C & D Property Services offered a well equipped dairy farm known as The Lake, Blackford, Carlisle, for sale by public auction on Wednesday 22nd June within the Memorial Hall at Longtown. 

The farm extends to about 146 acres (59 hectares) and is situated in a good agricultural area about 4 miles to the north east of Carlisle and Junction 44 on the M6 Motorway.  The sale included the entitlements to the Single Payment Scheme but excluded the wholesale milk quota of 530,183 litres which was available to purchase by separate negotiation.  The property was offered for sale in Four Lots and as a Whole and was eventually sold as a Whole for £992,000 (£6,795 an acre) to a purchaser from Northern Ireland.  This was well in excess of the auction guide of £825,000.

Lot 1 comprised of a three bedroomed farmhouse with adjoining barn range, a good range of traditional buildings around the original yard and a large range of modern dairy and livestock buildings.  These modern buildings included cubicles for 70, a 12/6 herringbone milking parlour, several cattle courts and an excellent slurry handling and storage system including a three ring slurry tower.  There was also adjoining land extending to 36.73 acres (14.86 hectares) and this Lot was bid to £485,000.

Lot 2 comprised of a good block of arable grassland of 59.87 acres (24.23 hectares), across the minor public road from Lot 1 and this was bid to £272,000 (£4,543 an acre).  Lot 3 which comprised 14.88 acres (6.02 hectares) of sound grassland with a small area of woodland adjoining Lot 1 was then bid to £70,000 (£4,704 an acre) and Lot 4, an area of grassland with a small area of grazed wood, extending to 34.59 acres (14.00 hectares) was bid to £151,000 (£4,365 an acre).  The farm was then offered as a whole when bidding started at £978,000 and increased to £992,000 before being sold at that figure.

This sale is further proof that the agricultural property market is still very buoyant in this area, and despite the pressure on farm incomes and profit margins, there is still plenty of optimism for the future of diary and livestock farming from both farmers as well as outside investors.

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