Worcestershire commercial arable unit will be a big draw

Rotherdale Farm near Pershore, Worcestershire is exactly what so many farming and non-farming investors are after. This 650-acre productive, commercial arable unit has a good house and potential additional income from its huge range of buildings.

The buildings offer far more storage than the tonnage which the farm could produce and give scope for alternative uses and income, subject to planning permission, said Strutt & Parker’s Charlie Evans.

Chief of these opportunities is the 20,000 tonnes of grain storage capacity, mainly in on-floor stores. The largest store can hold roughly 8000t and there are also offices and general purpose buildings, all of which are sited away from the six-bedroomed house and three-bedroomed cottage.

Rotherdale’s farmhouse is subject to an agricultural occupancy condition and has been for sale for about eight months to test the market prior to an application to lift the restriction. The cottage has an assured shorthold tenant until March 2011.

The three viewing days on 12, 18 and 21 January will be busy Ð neighbours got wind of the sale recently and had already shown interest, said Mr Evans. “Commercial arable farms like this are pretty rare and even more so in the west.”

The firm has chosen to market at what is normally a quiet time of the farm sales year because of the significant pent up demand from buyers who had not had many commercial farms to look at during autumn and winter of 2010, he said.

“This has successfully worked for us in the past and provided very good prices for the first farms onto the market.”

Rotherdale is in four adjoining blocks to the north and east of the village of Throckmorton. The land is mainly level, classified grade 3, with soils split between Bishampton 2, a deep fine loamy clay, and Evesham 2, a clay soil. Field sizes are good and suitable for large machinery.

Fertility has been significantly improved in the past five years by the current Irish owner who is selling to invest elsewhere.

The farm has an overall guide price of £5m to include single farm payment entitlements. While it is likely to sell as a whole, Rotherdale is also available in lots, which value the land at £6000/acre, with the house and 290acres at £2.6m, buildings and 6 acres at £300,000, and a further 135 acres at £800,000. There is also 88 acres at £530,000 with the remaining 129 acres at £770,000. (Strutt & Parker 020 7629 7282).