FAIRHOLME is a high-rainfall dairy farm with river frontage and a carrying capacity of 320 milking cows.
Boasting 3km of Kiewa River frontage, Fairholme is at Kergunyah, 48km east of Albury-Wodonga.
- FAIRHOLME
- KERGUNYAH, VICTORIA
- Property: dairy
- Size: 325ha
- Auction: April 9, 11am, on site
- Price: $2.6 million
- Agent: Brian Unthank Real Estate, Albury
- Contact: (02) 6041 3777
The 325ha property has 26ha of flood-lasered bays, 30ha developed for a travelling irrigator and 269ha of grazing area.
Water security is a feature of Fairholme. Set in a 950mm rainfall zone, it has a 234 megalitre irrigation licence (land and river), and a five-megalitre stock and domestic licence.
A well-planned trough system services all paddocks and there are catchment dams on the hill country.
Water is also pumped from an established well, which supports the dairy, and cattle can access the Kiewa River at two points.
Fairholme has been farmed by the Crosthwaite family since 1860.
Stephen Crosthwaite took over the farm's management in 1982 and took the property to a peak of 321 milkers.
Fairholme is divided into 70 paddocks, and has a balance of river flats, mid-slopes and hill country, which peaks at 350m and is used as a run-off block.
The farm, on five titles, has several all-weather tracks, with the furtherest point from the dairy shed being 1.2km.
Over the years, Stephen has planted hundreds of indigenous trees as shelter belts and fenced off the river.
He has sown ryegrass pastures on the river flats and phalaris-based pastures on the hill country.
Each spring, the farm produces about 700 tonnes of silage.
The main home is an older-style period house that has been renovated and extended over the years.
It is cement-rendered, has four bedrooms, lounge, dining, sunroom, breakfast room, baltic-pine ceilings, polished floorboards, wood heaters and split-system airconditioning.
A three-bedroom cottage offers sharefarmer, worker or recreational accommodation.
Working improvements include a 50-unit rotary dairy with an 11,000-litre milk vat, four silos, a feed system with roller mill and mixer, and a calf-rearing shed.
Other shedding includes three hay sheds, two machinery sheds, a workshop and several smaller sheds.
The Crosthwaite dairy was recognised as a premium quality farm in Murray Goulburn's milk quality awards in 2000-02.
"This is a well balanced farm with beautiful views down the Kiewa Valley to the snow fields," Stephen said.
"It is an easy 30-minute drive to Wodonga and is close to the ski fields and Lake Hume."
