Ingka Investments - the parent company of furniture giant IKEA - has bought Waikareao Station. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
A renowned Hawke's Bay sheep, beef and deer station which sustained significant damage during Cyclone Gabrielle will be planted into rotational forestry.
Ingka Investments - the parent company of furniture giant IKEA - has bought Waikareao Station just east of Waipukurau for $13,025,000.
Advertised on the local market as a renowned breeding and finishing station, the farm covers just over 1000 hectares.
The Overseas Investment Office has given approval for Ingka Investments to buy the farm. It plans to continue the existing 45 hectares of forestry operations, and plant production forest on the land currently used for pastoral farming.
In 2019, a past owner partnered with the QEII National Trust to covenant 10 hectares of native bush.
When contacted about the sale, the real estate agent could not say if the native bush or original homestead was part of the deal.
Hawke's Bay Federated Farmers president Jim Galloway said the cyclone has forced some farmers to make tough decisions.
"There have been some farms that were badly damaged, sold into forestry. It's not that surprising given the level of damage. The cost, effort and energy to sort these repairs is massive, so some farmers - especially those who are later into their farming careers - might look at this as an option."
Galloway said sales of farmland to forestry had really slowed over the last two years, but he local farmers still got disappointed when they saw a farm go into trees.
"Forestry does have a wider impact on the community. The owners are often not here so it does hollow out areas when large areas are planted."