THE biggest group of south-west dairy farms offered for sale for decades is on the market as the industry crisis enters its next painful phase.
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The mass sale has sparked fears it could further lower depressed dairy farm values and trigger more sell-offs of debt-ridden properties. Farmer Power spokeswoman Karinjeet Singh-Mahil, of Crossley, said a drop in dairy farm values could trigger more forced sales because it would reduce the equity levels of other farmers already carrying considerable debt.
Ms Singh-Mahil said she feared the struggling farm sector could be “the canaries in the mine,” warning of a wider decline in the general economy.
The group of dairy farms being offered for sale are in the Heytesbury settlement area near Simpson and Jancourt and are part of the Alan Fisher Pastoral Company. The six farms total 1324 hectares and are being offered for sale by expressions of interest to Charles Stewart Real Estate.
They are reported to have carried about 2400 cows and were placed into voluntary administration in February.
The Fisher family has been farming in the Heytesbury area for at least 20 years. Family members operating the dairy farms include Mr Fisher and his wife, a son and a daughter and her partner.
They continue to operate the farms along with sharefarmers and staff.
Charles Stewart partner Anthony McDonald said the sale had been triggered because a finance institution was not comfortable with the falling level of equity the pastoral company had in the six farms. Its equity had fallen because of the general decline in the value of dairy farms in recent years.
Mr McDonald estimated dairy farm values had fallen by 30 per cent since peaking in 2008.
Each of the six Fisher farms up for sale has a dairy and at least one home.
Other company assets up for sale include four outpaddocks, each of 40.4 hectares (100 acres), and 28.3 hectare (70 acres) and 108 hectare (267acres) outpaddocks.
The properties are for sale either as a group or as non-contingent sales in up to 12 lots.
Mr McDonald said his company had recently sold other south-west dairy farms where the vendors were encouraged to sell by their financial institution.
Those sales had been instances of “we need to sell now or the bank will do it for us”, Mr McDonald said.
Receivers are still to decide the fate of another local dairy farm, the Hines dairy farm at Warrong.
The New Zealand-owned farm went into liquidation last month.
A spokesman for the firm overseeing its fate, PPB Advisory, said it was still assessing whether the farm would be sold or its operation would be restructured.
The Hines farm had about 750 cows being milked on about 400 hectares, some of which was irrigated.
