Dairy farmers snap up $30m Tassie farm

One of Tasmania’s finest farms has been sold to a local dairy farming family after commanding a stunning sum. See the details.

One of Tasmania’s finest farms has been sold for a stunning sum with the 784ha Rockthorpe Estate to change hands in a deal worth about $30 million.

Listed for sale by Tasmanian farmer Stuart Murfett in May this year, it is understood a local dairy farming family have purchased the property.

It is also understood the property, located at Cressy, 35km southwest of Launceston, was sold for a price of about $30 million, about its expected value when it was listed for sale.

A new chapter in the history of Rockthorpe Estate is set to be written with the property anticipated to be converted to a dairy farm to complement the new owners’ existing operations.

The property was also sold relatively quickly, with a deal exchanged about six weeks after it was first listed.

Grazing and intensive cropping have been run at Rockthorpe Estate thanks to significant irrigation infrastructure.

Previously Rockthorpe Estate was once the home of a renowned Polwarth stud, but under Mr Murfett’s stewardship the farm had become an intensive cropping and grazing property.

In recent seasons the property had been used for poppies, potatoes, barley, grass seed, canola and wheat crops.

The property was marketed as suitable for grazing or dairying pursuits with 2400ML of water entitlements attached to the property.

LAWD senior director Danny Thomas and director Elizabeth Doyle handled the sale but did not comment on the transaction.

493ha at Rockthorpe Estate was developed to centre pivot irrigation, with 57ha developed to hard hose traveller irrigation with the balance comprising arable or potential irrigation land.

The property also features a recently renovated six-bedroom, four-bathroom homestead, with English gardens, an in-ground swimming pool and surrounded by historic outbuildings.

A six-bedroom homestead is a key feature at Rockthorpe Estate.

The purchase of the property comes as dairy production has significantly expanded in Tasmania, with the state set to overtake NSW as the second largest dairy production state.

Victoria is still the nation’s largest dairy producing state, but Tasmania has bucked the national trend lifting its production by 2.3 per cent to 809 million litres with irrigation developments playing an important role.

Meanwhile, last month the McShane family sold their 170-year-old Tasmanian farm Stonehenge, with Sydney investment fund manager Allan Fife purchasing the property for about $25 million.