Canterbury-based family business Carrfields Group is creating a multimillion-dollar farm dedicated to research and development in seed and plant innovation.
Carrfields has acquired Spring Farm in Winslow, formerly owned by NZ Tractors, to transform it into a research and development centre for its Winseed brand.
A 20 ha property with a house, office, and sheds will be renovated to become the innovation hub for research, breeding, and seed technology.
The farm will house a breeding centre equipped with glasshouses, nurseries, grow houses, and trial plots to support its R&D activities and production of high-quality seeds.
The property will additionally support various Carrfields group activities, such as grain and seed screening trials for pastoral, arable, and vegetable seeds, specialist stock seed research, precision machinery testing, and trials focused on plant nutrition and protection.
“This has been purchased by the group to bring [R&D] in-house on one site rather than third-party operators and farms we have used in the past. We need to invest in specific assets so need to have them on land we own and control,” managing director Craig Carr said.
The company has not revealed the total cost of the facility, which includes the land purchase and additional development likely to amount to millions of dollars over the coming years.
Carrfields aims to collaborate with various parties, with projects likely involving partnerships with internal teams, suppliers of seed, machinery, technology, plant nutrition and protection, and its wholly owned subsidiary, Winseed.
A team is currently focused on phase one of the project, which involves constructing infrastructure and planning rotational planting for the upcoming year.
Carrfields, involved in farming, property, and agribusiness, exports to over 40 countries and employs around 300 staff and contractors across New Zealand and India.