A Derbyshire broiler unit has come on the market through Carter Jonas, the third sizable farm of its kind in the last 12 months.
Dovelowe Farm, Ashbourne, has housing suitable for up to 84,000 birds and has a guide price of £1.1m.
“With people travelling across the country for viewings, we expect interest in Dovelowe Farm to be high,” says Edward Beale, associate partner at Carter Jonas.
“Feedback so far has been that it’s in great condition for its age. The unit comprises four poultry growing sheds along with ancillary buildings for water, power generation and staff welfare facilities.
“All poultry rearing equipment along with the biomass boilers will be made available to the purchaser.”
In addition to the poultry unit, the site includes a bungalow and two biomass boilers. In total, the site is around three acres.
The boilers are used to heat the shedding and generate around £50,000/year in RHI. Two additional boilers may be available to purchase in a separate negotiation.
A strong market
Carter Jonas has seen increased interest in poultry units. Jack Mitchell, a partner in Somerset, marketed poultry business Millford Farm and Knaplock Poultry Farm earlier this year, for a combined guide price of £5m.
“The main reasons potential purchasers gave us for viewing the units included confidence in the sector and strong profitability compared to other forms of agricultural enterprise,” Mr Mitchell explains.
Sam Johnson, a partner in Harrogate, marketed Willow Wood earlier this year. The substantial broiler unit is capable of housing 500,000 birds and had a guide price of £6.25m.
“Willow Wood represented a rare opportunity to purchase a high quality unit of significant scale (260,000 ft2),” he says.
“A main driver for the interest we received was the importance of chicken as a protein – consumption has increased and therefore more space is needed to produce them.
“In addition to that, welfare standards are increasing – most major supermarkets, including Co-Op and Morrisons, have recently reduced required stocking density to 30kg/m2 and as such there is a major clamber by processors to secure more space.
“However, tougher planning legislation makes it very difficult to build new sites and it is certainly more costly. As such, growers are looking to purchase existing units and refurbish them.”
It’s noted that securing environmental permits for poultry housing is increasingly difficult, with struct pollution prevention measures making new sites problematic.