June 18, 2019

The largest avocado orchard in New Zealand has been redeveloped over the past nine months with higher yielding varieties and has been placed on the market.

The 29.7-hectare property in Paparore was established in the 1980s by owners from California, who planted it with Zass on Zutano seedling and Duke 7 rootstock, according to the property’s broker, Bayley’s Real Estate.

Throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s avocados were harvested, graded, and packed on-site, according to Vinni Bhula, rural sales specialist with Bayleys Whangarei, and were exported to North America, with the owners eventually shifting their marketing to be more focused on New Zealand.

“However, the orchard has come to the end of its productive life-cycle in its current format and is now due for redevelopment – mirroring what has been seen with other established avocado orchards in the area dating back to the early 1990s,” said Bhula.

This redevelopment was embarked upon by a consortium of New Zealand avocado growers who acquired the property last year.

The project included:

• Removal of all old existing trees whose production and health were in decline 
• Breaking up the compacted sandstone pan substructure

• Installing raised planting rows to improve drainage, and

• High-density replanting of new, highly productive avocado clonal rootstock

“There were no shortcuts taken during the redevelopment phase, having seen the redevelopment take place from start to finish,” said Bhula.

“Currently there is still a waiting list for avocado trees from approved nurseries, so anyone who is seeking a quality horticulture investment is certainly off to a great start here,” said Bhula.“However, the owners used their networks within the industry to secure replacement trees much faster, and subsequently turned around the replanting process in a much quicker timeframe.”

Production forecasts for the new plantings predict a conservative yield of 6,913 trays for the 2021/22 season, rising steadily over the following years to reach a level harvest of 57,609 trays for 2025/26.

As part of the improvements, the property is divided into 30 sheltered blocks of pinus radiata (Monterey pine), providing protection from south-westerly winds and mitigating the risk of damage from frost. This formation also opens the property up to the possibility of being converted into berry production, according to Bhula.

The property includes a 79-meter-deep six-inch bore with clearance to draw up to 80,000 cubic meters of water per year. The irrigation system is reticulated across the orchard by an upgraded mainline, valves, sub-mains, laterals, and micro sprinklers.

Infrastructure features and buildings included in the sale are:

~ a refrigerated cool store and chilling plant that is currently dormant

~ a 270-square meter galvanized packing shed currently housing grading equipment

~ a 90-square meter concrete pad on which to store hay, fertilizer, or materials

~ a two-bay shed, and a three-bay shed

~ an agricultural chemical storage shed

~ and a partially renovated two-bedroom managers residence.

“The Far North has been well-recognised for its early season avocado production due to its favourable warm climate with an average rainfall of 1080mm annually average annual temperature of 16.2 degrees Celsius, combined with sandy and peaty soil types,” said Bhula. “This has seen a surge in the growth of new medium to large-scale avocado orchard developments over the past decade.”

“From this perspective, the Paparore Road operation would complement an existing large avocado-growing operation which could exercise economies of scale through utilising existing other more modern packhouse facilities and converting the packing shed on site into a short-term, crop-holding amenity.”

If interested, the consortium of current owners is willing to negotiate an orchard management and harvesting contract to any buyer that would be looking to acquire the property purely an investment, without being an owner/operator.