Mt Pisa Station in the high country of Central Otago is to be the site of a new multi-million dollar cherry investment.
The station, which has been in the hands of the MacMillan family for 92 years, is currently used for sheep and beef farming. Station manager Shane MacMillan is to invest $15.5 million in the project, setting aside 80ha of the site for the planting of cherries. ''Cherry orchards are grown all around us and we know cherries from Central Otago deliver high returns on the global market," said Mr MacMillan. The first harvest is expected to be ready for export in 2021-22. This will be the station's first foray into horticulture.
The investment is one of three such projects in Central Otago, all led by the cherry investment firm Hortinvest. A similar development is planned for the Lindis Peak Station, to be named the Lindis River development. A third development, the Tarras Cherry Corp project, has already been planted and is expected to yield its first harvest in 2020-21.
