A MASSIVE farm extending to 22,000 hectares is up for grabs in Tasmania after it was put on the market by its New Zealand owner.

Rushy Lagoon is the biggest farm in Tasmania, an Australian island state south of Melbourne, and is owned by Alan Pye who purchased it in 1996.

The sale has created a huge deal of interest among overseas investors for this farm which incorporates the neighbouring properties of Red Hills and East Wyambie that Alan also purchased over the years.

Home to four dairies milking 4000 cows, supported by 1000ha of centre pivot irrigation, Rushy Lagoon also operates 7000ha of arable pasture and 7000ha of grazing country supporting 7000 beef cattle and 7000 sheep.

Mr Pye paid $8.2m at auction for Rushy Lagoon in November 1996 when he bought it from Bert Farquar, with plans to add dairies to the property.

Peter Ryan from CBRE Agribusiness, a farm advisory business for investors, said: "I think Mr Pye likely looked at the current market situation and thought it was a good time to sell really.

"Given he has a lot of other interests and over the course of his long and distinguished career in agriculture, he has bought and sold very well with the ebb and flow of the market."

It is anticipated the farm will sell for over $70m and is most likely to be sold to a corporate buyer.

Peter added: "Strangely enough there's been some New Zealand interest, who are already buyers and operators of dairy farms in Tasmania. New Zealanders have long liked Tasmania as an operation. The others that have tapped us on the shoulder are dinky di Aussies."

There has been a great deal of controversy generated in the past by sales of large Australian farms to overseas investors, which has prompted the government to introduce new regulations.

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison announced new regulations stating that farms worth more than $15 million would need to be advertised locally for 30 days before it could be sold to an overseas buyer. This is part of guidelines the Foreign Investment Review Board considers when assessing the sale of farmland.

However, it is believed the sale of Rushy Lagoon does not fall under these regulations as the owner moved ahead of the government announcements.

Mr Ryan added: "Alan had decided to take the property to market well before we were surprised by Treasurer Morrison's decision with regard to the new regulations. People are used to these days the requirements for foreign buyers to go through the Foreign Investment Review Board procedures. That seems to work well for most people,” he said.

The property is listed for sale on a new owner walk in, previous owner walk out basis or in different lots.