An Irish investor has received approval from the Overseas Investment Commission to expand its already sizeable dairy farm holdings in Southland.
The commission has approved applications by Premier Dairies Ltd, owned by the Clinton Family of Ireland, to buy several more Southland farms.
The purchase includes a 47-hectare sheep and beef farm which will be used to provide grass silage for dairy farms, and another two blocks of land for supplementary feed production and dairy support grazing.
The Clinton family has been buying up farmland for dairying in Southland since 2000.
It now owns several large dairy farms in central Southland and a 238-hectare farm at Woodend near Invercargill.
