Popular Taupiri sunflower farm up for sale as owners seek new chapter

Friday, 12 June 2026

Deanne and Phil Crowder have put their Taupiri sunflower farm on the market. Pictured with Romeo, one of many furry friends on the farm.

A popular sunflower farm is on the market after five years of drawing crowds from all over the country.

The owners of the Taupiri Sunflower Farm, Deanne and Phil Crowder, say it hasn’t been an easy decision to sell the farm and business, especially with their emotional ties to the sunflowers, but they are ready for a change of pace.

The couple moved to 2049 Gordonton Rd in 2018, but it wasn’t until 2021 that they opened the sunflower farm. The sunflowers started out as a tribute to Deanne’s sister, Leisha Steiner, who died at 18 in a car accident in 2001.

The property stretches across 34ha in Taupiri, where Deanne and Phil Crowder rear calves and do a summer of sunflowers.

Steiner loved sunflowers. What started out as a family ritual of placing them at her grave over Christmas, grew into the idea of planting a whole field and eventually the business.

Since then, the farm has attracted thousands of visitors with approximately 1000 people through on good days. However, the most special part for them was how it became a place of remembrance for many people. Last year, they included a remembrance fence in their fields.

Taupiri Sunflower Farm started in 2021 as a tribute to Deanne Crowder’s sister (file photo).

“That’s been one of the nicest things about our sunflower farm. People will come and speak freely about their own experiences,” Deanne said.

Her own history with grief sparked her desire to return to studying and she was looking at completing a grief counselling course.

Phil Crowder plans to continue rearing calves at their new property, while Deanne Crowder is looking to return to studying.

“I’ve had a fair bit of life experience with bits and pieces throughout it and I think it would be good to be able to take what I’ve learned and give back.”

Phil reckoned they were ready to downsize slightly and free up a bit more of their time. They still plan to stick around the area and potentially would look for a smaller lifestyle block.

Real estate agent David Best says the property is in a prime location and has received strong interest.

The couple primarily use the 34ha rolling property for calf rearing, but have also done cropping and grass silage over the years. The property is well-fenced for livestock and has several sheds that have been set up for calf rearing and could be easily scaled up to rear approximately 1000 calves.

The house has four bedrooms and two bathrooms across 251m² with a modern open-plan living area.

The capital value of the property was just over $2.5 million as of 2023.

Deanne and Phil Crowder reckon their is lots of potential to expand the sunflower business.

The property is listed for tender on June 18.

The property includes a four bedroom home.

The property was listed in mid-May with LJ Hooker and is up for tender on June 18. As of 2023, the capital value of the property was just over $2.5 million.

Agent David Best expected the property to sell well after “plenty of inquiry”. He noted that the property was in a prime location as it was close to the expressway, Auckland and Hamilton.

“We’ve had a good mix of people that just want really nice land and a great location and those looking at the sunflower side of things.”

He estimated about eight to ten parties had been through and most of the interest had been from locals.

The couple had already had some calls from regular customers that were sad to see them leaving, but they hoped the next person would continue the business and thought there was lots of potential for expansion.