Lone Star Farms founder Tom Sturgess has listed for sale his three largest sheep and beef properties, Caberfeidh Station in Hakataramea Valley (about 6000ha), The Wandle (about 2600ha) and Barewood (about 6400ha), both near Middlemarch, inland from Dunedin.
"These three farms are the guts of our breeding and finishing program ... this is the heart of Lone Star Farms,"
The farms senior leadership management teams worked well together.
"They run harmoniously."
A sale of only one of the properties was not an option at this time, he said.
The three farms were offered under a tender, which closes in November.
The 75-year-old said he was selling the properties to get his estate in order.
"So when the inevitable happens, my poor unsuspecting wife is not left with something to have to sort out."
Finding the right buyer was more important than fetching the highest price, he said.
"There’s a set of values and a camaraderie that these teams enjoy. I want to keep that. That’s the most challenging thing that’s taken all of us a good number of years to build up and it’s pretty special. I don’t want to jeopardise that."
"The people that are on this farm have done a really, really terrific job. They’re relatively young and they’re talented. They’re digital savvy. They’re professional career farmers. They’re great people."
Lone Star supplies the Lumina Lamb programme.
A new owner could "very easily" continue to supply the programme, he said.
The properties had attracted interest since being listed, he said.
Lone Star would retain its three other farms, Stradbrook (495ha) in Mayfield, Quartz Range (1050ha) in Collingwood and Puramāhoi (200ha) in Tākaka. He was not selling these farms.
He did not consider the listing of the southern farms to be the start of his retirement as he still had plenty on the go, such as Methane Mitigation Ventures, in Dunedin, which has more than a dozen full-time researchers.
"It’s pretty exciting."
His other business interests include the largest commercial printer in New Zealand and the second largest office products wholesaler.
He was also actively involved in non-profits in New Zealand and the United States.
"My wife would say I’ve got plenty to keep me busy."
