New Zealand dairy group sells land in Uruguay

A New Zealand dairy farming venture in Uruguay has sold off an area of its extensive land holdings to raise capital for further development and repay debt.

NZ Farming Systems Uruguay made US$8.5 million from the sale of 2,500 hectares from its Tobay farm in the east of the country. The company chairman John Parker said the company expects to sell other, undeveloped parcels of land that are not as suitable for dairying.

Parker said the latest land sale still leaves the company with more than 30,000 hectares of farm-land in Uruguay, with about 13,000 hectares in dairy production.

Farming Systems Uruguay hopes to move into profit for the first time next year. It is forecasting another loss of NZ$7 million to NZ$10 million this year, after a challenging first three years of existence, battling drought as well as the impact of the dairy downturn and global recession.