Wildwood Dairies farm, at Lardner, sold to Victorian buyer

A 155ha dairy farm near Lardner, in West Gippsland, has been snapped up by a Victorian buyer in an eight-figure deal.

A tightly-held West Gippsland dairy farm, held by the one family for more than 150 years, has been sold in an eight-figure deal with a Victorian buyer.

The 155ha farm, which was home to the Wildwood Dairies enterprise at Lardner, has been sold after it was offered to the market for the first time since 1872.

Records show the property was sold by Deborah Parkes for $11 million to a private Victorian-based company, Aus Property Network Pty Ltd.

The 155ha property, located at 1412 Lardners Track, Lardner, is about 10km southwest of Warragul and is Baw Baw Shire Council-zoned farmland, according to Department of Transport and Planning documents.

Over the past two years, Wildwood Dairies, which Ms Parkes had own and run with her late husband Ted Bingham, completed a number of Holstein dispersal sales.

The 155ha Lardner property was home to the Wildwood Dairies enterprise.

Ms Parkes is also a former Victorian president of Holstein Australia.

During their tenure, Wildwood Dairies would milk up to 500 cows and calve hundreds of cows in the autumn.

Peter Powell Property and @realty selling agent Peter Powell handled the sale and did not comment on any aspect of the deal.

Existing dairy infrastructure included three-phase power and NBN in the dairy, 44-stand rotary with ACR and automatic teat spray, variable speed vacuum pump, 24,000 litre vat and 350-head grooved concrete feed pad.

When it was listed for sale the property was described as a “rare offering, suiting international and local purchasers alike”.

Dairy, beef, horticulture, tourism, lifestyle and an investment land banking opportunities were listed as possibilities for the property.

The sale comes after the 368ha Pine Hill dairy farm at nearby Labertouche was sold for about $12 million to a private Australian global investor.

Meanwhile in September, the Cope family sold its 408ha Tallagandra dairy farm, located 15 minutes from Fish Creek, to a prominent Gippsland dairy farming family.