Barry who is handling the sale for Raymond Potterton and Co said: “The herd is renowned and will be for sale in the coming weeks and months. The facilities are very good and include a 16-unit double-up parlour (32 units) with a 14,000-litre bulk tank and drafting facilities.

“The farm is very accessible to many farmers and is actually much simpler to manage than the maps would have you believe. It is very much a standalone unit. There has been phenomenal appetite for the lease so far and by Friday 27 November final expressions will have to be submitted.”

All prospective tenants will be expected to provide three years of accounts and any other financial information which the tenant would deem relevant. The practical abilities, past performance and the financial strength of the tenant will weigh heavily in the selection process.

The dairy farm will be looked on as an opportunity for a number of farmers to long-term lease a working dairy farm in a part of the country that is steeped in milk production.