Nine years after the Stalkers paid $1.35 million buying a sheep and beef farm in north Otago from Phil Duncan, they were awarded $515,000 damages because the farm’s effective grazing was misrepresented; the 450 hectare property covering areas of undulating land together with steeper hill country described on sale as having 285 hectares of effective farming land in fact had only 212 hectares.
Hampden Farm is near Moeraki Bay. It had been in the Duncan family for three generations when then owner Phil Duncan offered the property for sale, keeping the homestead block for himself. The property is a mix of flat and hilly land, with areas of native bush and gorse. Having sold their Tuatapere farm, the Stalkers purchased Hampden in 2011.
The High Court was told the Stalkers became aware of discrepancies in the farm’s effective hectarage only in early 2018 when looking to sell to son Callum and his wife Hanna. A farm valuer used aerial photography from a Land Information database to accurately measure Hampden’s effective farmland. Given the substantial difference between effective hectarage as advertised and what in fact existed when they purchased, the Stalkers looked to recover damages from Mr Duncan. He denied liability. He said his calculation of 285 hectares was based on fertiliser records; assuming an average annual fertiliser spread per hectare, he used the volume spread to work backwards, reaching an assumed effective hectarage.
Justice Osborne ruled the Stalkers were entitled to rely on the advertised 285 hectare figure, and did rely on it to their cost. It took seven years to recognise the discrepancy because the Stalkers did not personally farm the property in the interim as a stand-alone operation; it was leased out for a time and later combined by the Stalkers with a nearby property in a joint operation. Mr Duncan also overstated the number stock he carried on Hampden; Justice Osborne ruled.
Damages for the discrepancy at $515,250 were assessed on current values for the farm; not on values at the time the farm was purchased years previously. As at June 2020, the farm had a market value of $2.27 million.
Stalker v. Duncan – High Court (30.06.20)
20.113