Store stock farm in sought-after location

Offers close on April 23 in a deadline sale for a large, hill country breeding property in a sought-after farming location northeast of Whanganui.

Makuku is just over 1,110 hectares with a good balance of flats, easy and steeper contoured country on O’Neills Road, 7km east of Kākātahi and less than 60 kilometres drive, mostly on State Highway 4, from Whanganui.

The land has been farmed by the O’Neill family for more than 120 years, creating a legacy property that combines proven production with long-term familiarity of the landscape.

Today, Makuku stands as a genuine hill country breeding operation, run with a straightforward, low-cost system that has evolved over decades.

The farm currently winters around 7,500 sheep, including ewe hogget replacement, and 200-plus head of cattle, reflecting a policy focused on reliability, efficiency and consistent store stock supply.

The layout of the property supports that approach, with a thoughtful balance of paddock scale, practical infrastructure and natural contour that allows stock to be moved efficiently through the farm.

A central laneway and predominantly downhill mustering pattern are standout features, reinforcing Makuku’s reputation as a manageable, well-organised operation.

Bayleys Whanganui rural salesperson Knud Bukholt says the Makuku offering comes to the market following a generational transition within the O’Neill family, presenting a rare opportunity to secure a large-scale breeding property in a proven farming location.

Apart from an early draft of prime lambs and retained ewe lamb replacements, the majority of each year’s sale lamb crop is sold in store condition. The beef policy is to sell surplus heifer calves and all steer calves at weaner fair time each year.

“This is a property that could remain as a genuine, low-cost, standalone breeding operation, but it will also be equally attractive to buyers who already have capacity to finish more lambs and cattle, and need a reliable source of stock to feed into it,” he says.

Paddock sizes range from holding paddocks of about 1 hectare right up to the largest paddock which is 145 hectares. The property ranges in elevation from 300 metres above sea level at the bottom to 575 metres above sea level at the northern boundary.

“There’s about 17 hectares of Land Use Class 3 country which is flat to undulating and another 48 hectares of Class 4, with the balance split between 584 hectares of Class 6 and 466 hectares of Class 7 country,” Bukholt says.

The soils are mostly volcanic series in type and subdivision is mostly seven or eight wire post and batten fences with some electrics.

Bukholt says Makuku has a good standard of improvements, including two four-bedroom homes, an eight-room shearers’ quarters and cookhouse, a woolshed and covered yards with capacity for 1000 ewes overnight, plus six sets of satellite yards and a more substantial set of sheep yards on one boundary which are shared with a neighbour.

Makuku is manageable with two full-time staff and contractors for big tasks such as shearing and docking.

Fields Track runs along the southern boundary and offers excellent access to the property’s front gully country. O’Neills Road also provides all-weather access to the property’s large airstrip bin for fertiliser delivery.

Reliable stock water is from a mix of natural sources - springs, streams and dams - plus a reticulated trough system fed from springs for the paddocks surrounding the home yards. Both homes are supplied from pumped rainwater stored in tanks.

A feature of the sale package is the opportunity to view the property using video technology available within the listing on the Bayleys website. It enables anyone interested in the property to get a birds-eye view in a video format from nine ‘sky’ hooks above the land.